Driving In NEPA---What is Happening?! (Mountain Top, Kingston: new home, transfer, safe area)

[SteelCityRising]

Well I came home from work at around 7:40 PM to see that not only were my next-door neighbors having a large house party of sorts but also a 2009 Saturn Aura was parked in our driveway instead of my mother's usual 2004 Subaru Forester. I simply assumed we had some sort of unexpected company over so I was a bit quieter than usual when I came inside. I saw that my father was alone watching television in the living room, and my mother was down the hallway. I asked "Who else is here?" My father replied "Nobody. Just us." I said "Who's car is in the driveway?" My father said "Your mom's." I said shockingly "Mom bought a new car?!" That's when I learned that earlier this morning during rush-hour my mother had been violently rear-ended along Route 309 in Mountain Top en route to work. She had stopped for a school bus in the oncoming lane with its stop sign extended outwards and its lights flashing, but a middle-aged woman with a young child in a Mitsubishi Lancer behind her apparently didn't see the SUV in front of her and slammed right into the back of my mother's vehicle. As luck would have it there were many witnesses to the accident, and nobody was seriously injured (although my mother is still complaining of neck pain and plans to go to the hospital tomorrow to be checked out). Also astonishingly enough there were two tow-truck drivers who were driving nearby and arrived within seconds---one was a volunteer firefighter and one was a volunteer EMT.

Normally I wouldn't make such a big deal out of this, but in the past several years members of my family, including myself, have been involved in roughly a half-dozen accidents with only one being our fault. My sister was sideswiped along Highway 315 twice by others who failed to yield to her vehicles. I was rear-ended along Highway 315 (yes this corridor's congestion has now made it VERY dangerous). Now my mother was rear-ended along Route 309. I've had many close calls recently as well. Just the other day while getting off Exit 175 of I-81 northbound in The Pittstons I was nearly rear-ended AGAIN in the same spot where I was rear-ended two years ago because once again someone on a cell phone was not paying attention to the red light at the end of the congested offramp.

Beyond this, can someone tell me why newer vehicles no longer come standard with turn signals? It amazes me the amount of people here in The Pittstons whom I have to blare my horn at and flip off on a daily basis because they REFUSE to signal before just coming to a complete stop to turn left of off primary arteries---most of the offenders drive Buicks, Cadillacs, and Lincolns, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions there. Just this evening while driving home from work along The 315 Northbound @ Oak/Armstrong/Keystone in The Pittstons a car beside me that was stopped for the same red light I was at suddenly hit the gas and started into the intersection right as the traffic exiting CenterPoint had the green light, nearly causing ANOTHER collision (in addition to the one I witnessed being cleared up earlier on a side street off of Wyoming Avenue in Kingston while heading into work!)

All in all not a day goes by where I'm not driving by an accident scene, nearly being involved IN an accident myself again, or am flipping people the bird and blaring the horn for several seconds on end for not signaling when turning, ESPECIALLY THE MORONS WHO DRIVE ACROSS THE AISLES AT HIGH RATES OF SPEED IN PARKING LOTS!

Has NEPA truly cornered the market on idiot drivers?

[I LOVE PA!]

So sorry to hear about your Mom, Paul.
I do have to say though...coming from NY...the drivers in Pa. are EXCEPTIONALLY better drivers. When going back to L.I., my kids used to enjoy going over the bridge because it was actually entertainment to them to see how people drove. Driving on the parkways on L.I.....people go 70 mph and look like they are glued to each others bumpers. Very different than here.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

So sorry to hear about your Mom, Paul.
I do have to say though...coming from NY...the drivers in Pa. are EXCEPTIONALLY better drivers. When going back to L.I., my kids used to enjoy going over the bridge because it was actually entertainment to them to see how people drove. Driving on the parkways on L.I.....people go 70 mph and look like they are glued to each others bumpers. Very different than here.

I used to have a courier job, and I had to travel to New Hyde Park a few times a week via Cross Bronx expwy...to Troggs Neck bridge... to Cross Island expwy... to the L.I.E., and it's a different world out there! People will run you off the road and not even think twice about it. You need the driving skills of a skilled race car driver just to be able to merge bumper to bumper without slamming into someone. When people complain about traffic on rt.81, I laugh, they have no idea what a true traffic jam is! The Long island expwy. at rush hour takes the cake. I honestey do not know how people can commute back and forth to and from Manhatten in that mess every single day. God bless them! They spead probably two hours on the road EACH WAY! And they are only traveling 15-20 miles. It's truely unbelievable. I'd be one miserable S.O.B everyday if I had to deal with that.

[littlebunnie69]

Pa drivers drive very good but i have one complaint. I tend to do the posted speeding limit for the road i am on but i always seem to have some S.O.B. behind me tailgating and at the first chance passing me, in no passing zones. One of these days I want to turn my wheel just as they are passing me. BUt that could just be wishful thinking.

[wanneroo]

Pennsylvania is a tough state to drive in. It's either the drivers(lack of talent or education) or the roads or both. In addition you've got people doped up on alcohol, drugs, prescription drugs, etc. and are tired or not paying attention. In Tioga county we have about 40,000 people here and there have been multiple DUI fatalities in the last month alone.

I have about a dozen cousins that grew up in this state and most went though about 3 cars before they turned 21 due to all sorts of accidents. One led state police on a drunken chase for an hour and a half for his first DUI. His second DUI incident he plunged over a bridge and was saved by a state trooper from drowning. I believe he had a third incident which was covered up by family due to jail time and I know there were several years there he didn't drive. Another cousin killed himself in a fatal drunken accident almost a decade ago. Somehow my sisters and I have never had one accident, and I've driven almost 900,000 miles on the road here and in other countries(knock on wood).

I've done all sorts of driving instruction on race tracks and other courses so I deal with this issue everyday I work. Most of it with American drivers is they just don't know. They don't understand ABS, Vehicle stability control, how 4 wheel drive actually works and how dangerous it can be in some situations, weight transfer, threshold braking, braking with ABS, steering, understeer, oversteer, etc. They've never been on a closed course where they can experience all that and understand how vehicle dynamics work. For example, a lot of people foolishly lift off the brake when they feel the pulsing from ABS, which is why manufacturers are adding brake assist to cars now.

I have found in all the thousands of people I have worked with that most people are poor drivers. When trained properly most do much better. On one hand I can count a few that just had no business driving because they were absolutely clueless and had the attention spans of goldfish. In Australia, I believe you need 40 hours of on the road training with an instructor and you can't drive powerful cars for a while after you get your licence. I believe the cost of getting a licence is about $3000 including the training. I think we need something more comprehensive in this country like what Australia has along with tougher penalties for drunk driving. Regardless of what the government does, I'd recommend to anyone to go to a proper racing school like Skip Barber or Mid Ohio and take a road car course to learn skid control and vehicle dynamics. It will cost you $500-$1000 for a day or two but it will be fun and you'll learn something that might save your life.

[SifuPhil]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

I used to have a courier job, and I had to travel to New Hyde Park a few times a week via Cross Bronx expwy...to Troggs Neck bridge... to Cross Island expwy... to the L.I.E., and it's a different world out there!

There IS a difference, though - back in NY, it's pure aggression. Here in NEPA, it's pure stupidity.

I'll take aggression over stupidity any day.

[mathjak107]

anyone who drives slower than me is a hazard, anyone who drives faster than me is a moron

[Summering]

Originally Posted by littlebunnie69

Pa drivers drive very good but i have one complaint. I tend to do the posted speeding limit for the road i am on but i always seem to have some S.O.B. behind me tailgating and at the first chance passing me, in no passing zones. One of these days I want to turn my wheel just as they are passing me. BUt that could just be wishful thinking.

We have the same problem. Even when we are doing a bit over the limit.....someone passing on a "double" line or with a bend near.
But, I don't think this is just a PA issue at all.
Unfortunately, there are drivers like this everywhere. I saw in while living in NJ. I see it on trips up and down the east coast.
There are a few scarey things that happen here though..........
Once a truck was turning, and a car came around it right "head on" with my hubby.......he said it was a close call. That was on 715!
I've had a few speeders pass in unsafe areas.......I feel sorry for them anymore......putting their life at risk.
Tailgating seems big here in this state.......its so unsafe too!

[cathyde]

Since moving to my new home in Mt. Cobb, I have had (not kidding) at least a dozen near misses at the stop light at the intersection of 247 and 348. It's either someone trying to beat the light, or they simply don't stop. (That was the closest I had to having an accident - and my three kids were in the car with me).

Also, why are people so impatient that, when the driver in front is attempting to make a left turn, they go around them to continue going straight, not even slowing down?

Are we in such a hurry to get places that we are willing to take chances with our lives and that of others?

Paul, I'm glad your mom wasn't seriously injured. We can replace the cars; the people, not nearly so easily.

[Jungle George]

First & most important Paul, I hope your mom"s O.K.!!!

Second, come down to Florida (especially during our "season" Oct.-May) & then we'll talk about drivers!!!

We always joke that cars nowadays come with optional turn signals & mandatory < 2" clearance from the front bumper of their car to the back bumper of your car!!!

Down here it's not the "old" people who are the worst drivers, it's the "middle age" soccer moms in the SUV's with the "permanantly-attached-to-the-ear cell phones who top the charts!! Next in line is the teenagers who think state & county roads are drag strips!!

I'll say a prayer that your mom's neck is O.K.!!