Pittsburgh driving (Oliver: live, legal, bus)

[JimboPGH]

For what it's worth, Pittsburgh drivers aren't as bad as Canadian drivers.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by charisb

You can keep saying it, but turning left in front of oncoming traffic is not legal. Left turns always yield in this country, unless you have an arrow. If someone waves you on that is another story but I can tell you I have never waved someone forward and people turn left in front of me all the time.

Not sure why you wouldn't wave somebody on so that a few seconds can save a lot of traffic.

I always get waved on so there's nothing illegal about the Pittsburgh Left.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by erieguy

Not sure why you wouldn't wave somebody on so that a few seconds can save a lot of traffic.

I always get waved on so there's nothing illegal about the Pittsburgh Left.

I have never seen this anywhere else I have lived in my ~20 years of driving, and I have only been here for a few years, so it doesn't even occur to me.
Most of the time people don't even wait to see if you wave, they just gun it the moment the light changes.
and many times people do there when there is no traffic so they would only have to wait for one or two cars to pass anyway.
It is obnoxious and one of the few things I don't like about living here. As more and more people move here from other cities I hope this dies out.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by charisb

I have never seen this anywhere else I have lived in my ~20 years of driving, and I have only been here for a few years, so it doesn't even occur to me.
Most of the time people don't even wait to see if you wave, they just gun it the moment the light changes.
and many times people do there when there is no traffic so they would only have to wait for one or two cars to pass anyway.
It is obnoxious and one of the few things I don't like about living here.

In most cases, the line of traffic is very long, so rather than waiting for 2 or 3 lights, one makes the left. When I'm in the oncoming lane, I always wave the person on to make the left. Its just common courtesy.

It's not dying out. Best and easiest to get used to it. Not really a big deal.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by charisb

I have never seen this anywhere else I have lived in my ~20 years of driving, and I have only been here for a few years, so it doesn't even occur to me.
Most of the time people don't even wait to see if you wave, they just gun it the moment the light changes.
and many times people do there when there is no traffic so they would only have to wait for one or two cars to pass anyway.
It is obnoxious and one of the few things I don't like about living here. As more and more people move here from other cities I hope this dies out.

Agreed. Only about 1 in a hundred Pittsburgh Lefts even remotely makes any sense.

Plus it greatly adds to general confusion about right-of-ways and makes Pittsburgh drivers frustratingly passive and indecisive.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

Agreed. Only about 1 in a hundred Pittsburgh Lefts even remotely makes any sense.

Plus it greatly adds to general confusion about right-of-ways and makes Pittsburgh drivers frustratingly passive and indecisive.

It's just a left turn. Nothing should be confusing about it.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by erieguy

In most cases, the line of traffic is very long, so rather than waiting for 2 or 3 lights, one makes the left. When I'm in the oncoming lane, I always wave the person on to make the left. Its just common courtesy.

It's not dying out. Best and easiest to get used to it. Not really a big deal.

I don't know where you drive, but I am frequently in Oakland. Here is a common scenario:
I am leaving Soldiers & Sailors, driving down Bigelow. I plan to go straight through the Fifth Ave light. An idiot across from me decides to quickly accelerate through the light to turn left, even though there is maybe one car behind me. The biggest annoyance is that pedestrians are crossing Fifth Ave on that side, so this idiot cannot complete the turn, meaning that the cars behind me and I am stuck while they block the intersection. How is that more efficient?
Somehow I always manage to make it to where ever I am going without ever turning left in front of traffic.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

Agreed. Only about 1 in a hundred Pittsburgh Lefts even remotely makes any sense.

Consenting to a Pittsburgh left when you are the inbound driver on Fifth at Craig St in the morning is pretty beneficial to the flow of inbound traffic at that time. Even moreso outbound at the same intersection as the consenting outbound driver heading outbound in the afternoon. I would say 1 of 2 Pittsburgh lefts I allow are beneficial to the greater traffic flow.

[erieguy]

One or 2 cars behind you, its not necessary. A line of cars where one has to wait through many lights, then it's necassary to help the flow of traffic.

That's your choice...but its not going anywhere.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

Consenting to a Pittsburgh left when you are the inbound driver on Fifth at Craig St in the morning is pretty beneficial to the flow of inbound traffic at that time. Even moreso outbound at the same intersection as the consenting outbound driver heading outbound in the afternoon. I would say 1 of 2 Pittsburgh lefts I allow are beneficial to the greater traffic flow.

What happens when there's three more cars turning left behind the first guy? Now you're just holding up the heavier trafficked inbound lane.

Also, there's not always consent involved. I don't think I've ever "consented" to one, I've just been reasonable enough to not cause an accident when they've happened in front of me. There have been a few times when other drivers have signaled for me to take one, and I've sat there and cursed at them until they take their ****ing right of way like they're supposed to.

In my experiences, and I was a delivery guy in this town for three years so I'm not totally talking out of my ass, most Pittsburgh lefts happen when traffic is very light, and the threat of it turns what should be very simple intersections into awkward games of reverse chicken.

Pittsburgh drivers need to learn to stick their butts out into intersections and make lefts at the END of lights like the rest of the state (and every other state with delayed lights): few things annoy me more than drivers who neglect to make their left safely during a yellow light and then nearly cause a wreck while hastily hanging a louie at the start of the next green. It's just so damn counterintuitive to any driver who learned to drive anywhere else.