The Pittsburgh Left (safe, vehicle, deal)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Kippy

It is a common practice in Boston and other Eastern cities:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/20...7QN/story.html

Exactly. It is seriously hard to believe this comes up on a regular basis and that drivers supposedly don't notice. I've seen it everywhere I've been where a green arrow is not present. I also see that a lot of people have courtesy letting the driver make the turn before proceeding.

[Pughnose]

Never saw it systematically practiced on the west coast, where I've driven in cities from San Diego to Seattle.

However, the Pittsburgh Left is famous enough that I knew about it before I moved here, from reading some guidebook or other.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by erieguy

I've driven many places. Many places have left arrows. Those that don't have the _____ Left.

Have some courtesy and everyone will get around easier.

Not true. Yes, commonplace in Boston and some other cities out east, but try this in Chicago-- even on a one-lane each way road, no turn arrow-- and prepare to get your car totaled.

[Herodotus]

Greatest Escapist: There's Nothing Right About a Boston Left

[Merge]

Originally Posted by erieguy

Exactly. It is seriously hard to believe this comes up on a regular basis and that drivers supposedly don't notice. I've seen it everywhere I've been where a green arrow is not present. I also see that a lot of people have courtesy letting the driver make the turn before proceeding.

The driver who stops and lets another go instead of taking his rightful turn has unwittingly perverted the entire system. You are doing NO ONE a service by letting people proceed in contravention to the rules of the road. You are only adding time to EVERYBODY's commute in the long run. That's simple common sense. There is a lot of civil engineering that goes into ensuring an orderly flow of traffic and you are wasting everyone's resources when you disrupt that with your "courtesy".


When it is your turn, take it! Don't be an obstruction to forward progress.

[erieguy]

Ummm, nobody is stopping. Everyone is already stopped at the light waiting for it to turn green. When the light turns you make the left. Pretty simple and no engineering needed.

[Kippy]

Originally Posted by srsmn

Not true. Yes, commonplace in Boston and some other cities out east, but try this in Chicago-- even on a one-lane each way road, no turn arrow-- and prepare to get your car totaled.

Does that mean that Pittsburgh is a Northeastern city and not a Midwestern one?

[Merge]

What you say is incorrect. No one is to be moving through a red light. You yourself claimed that you see "a lot of people have courtesy (sic) letting the driver make the turn before proceeding". Those are your own words. Obviously the implication is that they are waiting for the driver opposite them to make their left turn. In waiting (due to courtesy or inattention, etc.), they are working against the traffic control system. How is this not clear to you? The person who is not making a turn (but rather going forward) has the right-of-way at a green light. I don't know why I would need to explain this to you.

[JayDiFiore]

Originally Posted by Kippy

Does that mean that Pittsburgh is a Northeastern city and not a Midwestern one?

Lol. Finally! The incontrovertible proof we've been waiting for!

[JayDiFiore]

When executed efficiently, the PL is hardly a hindrance to anyone. At most it rates as an annoyance to everyone.

Given the general level of respect shown for traffic signals anymore, a potential practitioner of the PL should be less concerned with oncoming traffic and more concerned with the last jagoff who blows through the intersection one to two seconds after the cross traffic signal has turned red.