What tips /advice would you give a driver who is new to Pittsburgh?

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Pittsburgh drivers are really bad at merging. Be prepared for cars coming to a complete stop at the end of acceleration ramps, and other drivers to not let you in or not know what to do if you try to let them in (which is a seamless process almost everywhere else.)

Definitely not a seamless process everywhere else. I drive all over the mid-atlantic all the time for work, and its a problem a lot of the time. Pittsburgh is probably worse than most of the other cities though, and some of it may be due to lack of visibility in a lot of merge areas, due to the roads and topography. also still a lot of elderly drivers in the Pgh area and they almost always are more slow and careful.

[PreservationPioneer]

My best advice is...

On your day off, when you have nothing better to do..

Start driving around randomly in the city / county area, explore, and purposely get lost! Then try to find your way back using visual cues. Then get lost, find your way back, get lost again. Not only is this kind of fun, you will learn your way around based on visual cues, you will make mistakes and learn which way not to go, etc. The city is a lot of fun to explore. Just get lost enough times and everything will look faniliar.

[Twenty Years in the Burgh]

I know how to merge properly, but I'm not about to pull out into oncoming traffic--especially when merging onto the Parkway West. More often than not, the drivers are not paying one whit of attention to traffic, let alone paying enough attention to do the courtesy maneuver of moving over one lane (when possible, of course) to let merging traffic onto the freeway. Watch out for drivers that try to pull around you on entrance ramps, O.P. It happens all too often.

Adding to PreservationPioneer's advice (which is excellent, as always), if you ever ask for directions, be prepared for people to give you directions via landmarks that no longer exist. Once you adapt to becoming a full-fledged yinzer yourself, you'll find yourself doing the same thing. :-)

Taking the time to navigate the area via the old colored "belt" system is fun and will introduce you to all sorts of useful back ways around the region. Given the suburban Pittsburgh habits of never wishing to cross a bridge or go through a tunnel and having been married to a contractor who did work all around the city and beyond, I've found that I know my way around this area far better than many natives.

For someone who loves to drive and finds that discovering new places and ways around the city to be fun, Pittsburgh is wonderful. Happy travels!

[Johnny C]

Buy a bicycle and ride it around the city. I have learned more about navigating the city in this way than any other. There is something about the bike that allows you to take your time, look around, remember landmarks and intersections.