Thoughts by a Detroit "relocat-ee" after a month (Pittsburgh: subdivision, safe)

[gg]

Pizza in Pittsburgh isn't very good to be honest. We just don't seem to get it like NYC does. Pizza Sola was okay in the South Side years ago, but they expanded and now lost their quality. Very inconsistent. I hate raw pizza, so Mineos is out. Probably best to make pizza at home.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

This is very poor information. There is a "yield" sign on the ramps and sometimes it can be very tight getting on. Do you know what yield means? Seems you don't. Forcing your way onto the highway is no only illegal, it is dangerous. 95% of the time you can get to highway speed and merge on, but that isn't to say there is the odd time it is way too dense to do so. It is up to the person on the on ramp to yield onto the highway and not the people on the highway to let them in by performing some dangerous maneuver or slow down. I have about pushed cars off the road trying to force their way on highways and have no problem doing so, because they are the poor drivers. I am not about to move over into some semi truck that is next to me and I am not going to break to let someone in. I have the right of way and don't use my breaks for the poor driver that is trying to force themselves in a place they have no business doing. Yield is yield. Learn the definition please, before you kill someone.

Yes, I know what yield means. Seems you don't. It doesn't necessarily mean stop. I said nothing about forcing my way onto the highway, so spare me the lecture. I've been driving for more years than you've probably been alive, and I haven't killed anyone yet.

Regarding comments about wider lanes "out west" , etc, I think the lanes are a standard width, or at least there is a minimum width. I've driven in Chicago. People don't stop at the end of on-ramps there. They don't do it in Minneapolis, either.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Regarding comments about wider lanes "out west" , etc, I think the lanes are a standard width, or at least there is a minimum width. I've driven in Chicago. People don't stop at the end of on-ramps there. They don't do it in Minneapolis, either.

I wasn't talking about wider lanes. I was thinking there were fewer lanes here on each Interstate (whatever "way" you call it).

[gg]

So instead of stopping on an on ramp, which would and should be very rare but can happen, you will just force yourself on the highway? That is sometimes the only options. Stopping happens sometimes, unless you are forcing the issue. I of course agree many don't know how to merge on a highway, but at the end of the day, the merger has a yield sign and the person already on the highway doesn't. I suggest you obey the law or you will possibly cause an accident. I don't let the merger in if there is no room, so they will be force off the road or if they are lucky can get in behind me. Problem is, the person behind me may also not want to slow down to make room and the person behind them might not slow down to make room. You get a string of people that say no we are not going to disrupt the flow for the merger, you are stopping or wrecking into someone. Take your pick. Yield means yield and stopping is a possibility.

[wanderlust76]

H_curtis is correct and I don't think Katiana has actually seen some of the on-ramps in Pittsburgh. I know of two on-ramps where if you don't stop or at least slow down there is a good chance there will be an accident. Unless it's 3 in the morning. One is coming from downtown off of Fort Duquesne Blvd and the other is around Squirrel Hill/Regent Square if I remember right. I know there are more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. A vehicle on the freeway does not have to slow down to let a merger in. If it's a section where the parkway/freeway is only 2 lanes...that will be a factor.

[ditchdigger]

I always love this topic...

I'm a big proponent of "safe following distance" as a preventative measure for traffic accidents. (Just Googled up a good source: Maintain a Safe Following Distance (The 3 Second Rule) )

According to that source, at a relatively sedate 55 mph, the safe following distance is 243 ft.

Somebody who is in the 'Just get up to speed and stuff yourself into the first opening that fits' school of merging behavior, please reconcile for me, how you do that without compromising the standard for safe following distance, both for yourself, and the drivers in front of, and following, you.

I'll hang up and listen for your answer....

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I wasn't talking about wider lanes. I was thinking there were fewer lanes here on each Interstate (whatever "way" you call it).

Not in all cases. While the interstates through Denver, I-25 and I-70 and their "child" roads (C-470, E-470, I-225, etc) have multiple lanes, the Denver-Boulder Turnpike (a holdover name from the days when it was a toll road) a feeder road from Boulder to I-25 is two lanes most of the way. It's also an old road with some short on-ramps. I-25 through Colorado Springs, a city larger than Pittsburgh, is mostly two lanes.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

So instead of stopping on an on ramp, which would and should be very rare but can happen, you will just force yourself on the highway? That is sometimes the only options. Stopping happens sometimes, unless you are forcing the issue. I of course agree many don't know how to merge on a highway, but at the end of the day, the merger has a yield sign and the person already on the highway doesn't. I suggest you obey the law or you will possibly cause an accident. I don't let the merger in if there is no room, so they will be force off the road or if they are lucky can get in behind me. Problem is, the person behind me may also not want to slow down to make room and the person behind them might not slow down to make room. You get a string of people that say no we are not going to disrupt the flow for the merger, you are stopping or wrecking into someone. Take your pick. Yield means yield and stopping is a possibility.

Jeez, Louise! I already said I don't do that. I'm laughing at this portrayal of me as some lead-foot reckless driver! I'm actually a very cautious driver, and I really don't need yet another lecture from you, h_curtis, about highway driving. You don't know me from the Man (or in my case Woman) in the Moon.

Originally Posted by wanderlust76

H_curtis is correct and I don't think Katiana has actually seen some of the on-ramps in Pittsburgh. I know of two on-ramps where if you don't stop or at least slow down there is a good chance there will be an accident. Unless it's 3 in the morning. One is coming from downtown off of Fort Duquesne Blvd and the other is around Squirrel Hill/Regent Square if I remember right. I know there are more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. A vehicle on the freeway does not have to slow down to let a merger in. If it's a section where the parkway/freeway is only 2 lanes...that will be a factor.

I haven't seen every on-ramp in Pittsburgh, no. But I have lived there, and driven there, and still do drive there on occasion. I know the highway vehicles don't have to slow down. I've said that in this thread! I live/drive the above mentioned Denver-Boulder turnpike a lot. It gets very crowded at times; it has a lot more traffic than it was designed for back in the 50s. I cannot recall a time when I had to stop at the end of a ramp.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

I always love this topic...

I'm a big proponent of "safe following distance" as a preventative measure for traffic accidents. (Just Googled up a good source: Maintain a Safe Following Distance (The 3 Second Rule) )

According to that source, at a relatively sedate 55 mph, the safe following distance is 243 ft.

Somebody who is in the 'Just get up to speed and stuff yourself into the first opening that fits' school of merging behavior, please reconcile for me, how you do that without compromising the standard for safe following distance, both for yourself, and the drivers in front of, and following, you.

I'll hang up and listen for your answer....

I don't know who you're talking to, but it's not me. I do not adhere to that philosophy. I do think it's dangerous to enter a highway from a complete stop.

[ML North]

Originally Posted by dtrtrggr13

Driving: WAY different than any other area I've visited or lived. I'm used to going 70-80 on the freeway through dense areas coming from Detroit. Here, its about 70 TOPS. And the first time I came down an on-ramp I almost rear ended someone because this is the first place I've seen someone stop at the end of one before merging onto the freeway (err, parkway). And everyone here uses their horns far more than I've seen anywhere else.

There are definitely a lot of annoying driving habits around here, and stopping at the end of a merge ramp is among the worst. Route 70 is particularly puzzling because there seems to be plenty of room for appropriately sized acceleration lanes, but they've never been built.

I just got back from Chicago, and the honking there is crazy. A lot more cars of course, but I think the honk-to-driver ratio is way higher. A proactive honk seems to be popular there (e.g. "Don't you even think about taking my right-of-way").

Originally Posted by dtrtrggr13

1) Can anyone recommend a good pizza place that isnt a chain? Everyone here can only recommend the Pizza Huts and Pizza Solas of the world. I live in Southside so it seems as though most places are sandwiches ('hoagies') as they're referred to here.

So Pizza Sola is a chain, but it's pretty good. I've been eating Pizza Sola since it was a one shop operation on the Southside (which at the time was called Pizza Vesuvio). Since then, they've opened three more stores, but I definitely haven't noticed any decrease in quality. And actually, their one suburban store, Cranberry, is near my office and is quite good. Regardless, it definitely does not belong in the same sentenance as Pizza Hut.

Other than Pizza Sola, I generally only get pizza from Blue Grotto and the Milanos on Fifth Avenue in Oakland (which is not affiliated with any of the other Milanos stores). I never do take-out or delivery, and I always ask that my slice be cooked well-done. Finally, I know this isn't the easiest advice to follow, but I only get Milanos when the owner is working (weekday afternoons and some evenings).

Ah, I almost forgot. SLICE on Broadway is a new go-to for me. Here's a picture of their Margherita Pizza.

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I don't know who you're talking to, but it's not me.

I didn't say it was you. I'm not going to bother going back to look for quotes, but we all know that's the philosophy of some of the posters here.

I do not adhere to that philosophy. I do think it's dangerous to enter a highway from a complete stop.

What's safe or dangerous is all relative, and it's all a series of compromises. You don't believe one should stop, but you didn't really address how you reconcile not stopping with maintaining safe following distance for everybody involved either.

I'll leave the question out there, and wait for a more specific answer...