Pittsburgh Drivers Rating (ticket, traffic, tunnels)

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

And maybe it's just because I'm mostly in the city, where the cops are spread thin, but I'd love to see more people get pulled over for running red lights, speeding, tailgating, etc. If there were consequences to their bad driving it might make a difference.

I too blame the police more than anything. Lack of enforcement breeds all of this ridiculousness.

If you travel the intersection of Forbes and Braddock every morning, Monday through Friday, you'll often see an officer sitting at Frick Park Automotive, watching the red light runners at that intersection. Much to my delight, he is very sucessful.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

Pittsburghers are very timid behind the wheel, not aggressive. They also can be very courteous...to a fault. They create their own traffic jams by not being aggessive enough.

Your words should be engraved in stone and placed in numerous locations throughout this county

[algia]

The MAIN reason for which drivers in PGH, and anywhere else in US for that matter are driving like this is simply because there is no ROAD school available and MANDATORY. A friend of mine did not pass his drivers license exam in Toronto (Canada) because when he took the road exam, and tried to merge onto a hwy from an exit ramp he did NOT speed up to match the required speed.

In the US the driving exam is a joke. I took mine online in less than 5 minutes and the "road" test was done at the DMV in the smallest parking lot you've ever seen. No road/hwy, parkway, state road you name it, none of that. Just drove around the parking lot, stopping at stop signs, and ohh the "most important" maneuver: they made me do a 3 point turn!!!!!!!! as if THAT was standing between me, and the traffic I was going to drive in every day.

They seem timid because they have NO CLUE how to adapt to traffic. If you take one of these drivers and put them on I-95 in Miami, they'll be killed within 2 minutes.

Ohh and BTW, they make us seem "aggressive" because we actually try to respect speed limits and passing lanes! I could have bought a Mercedes if I put a $1 away every time I had to pass someone through the "right lane" (which is ILLEGAL!) and also ILLEGAL is driving UNDER the speed limit! and taking naps in the passing lane!

[youngabe]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

There's several videos to check out on that account.

Somehow the timid Pittsburgh driver stereotype is still in the mind of people despite proof otherwise. Oh well.

You and I seem to have the same experiences! 40 minutes to go a few miles IS traffic! People then say, "There's no traffic in Pittsburgh!" WHERE are these people driving?

And yes, aggression has gotten worse around here. I'm admittedly VERY aggressive to the point things shouldn't bother me as much as they do, but that's just me!

[sskink]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I personally think Pittsburgh drivers aren't all that horrible. They are better than DC and NJ/NYC. Not a fan of super aggressive rude driving and that is what you get in those places. Pittsburgh is a joy in comparison.

My SIL lives on Long Island. Usually I drive when we go out there. But once we're there, both of us use the car to get around. My wife, who's lived here all her life actually enjoys driving the Grand Central and LIE because, as she says, "It's completely predictable." Something to be said for that.

The most aggravating thing to me (besides the tunnel slowdowns) is on the Ft. Pitt bridge merge into the South Hills. There is no reason to not keep moving. Cars that stop and block the 2nd lane to wait for a huge opening to move into instead of just nosing in like a proper merge should be dropped through a trap door into the river.

[JayDiFiore]

Make plans to arrive where you're going early. Then relax.

If you take steps to remove the hurry and the ego from driving, you'd be surprised at how little these ... uh... foibles... really matter.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by JayDiFiore

Make plans to arrive where you're going early. Then relax.

If you take steps to remove the hurry and the ego from driving, you'd be surprised at how little these ... uh... foibles... really matter.

I leave an hour before I go anywhere in Allegheny County, so I'm never in a hurry to go anywhere. I'm just one of those eccentric people that expect others to follow the rules of the road.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by youngabe

You and I seem to have the same experiences! 40 minutes to go a few miles IS traffic! People then say, "There's no traffic in Pittsburgh!" WHERE are these people driving?

And yes, aggression has gotten worse around here. I'm admittedly VERY aggressive to the point things shouldn't bother me as much as they do, but that's just me!

Haha just for the record I wasn't the one who created those videos. I definitely agree though, it takes me 40 to get to many places across the city. The sheer volume of traffic isn't as bad as LA of course, but the congestion and road layouts cause major hurdles to your destination. I'm a very defensive driver though.

[algia]

.......and with car manufactures only adding more distractions...it is no wonder drivers are becoming worst and worst:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/27870368 (broken link)

& legislators become laughable trying to enforce laws on "drivers" instead of REGULATIONS on CAR Manufactures who are out of control getting drivers distracted! (as if they need MORE distractions considering that there isn't even a serious driving examination in place) Can we BE anymore backwards?

and since we all can "afford" these "smart" cars...I can see the world transforming into a Mercedes world where they'll give them all away free at the farmers market....

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by algia

IF the speed limits barely reaches 65 (not where we came from), then why in the world our cars are made to drive over 100 miles per hour?

Shhh, you're gonna give the nanny-statists something else to ***** about!