Pittsburgh driving (Liberty: shop, airport, car)

[charisb]

I dislike aggressive drivers as much as anyone (and I believe my thoughts on the Pittsburgh left are now well documented), but some of you need to get a little perspective. We aren't exactly living in the West Bank.

[gg]

Originally Posted by charisb

I dislike aggressive drivers as much as anyone (and I believe my thoughts on the Pittsburgh left are now well documented), but some of you need to get a little perspective. We aren't exactly living in the West Bank.

Have we stooped to a level of comparing ourselves with that horrible region of the world? Is that the new perspective?

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Glad this forum is finally warming up to what I've been saying for years: people in this city have gotten way more meaner and confrontational in the past few years. The most obvious outlet that this can be seen is when people treat each other like garbage behind the wheel.

I think the change in driving happened when case prices shot up, especially in 2008. People were paying so much more to drive, they got more upset about delay the way you might be more upset out a a bad sandwich when you pay $10 instead of when you are paying $5.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Have we stooped to a level of comparing ourselves with that horrible region of the world? Is that the new perspective?

Oh geez, curt, take some Xanax--or go on a long bike ride.
My hyperbole is just matching all the previous hyperbole.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

I think the change in driving happened when case prices shot up, especially in 2008. People were paying so much more to drive, they got more upset about delay the way you might be more upset out a a bad sandwich when you pay $10 instead of when you are paying $5.

Possibly yeah, but I think the bigger change in American psyche was due to the recession which happened around the same time. Since the country never fully recovered from it (despite media claims) there seems to still be some sort of mental effect it's having on the country's populace.

[captainmidnight]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Wow. Just wow. Some of my latest rants:


-People who think public buses are like school buses with flashing stop signs affixed to them to stop oncoming traffic to permit you to cross. If you're exiting your bus in the opposing lane of traffic why should I be expected to stop and wave you across the street because you then proceeded to walk in FRONT of the bus with your face glued to your Smartphone? I continue driving and honk when necessary. You don't see people in Manhattan getting off a bus and then walking into opposing traffic without looking. Why is it "acceptable" here?

-The "Pittsburgh" Left being done incorrectly. If there's nobody behind me, and if there's nobody behind you, then you're NOT going to be demanding to turn left in front of me without me blaring my horn. I was almost in an accident when someone tried turning left from Morewood Avenue southbound onto Ellsworth Avenue eastbound (by Winchester Thurston) in front of me. Nobody was behind either of us. The other day someone tried to do a Pittsburgh Left from inbound Bigelow Boulevard onto Blessing Street (opposite the Bloomfield Bridge) across TWO lanes of outbound Bigelow Boulevard. They made it in front of the person in the closest opposing lane but were then "denied" the left by the other opposing lane's lead car, at which point the following cars also started to go through the intersection. Guess where I was? Behind the person in the left-hand opposing lane that had the Pittsburgh Left moron "beached" in front of them, which, of course meant a lot of horn-honking.


-Speaking of GetGo ingress/egress mess, another pet peeve is those who will stop and wave people out of the parking lot into oncoming traffic---oncoming traffic which may or may NOT be able to see that driver pulling into their lane. A few weeks ago I had a close call. Traffic on eastbound (outbound) Baum was stopped at a red light. Motorists in both eastbound lanes had left a gap to wave out someone who was trying to turn left onto Baum from GetGo. Meanwhile, I was turning left from nearby Morewood onto Baum with a green light. I was in the left-hand lane on westbound/outbound Baum (you don't want to be in the right-hand lane there because the Mia Pizza jagoffs block that lane because they're too lazy to park around the corner on the side street and walk). If it wasn't for the fact that I saw the headlights of the car leaving GetGo reflect off of the windows of the Fresenius Dialysis clinic at the last second, giving me just enough time to veer into the right-hand lane, we would have been in an accident. Never assume the people in opposing traffic have the same exact view of your surroundings as YOU do, especially when factoring in smaller vehicle sight-lines vs. large-vehicle sight-line obstructions.

- I am really careful if I pass a bus on the left as I am waiting for a passenger to cross in front of the bus. Especially at stops not at an intersection. I think there are signs inside the bus that tell passengers not to cross in front of the bus, "Other drivers aren't as safe as ours"

- That Pittsburgh left situation would've ticked me off so much. I would have definitely been the denier in that instance. You are not doing it across two lanes of traffic. No way, no how. I do not perform Pittsburgh Left's. If I have to make a turn like that I will do at the end of the light cycle.

- I never wave people coming from a side road or business to cross into the opposite lane of traffic. A friend did this once and the driver entering traffic got in an accident and blamed my friend for "waving him on". I will never want to get involved with that. You can sit and wait. I'm not being mean and not letting you out, I am just following the rules and keeping the flow of traffic moving.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Hopes

You're right. Curtis is confused.

You are correct. I have never had anyone pull out in front of me to make a left, so I guess in all my years, I have never had anyone do this. Odd. I just assumed we are talking about pulling in the intersection to make a left at the end. Wow, I learned something.

So I guess this must happen now and again? Never saw it done. I have waved people to make a left in front of me. For example, if I am coming from the zoo and driving towards Verona on Allegheny River Blvd, I will wave someone in front of me if they are trying to turn on Nadine Road because there is no turning lane and that usually causes a big line, so it helps if someone lets them in. I guess that is a so-called Pittsburgh left, but to me it is just common sense. Why have that big line of traffic for no reason?

[charisb]

No--the Pittsburgh left is someone turning left in front of traffic the second the light changes to green. There is no waving necessary.
I do not know how you would have never experienced this. It happens to me almost every time I drive.
It even has a wikipedia entry: Pittsburgh left - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by charisb

I dislike aggressive drivers as much as anyone (and I believe my thoughts on the Pittsburgh left are now well documented), but some of you need to get a little perspective. We aren't exactly living in the West Bank.

Well said. I'd rep you if I could. ... during my rental car ride from Dulles airport to DC in peak hour recently I experienced more aggressive and dumb driving than I have in Pittsburgh this year. There's some crazies out there, for sure, but really ....

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by charisb

No--the Pittsburgh left is someone turning left in front of traffic the second the light changes to green. There is no waving necessary.
I do not know how you would have never experienced this. It happens to me almost every time I drive.
It even has a wikipedia entry: Pittsburgh left - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

That was an interesting article. My brother once pulled a "Pittsburgh left" out here in CO with me in the car, and I nearly freaked. It is one thing to be expecting someone to do that, it's way different if there's no expectation that the left-turner will try to pull a Pittsburgh left.

Lest you think that I think that drivers here are perfect, allow me to quote something from that article that happens a lot here:
"Some large intersections have four-way red for several seconds as a safety buffer, providing an opportunity for an illegal and unsafe left turn after cross-traffic has physically stopped but before the green light gives legal right of way."