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137,000 on my 6 speed. Original clutch. You are probably correct, you need an automatic or I could educate you on how to drive in our region with a manual. I can't stand automatics, but maybe someday I will give up. So few cars come in manuals these days. The US driver just wants cup holders and backup cameras.
Beat me by 17K. I think I was a better driver when I drove a stick, it made you more aware and kept your head in the game. Easier on the brakes as well.
The first time I visited here, I blew through the stop sign on the Green Tree on-ramp to the Parkway West. Didn't even consider that there might be a stop sign entering a highway. That would be ludicrous.
Now you know exactly why I get so pissed off when people insist that upgrading the highways in Pittsburgh is a waste of money. It really is ludicrous that stop signs are needed at the end of highway on-ramps. And that's not the only blatant design deficiency either, for that matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8YearsinPittsburgh
I can merge without bringing others or myself to a stop...
I've almost rear-ended two people who have stopped at the ends of on-ramps before. Too bad that I-85 in Georgia and I-65 in Alabama are nowhere near Pittsburgh, or that neither person I almost rear-ended had Pennsylvania plates, or you just might have a case that it's only Pittsburghers who don't know how to merge.
All your posts prove that human race is declining in the ares of common sense, politeness, courtesy. Manners many times non existent. Narcissism is the word most commonly used. Me,me,me is the rule of the day. Every state and city has what Pittsburgh has. In our state we now have air patrols monitoring our highways for bullies and agressive drivers and see patrols on the side with one car after another pulled over. Pedestrians have to be on their toes getting across the street even when they have the right of way. Could go on and on. We had cameras every where to monitor the roads and guess what so many people complained they shut them down. Am sure the ones least likely to abiding by the laws were the culprits. Wont be getting any better as once a society is in decline it just keeps going south. Good luck out there and stay safe.
I drive an older car and so I'm often a victim of the "my time is more important than your life" bust a move maneuvers by aggressive drivers. Someone is always cutting and swooping in front of me in long lines of traffic, or getting over at the very last minute possible on bridge approaches.
There is also this phenom of drivers who see you signal your intention to change lanes and they actually accelerate to cut you off so that you do not get in front of them. This is not people who are relatively close behind but far enough behind so that if they suddenly start speeding up you can see in your side view mirror that your timing is now off and you have to wait.
Route 28 has gotten so out of hand with the speeding. Route 28 is a raceway now - ever since the construction was completed - except for the upstream bottleneck for the Etna exit.
I also wonder if people are commuting from such far distances from work in the Pittsburgh region that they are trying to compress their commutes - I don't know...out of hand whatever the problem is.
Last night proved to me that Pittsburgh drivers are becoming increasingly self-absorbed sociopaths. It was Halloween. I was doing my delivery job. We were busy. Regardless, though, I didn't crack 20-25 in residential areas because there were a ton of trick-or-treaters out last night. Reynolds Street in Point Breeze, along with adjacent side streets, was especially congested with sometimes poorly-supervised children longing for candy. I know Point Breeze isn't that jam-packed with children, so I was under the assumption parents from Homewood, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington, East Hills, and other bad neighborhoods were driving to Point Breeze and taking their children to get candy in a safer environment. The amount of people tailgating me and then speeding around corners on/around Reynolds in particular was staggering. I was thoroughly convinced I was going to witness a munchkin getting turned into a pancake.
When not even children can convince someone to slow down I don't know what will.
I too was driving very slowly through neighborhoods that night. I like your diagnosis...self-absorbed sociopaths. Merge that kind kind of crazy with the cockpit-like interiors of the modern car that infuses people with such super confidence and you've got the recipe for dangerous driving.
137,000 on my 6 speed. Original clutch. You are probably correct, you need an automatic or I could educate you on how to drive in our region with a manual. I can't stand automatics, but maybe someday I will give up. So few cars come in manuals these days. The US driver just wants cup holders and backup cameras.
C'mon down to the S. Hills and drive my commuting routes every day.
I almost bought in Franklin Park when I moved here 13 years ago. There's no commuting route from up there into the city that is remotely like waiting on the steep grades of Vanadium, Cochran or Segar for several light changes every freaking day.
I too was driving very slowly through neighborhoods that night. I like your diagnosis...self-absorbed sociopaths. Merge that kind kind of crazy with the cockpit-like interiors of the modern car that infuses people with such super confidence and you've got the recipe for dangerous driving.
I mean, c'mon, right? They're children---not speed bumps! I'll be the first to admit I drive way too quickly on the highways, but I generally do just drive 20-25 on surface city streets because you never know when an elderly person may wander into the middle of the street in Squirrel Hill or when a parent distracted by Grindr on their smartphone will let their young child run into traffic in Lawrenceville. I know I preach about how much lollygagging jaywalkers tick me off, but I'd still feel horribly if I hit one of them.
All your posts prove that human race is declining in the ares of common sense, politeness, courtesy. Manners many times non existent. Narcissism is the word most commonly used. Me,me,me is the rule of the day. Every state and city has what Pittsburgh has. In our state we now have air patrols monitoring our highways for bullies and agressive drivers and see patrols on the side with one car after another pulled over. Pedestrians have to be on their toes getting across the street even when they have the right of way. Could go on and on. We had cameras every where to monitor the roads and guess what so many people complained they shut them down. Am sure the ones least likely to abiding by the laws were the culprits. Wont be getting any better as once a society is in decline it just keeps going south. Good luck out there and stay safe.
11 pages and I still can't isolate anything specific to Pittsburgh drivers.
Some facts about me: my driving habits and skills were developed in two primary areas, a small town of about 6000 people, and a close at hand city of approximately 100,000 people. I lived in that metro area for 36 years. In that time, I've had plenty of experience driving in Cleveland, Buffalo, NYC, and Boston. All areas with much higher population and much higher volume of traffic. Interestingly enough, I enjoy driving in those higher traffic areas. One thing that is interesting about all of the areas I've mentioned so far is, there are bits and pieces of the habits and skills I learned back home used in traffic every day. Very simple, almost automatic things people do just to keep traffic moving. And then I come to Pittsburgh.......
I think it's more than a fair statement to say I felt driving in Pittsburgh would be more like driving in the larger metro areas that I mentioned. What I see every day are absolutely the most timid, poorly focussed and unskilled drivers I've ever seen.
So, the habits that I've mentioned.........I've seen and used them in small town USA and at the center of the universe (NYC)......someone is in front of you turning left, and there is space wide enough to fit a Mack truck through to their right......Do you sit and wait, or simply navigate around to keep moving? I've never seen so many people chose to sit as I see in Pittsburgh every day.
Someone choses to parallel park in front of you.....do you sit and wait until they are neatly tucked in their space, or maybe even wait until they get out of their car (I've seen it here), or just go around when their is enough room to do so?
Four way intersections with stop signs: do you join the staring contest or are you the person that gets moving while others sit and stare?
Are you scared or intimidated by curvy roads or long downhill sections? I come from a region where it was only moderately hill at times, but have never been the least bit intimidated around here. Mt Washington? How about the REAL Mt Washington in NH.
Are you afraid you're vehicle will tip over going 5mph over the Highland Park Bridge? It won't
Pittsburgh drivers don't forget how to drive in the snow. it's more than obvious they never learned. This isn't a community in the south that never gets snow.
The tunnels? Probably the most ridiculous back ups around
There are just so many small things Pittsburgh drivers don't do that really slow the free flow of traffic
Last edited by 8YearsinPittsburgh; 11-03-2015 at 04:27 AM..
I think it's more than a fair statement to say I felt driving in Pittsburgh would be more like driving in the larger metro areas that I mentioned. What I see every day are absolutely the most timid, poorly focussed and unskilled drivers I've ever seen.
So, the habits that I've mentioned.........I've seen and used them in small town USA and at the center of the universe (NYC)......someone is in front of you turning left, and there is space wide enough to fit a Mack truck through to their right......Do you sit and wait, or simply navigate around to keep moving? I've never seen so many people chose to sit as I see in Pittsburgh every day.
Someone choses to parallel park in front of you.....do you sit and wait until they are neatly tucked in their space, or maybe even wait until they get out of their car (I've seen it here), or just go around when their is enough room to do so?
Four way intersections with stop signs: do you join the staring contest or are you the person that gets moving while others sit and stare?
Are you scared or intimidated by curvy roads or long downhill sections? I come from a region where it was only moderately hill at times, but have never been the least bit intimidated around here. Mt Washington? How about the REAL Mt Washington in NH.
Are you afraid you're vehicle will tip over going 5mph over the Highland Park Bridge? It won't
Pittsburgh drivers don't forget how to drive in the snow. it's more than obvious they never learned. This isn't a community in the south that never gets snow.
The tunnels? Probably the most ridiculous back ups around
There are just so many small things Pittsburgh drivers don't do that really slow the free flow of traffic
I think you missed the #1 habit that, IMO, seems uniquely Pittsburgh: failure to merge at the merge point. You can see a sign that says "left lane closed, 1 mile" and everyone shifts to the right lane within a quarter mile, leading to a long, slow-moving line, while that last 3/4 mile of left lane stays relatively free of traffic. And then those people get annoyed when you try to merge at a hundred yards out from the merge point. I see this often on inbound Parkway West at the 79 interchange.
A case in point - the merge from Banksville Rd going into the Ft. Pitt tunnel. While there's a backup of cars in the left lane of Banksville waiting to merge into the flow on Parkway West heading for the tunnel, it's much more efficient and quicker to use the right lane of Banksville and merge closer to the tunnel, even if you're goal is to move all the way across to the left lane that goes downtown/North Side. That one move is worth 4-5 minutes of commute time.
It's like you were walking down the street and come across a huge line waiting outside at some store or restaurant or club. You might think a big event or sale is going on, but then you ask someone in line what's going on and they tell you they don't really know, but it was a big line of people waiting, so there must be a good reason for it.
Additionally, a NYC, Boston or DC driver only needs 3-4 feet as an invitation to merge. A typical Pittsburgh driver needs 1.5 car lengths.
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I'll be the first to admit I drive way too quickly on the highways, but I generally do just drive 20-25 on surface city streets because you never know when an elderly person may wander into the middle of the street in Squirrel Hill or when a parent distracted by Grindr on their smartphone will let their young child run into traffic in Lawrenceville. I know I preach about how much lollygagging jaywalkers tick me off, but I'd still feel horribly if I hit one of them.
