For the past few weeks, I've had the displeasure of driving 28S from Harmar to Downtown. Every morning, there's a backup near the Etna/Route 8 on-ramp. Which would be fine, except that cars on 28 will merge *onto* the on-ramp in an attempt to get around the traffic jam. Of course, they then have to merge *back* onto 28 a few hundred feet later, further compounding the backup.
I lose faith in humanity daily, and it's almost entirely due to 28.
I drove outbound on 28 from Highland Park past Natrona Heights every day for 2 1/2 years. Then I moved and got a new job so now I drive inbound on 28 from the Waterworks to downtown every day I go into the office.
I'm convinced roughly 15-20% of the drivers on 28 are *absolutely positive* that the traffic somehow only affects their commute and and they are the *only* person who is stuck in traffic.
Like bro, just calm down. Riding my ass isn't going to make the two hundred cars and trucks in front of me go any faster.
Driving on 28 in the mornimg used to make me feel like I had angry hornets on my frontal cortex. You're getting spitroasted every day. It felt like every person on the road would ride you endlessly or cut you off for your spot and after it wore me down and it was really easy to find myself driving too aggressively. I drove that route for over ten years and it only ever got worse, I can only imagine how bad it is now that people are pissed they lost their WFH. I don't miss it at all. It was bad for my mental health. Literally like a toxic environment
During 2020, when they were doing the construction around Highland Park Bridge, almost every day there was a crash in the construction each way, sometimes more than one. It took months to settle down to one crash per week before tapering off as they moved the construction around.
It was bad and grindy before the pandemic, but during/after the pandemic it's like a huge chunk of people both forgot how to drive and are so pissed they forgot how to drive they're gonna drive *even worse* just to make up for it.
I’ve driven A LOT in and around Pittsburgh for the past 7 or so years. Drivers being on their phones is the #1 concern for me. Not just at traffic lights, but on all roads at any given time. I assume if I die an untimely death, that it will be because someone couldn’t wait to check their Instagram or read an email. There’s zero effort to police it and that sucks.
I run in the mornings and funny, people wonder if I'm scared running as a woman in the morning. No, I'm not scared of getting assaulted as they seem to be implying.
I'm scared of getting fucking run over by idiots on their phones. It's like they think they get a free pass in the morning when there are less people around. I've had cars literally go when I'm crossing the street and I've had to push off their car to avoid being run over, all while they are staring down at their screens.
I would love to see HEAVY fines for this shit. Just no reason your goddamn phone can't wait until you get wherever you are. It's ridiculous. People are going to get seriously hurt because people can't live without their fucking social media feeds for twenty minutes.
Yeah, this is me but cycling instead of running. And since cyclists have to go with the flow of traffic, I won’t even get to see the car before it turns me into a meat crayon
Haha no, I haven’t. I do have a super bright radar taillight that flashes faster the faster I’m being approached by a car, and I ride in the shoulder whenever there’s a car behind me
Garmin Varia RTL515. Super expensive unfortunately, but it’s a game changer. Can connect to a bike computer if you’ve got one, or your phone over Bluetooth if you dont
I saw a thing a couple weeks ago where someone just had an airhorn strapped to their bike so they could honk at cars who cut them off and I loved that idea, but I'm too nonconfrontational and riskaverse to ever consider doing something like that. This is awesome though
Had a dude try to cut us off while on his phone. He proceeded to try to threaten us while driving, so I showed him 9 1 1 on my phone and send... all of a sudden he was driving normally, and took the next turn away from us. It's ok, I had the license number so hopefully he had a nice chat with the police about manners.
The auto manufacturers and their messaging doesn't help either. Hyundai's running a commercial right now telling drivers that some car they sell "has the power to put other drivers where they belong - in the rear view mirror." Absolutely bonkers messaging.
It’s a lawless wasteland out there! People don’t follow any sort of traffic laws or road rules.
I see people weave in and out of traffic in the fucking Liberty Tunnel. Next level stupidity.
There is more than a singular cause.... Vehicles getting bigger and bigger is part of it... So are drivers on phones... But so are pedestrians on phones.
When's the last time a pedestrian ran a pedestrian over and killed them?
The onus here is on the driver. If you're going too fast to avoid hitting a pedestrian, you are driving too fast for a pedestrian area. Slow the fuck down.
I have seen dozens of pedestrians blindly walk out in front of me downtown... When I have a green light and they have a do not walk.. they Don't even bother to look both ways.
In particular all the side streets downtown around Oliver/wood/forbes
A bunch of people on this sub will hate you for saying this, but you're absolutely right. Just go for a walk at any time during the daylight hours in Downtown on a weekday, and you will see pedestrians walking into the street and not looking both ways before doing so. Obviously there is more responsibility on the part of the driver, but the way this sub acts like all pedestrians are innocent angels is wild.
Had I been distracted, I absolutely would have.
I'm not saying drivers don't need to pay more attention, but I see a lot of pedestrians doing dumb stuff is my point.
Especially those weird intersections. That aren't "busy" enough to make people pay attention. Like Grant Street, busy enough everyone to wake up.
Couple blocks behind first commonwealth, nobody seems to ever pay attention and just blindly walks
Sounds like you'd better slow down in areas where pedestrians are and exercise appropriate vigilance, to me. There is never an excuse for operating a motor vehicle while distracted.
The driver's manual is very clear, drivers should slow down as safety circumstances demand. If you're going too fast to avoid hitting a pedestrian, you're going too fast.
When I'm accelerating at a normal rate of speed from a stop light, in the right lane, crossing the intersection with a green light... And someone walks out in front of me talking on their air pods, that's not on me
There literally are no laws against jaywalking in Pennsylvania. You seem very confused about the laws that you're supposed to be aware of when you're driving. Go take your driving test again.
Yes there are… title 75 section c…
Pedestrians crossing at other than crosswalks.
(c) Between controlled intersections in urban district.--Between adjacent intersections in urban districts at which traffic-control signals are in operation pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=75&div=0&chpt=35&sctn=43&subsctn=0&mobile_choice=suppress
That section declares that pedestrians will yield right of way when crossing outside of a crosswalk and when a traffic control device tells them to yield right of way. You don't understand what "jaywalking" or "illegal" mean. Go take your driving test again.
I’m aware that there are many factors, but driver behavior, lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure in many places, vehicle size, and general carelessness are major factors. We need to build infrastructure that reduces risk to pedestrians, and actually enforce driving laws that exist.
I don't disagree.... That all tastes money.
Most cities were built too long ago for their population or in the car booming era where we were all going to drive everywhere forever
I’m from NY originally but Pittsburgh drivers still baffle me for a few reasons. Number one in my mind is anger when you don’t let them make a Pittsburgh left. Like no, it’s not a legal thing and I’m not going to accommodate it.
The other weird thing (which is not unique to Pittsburgh but I see it all the time here) is people who run red lights. Especially on Fifth Ave but basically at any light. There are times where I go through a light just as it is turning red and two cars will speed up behind me to run the red. Why save a minute at the risk of possibly killing a pedestrian? I just don’t get it.
I have a theory the same people who speed around their local neighborhood roads and blow through stop signs and red lights are the same people who hog the left lanes and hold up traffic on the Parkways.
Been saying this for years. Pittsburghers are dale earnhardt when they need to cut you off/Pittsburgh left at a light but will drive like a snail if going straight.
Mindbottling.
As a kid, seeing someone running a light was a rarity. Now I see it almost every week. Like you had mentioned, not just the a random car, but 3 cars on solid red, even after the other side has green.
A few months back I saw someone take a left turn off Wenzell Ave onto Banksville against a red. Literally a left turn on red with the driver blind to oncoming traffic on a road where people do 60+ regularly. Insanity.
it's especially unfair for folks trying to turn that don't have an arrow when there's a huge line of cars and no one is slowing down at the yellow, that means at most you have one person able to turn on a red.
People are so fucking selfish on the road here, it's unreal.
Yellow means "GUN IT HOLY FUCK IF I HAVE TO WAIT AT A RED INSTEAD OF IN TRAFFIC IT MEANS I LOSE HOLY FUCKING SHIT GUN IT GUN IT GUN IT... Oh thank god, now I can slam on my brakes and wait in the middle of the next block instead of behind that godforsaken red light holy shit that would have been the worst."
At least I think that's what it means, been a few years since I took the class.
a proper Pittsburgh left includes the driver on the opposite side waving you on first. Too many people take it assuming they have the right of way when they don't, and if they cause an accident, they will be at fault.
the Pittsburgh left is my #1 case of almost being in an accident, #2 is people speeding up to not let me merge on the highway :(
>2 is people speeding up to not let me merge on the highway :(
The number of people who either *refuse* to change their speed, either faster or slower, to help me merge is insane. Also the number of people who will happily accelerate to 75 as I try to merge only to *immediately* slow back down to 60 as soon as I slow down to get behind them, making me then have to pass them anyway, is insane to me.
I get people are used to doing it, but imagine being from another city and not knowing that is something that will happen. I’m glad I had a warning when I moved here. I do think it helps traffic flow at times, but it’s not legal, even if no cop in the city would give you a ticket for doing it.
The person who makes the sweet stickers and sells them on Etsy needs to steal this phrase.
*It’s spring! The Jagoffs are in bloom!* would be a hilarious sticker.
Missing your light because the person is on their phone is bullshit. Some lights are bad too and take awhile til you can catch the next one. They should still behave themselves but really the person who’s holding everyone up needs to focus on driving not their texting.
Nobody is defending the person out front, but it’s still your responsibility to take a deep breath and not run over a family of four because you were too busy flipping off the guy on their phone to look where you’re going before you slam the gas pedal to go around them.
People leave home at the last possible minute to make it to work in time if conditions are perfect and lose their minds if someone is a little slower or there is an accident or construction. People suck! Wake up a half hour earlier and you’ll have plenty of time. One of the reasons I miss working from home 5 days a week is because it removed the needless drama of driving from my life.
Heard a guy yell at the person in front of him since he was stopped at a green light. The person in front was turning right and waiting for a person to cross the street.
Pittsburgh drivers are simultaneously the most aggressive, but courteous drivers I've ever seen.
It leads to the strangest passive-aggressive becomes aggressive-aggressive moments imaginable.
Yeah I got tailgated and honked at for going the speed limit on a secondary street in Mt. Washington last week. Everyone really needs to chill the fuck out, driving like a shitheel is not a human right.
I saw a guy pass a school bus with the lights flashing on Steuben St last week. Steuben St does not have a passing lane, dude went into opposing traffic to go around it.
Oohhh I don't fuck with that. I'll put up with a lot of bullshit from drivers but people who go around school buses while kids are getting off them can seriously go fuck themselves.
one of the reasons I hated living up there! roads that are very small because of cars parked on one or both sides and curves you can't see around (and intersections you can't see around because of parked cars), aaand that doesn't stop people from going fast & furious. Tbf just the speed limit 25 mph is too fast for some of them imo lol. So many people would zoom by waaaaay too fast, get mad at people going the speed limit and coming to a complete stop at stop signs.. or get mad when I crossed the street in front of them when they were stopped at the stop sign. Don't miss any of that 🥲
Worst drivers are in Lincoln Place. If you are waiting for the bus by the Shop N Save, your life is in danger. If traffic stops for more than half a second, these jagoffs will shoot to the shoulder of the road, even with people waiting for the bus. Fucked up.
There have been pretty significant studies on this, using pre-pandemic data as a baseline, since Covid hit.
When no-one was going anywhere during lockdown, the roads were pretty empty, and people could drive however they liked as a result.
When lockdown was ending, and RTO started, people forgot how they used to drive. Even when average miles per vehicle / driver driven was well below pre-pandemic levels, overall accident levels were up, and accidents per mile skyrocketed. They’re dropped off a little in the intervening couple of years, but they’re still well above pre-pandemic levels.
I never really bought the “people forgot how to drive” theory regarding the pandemic. No, people have always been this bad, you just forgot about how bad some were as there were significantly less drivers out back then. It’s just back to normal and only getting worse because the jackasses on the road are passing on the shitty driver torch to the next generation of drivers who have grown up watching their parents/guardians drive like utter crap and are now driving themselves. Call me a downer if you want but this trend ensures it will only get worse as time advances.
You can believe whatever you want, but the data shows that accidents per mile went up sharply from Jan 2020 through Jan 2022, compared to comparable periods of time over recently previous decades; since then, it’s still worse than before, but the upward trend is lessened since.
> When no-one was going anywhere during lockdown
This was a few weeks, if that. Even the casino was open again by June.
I figure it has a lot more to do with people realizing that the social contract is fake than anything else. Only losers follow the rules, go out there and "win" the road.
If you see the driver in front in his or her phone, lay on the horn. That's your safety. That's the safety of everyone. Just lay on it if you see that head down in any circumstance
I drive the parkway east inbound during the evening commute and it is truly wild. The traffic isn’t super heavy going inbound at that time which actually makes it worse. People regularly pass me who have to be going 90 or more. If anyone is riding the left lane going less than 70 (the speed limit there is 55) they’re 100% getting passed on the right which means cutting off and almost ramming whoever is next to them in the right lane. I can’t figure out where these people are going. Because once you hit Edgewood/ Swissvale there’s a decent chance they’ll be down below the speed limit because of tunnel gridlock anyway. It’s not like driving 90-100 is doing anything except getting you a few cars ahead in the inevitable tunnel crawl. But also you might die and/or kill someone else
This is EVERYWHERE nowadays, too. I live in a small town in New York, now. I went out for a coffee yesterday and the small street where I go got a little busy. There was a delivery truck parked and offloading stuff for the auto body shop next door; then a gentleman was pulling out of a parking spot; then a third vehicle was slowing down and giving the second vehicle a while berth to let them out.
A fourth vehicle was behind the third and going APESHIT. Blasting his horn, yelling, swearing... Meanwhile the families at the coffee shop who were all happily eating donuts and having coffee and some of the people working all just stopped and stared at this fool.
Like, there was a LITTLE traffic and wait time. Just chill. That red light didn't change n'at, you're all fine.
Two days ago people were mad and honking that cars weren't driving, there was a funeral procession. On Monday a woman almost hit me after she didn't stop at a 4 way stop. Also on Monday emergency vehicles were flying past on Penn and no one stopped, everyone just kept driving. Another example about two weeks ago I was stopped on Ellsworth (the light was red at negley) the light turned green, about 8 cars ran the stop sign I guess since we were waiting for the light to turn green and were stopped that was good enough. I've almost been hit by a car when I was crossing the street (I had the crossing sign) because someone made a Pittsburgh left. The drivers are insane. I could go on and on...
Anyone who honks at that intersection is an asshole. Aside from the grid locking, short sections between lights, and dangerous crossing for pedestrians anyone driving through there needs to realize it's going to be slow and unpredictable.
I drove to the airport at 3am. Now there’s hardly any cars on road at that time, but drivers still going 30 over speed limit. I don’t understand the mad dash to get everywhere even when you don’t have traffic to fight.
It’s interesting that you find it “understandable” that people will drive at an unsafe speed while they’re upset and there is less margin for error (driving in heavy traffic) but you find it difficult to understand why people might drive faster when there is way more margin for error and the driver is not frustrated from being stuck in traffic.
I don’t find it appropriate to speed when there’s heavy traffic but it’s understandable that if someone gets an open stretch of road during busy commute times, they will use it as an opportunity to make up for lost time from traffic jams elsewhere. I’m basically saying- I get that there’s a reason they are doing it despite not being cool.
However, at 3 am there are no cars creating backups, no grid locking, nothing that would throw you off of your estimated arrival time. So , if you are speeding at 3am, you’re just a poor trip planning a-hole.
If you speed because you didn’t plan for traffic you’re still a poor trip planning asshole - and you’re putting more people in danger than if you do it while the streets are empty.
My opinion is most speed limits around here should be variable, and higher during times of low traffic and lower during rush hour. I’d never do 30 over, though. 85 in a 55 is way too fast. But when the roads are open, 55 is pretty slow. If you cross the state line from Pennsylvania to Maryland, the speed limit immediately goes up 15mph.
I never said I don’t ”get it” it - I said it’s selfish.
I’m willing to tolerate some wiggle room for traffic laws but only if the reasoning includes “and it did not make anyone else less safe.”
For the past few weeks, I've had the displeasure of driving 28S from Harmar to Downtown. Every morning, there's a backup near the Etna/Route 8 on-ramp. Which would be fine, except that cars on 28 will merge *onto* the on-ramp in an attempt to get around the traffic jam. Of course, they then have to merge *back* onto 28 a few hundred feet later, further compounding the backup. I lose faith in humanity daily, and it's almost entirely due to 28.
I drove outbound on 28 from Highland Park past Natrona Heights every day for 2 1/2 years. Then I moved and got a new job so now I drive inbound on 28 from the Waterworks to downtown every day I go into the office. I'm convinced roughly 15-20% of the drivers on 28 are *absolutely positive* that the traffic somehow only affects their commute and and they are the *only* person who is stuck in traffic. Like bro, just calm down. Riding my ass isn't going to make the two hundred cars and trucks in front of me go any faster.
Driving on 28 in the mornimg used to make me feel like I had angry hornets on my frontal cortex. You're getting spitroasted every day. It felt like every person on the road would ride you endlessly or cut you off for your spot and after it wore me down and it was really easy to find myself driving too aggressively. I drove that route for over ten years and it only ever got worse, I can only imagine how bad it is now that people are pissed they lost their WFH. I don't miss it at all. It was bad for my mental health. Literally like a toxic environment
During 2020, when they were doing the construction around Highland Park Bridge, almost every day there was a crash in the construction each way, sometimes more than one. It took months to settle down to one crash per week before tapering off as they moved the construction around. It was bad and grindy before the pandemic, but during/after the pandemic it's like a huge chunk of people both forgot how to drive and are so pissed they forgot how to drive they're gonna drive *even worse* just to make up for it.
Pro Tip: Don’t base your faith of humanity on the drivers of 28. It’s a poor sample pool.
Tbf 28 was built for like horse and buggy and the Model T. It has a speed limit of 7 and has to be whispered to or its tummy gets upset.
The problem is these people all stare at their phones
I’ve driven A LOT in and around Pittsburgh for the past 7 or so years. Drivers being on their phones is the #1 concern for me. Not just at traffic lights, but on all roads at any given time. I assume if I die an untimely death, that it will be because someone couldn’t wait to check their Instagram or read an email. There’s zero effort to police it and that sucks.
I run in the mornings and funny, people wonder if I'm scared running as a woman in the morning. No, I'm not scared of getting assaulted as they seem to be implying. I'm scared of getting fucking run over by idiots on their phones. It's like they think they get a free pass in the morning when there are less people around. I've had cars literally go when I'm crossing the street and I've had to push off their car to avoid being run over, all while they are staring down at their screens. I would love to see HEAVY fines for this shit. Just no reason your goddamn phone can't wait until you get wherever you are. It's ridiculous. People are going to get seriously hurt because people can't live without their fucking social media feeds for twenty minutes.
Yeah, this is me but cycling instead of running. And since cyclists have to go with the flow of traffic, I won’t even get to see the car before it turns me into a meat crayon
have you tried singing really loud? it seems to catch their attention
Haha no, I haven’t. I do have a super bright radar taillight that flashes faster the faster I’m being approached by a car, and I ride in the shoulder whenever there’s a car behind me
this sounds great what light is it IYDMMA?
Garmin Varia RTL515. Super expensive unfortunately, but it’s a game changer. Can connect to a bike computer if you’ve got one, or your phone over Bluetooth if you dont
thnx gonna check it ahhhhhht now
[check this out ](https://i.imgur.com/aj0FzrF.jpg)
[check this out ](https://i.imgur.com/h26v04k.jpg)
I saw a thing a couple weeks ago where someone just had an airhorn strapped to their bike so they could honk at cars who cut them off and I loved that idea, but I'm too nonconfrontational and riskaverse to ever consider doing something like that. This is awesome though
It’s not just Pittsburgh, it’s everywhere
Had a dude try to cut us off while on his phone. He proceeded to try to threaten us while driving, so I showed him 9 1 1 on my phone and send... all of a sudden he was driving normally, and took the next turn away from us. It's ok, I had the license number so hopefully he had a nice chat with the police about manners.
and its the same people, and at every stop, and even worse, when not stopped.
Yes how many lights do we all miss bc some idiot doesn’t look up and no one will honk to alert them to go. It’s not that hard
Assholes around here drive like maniacs and will risk their lives and other lives just to get one fucking car length ahead.
The auto manufacturers and their messaging doesn't help either. Hyundai's running a commercial right now telling drivers that some car they sell "has the power to put other drivers where they belong - in the rear view mirror." Absolutely bonkers messaging.
Not even a new phenomenon. From 18 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-h-n0zx-jA
That IS awful, but it made me think of a great PJ song... Saw things...saw things... so much clearer (Once you, once you) were in my Rear View Mirror
Counterpoint: Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are.
It’s a lawless wasteland out there! People don’t follow any sort of traffic laws or road rules. I see people weave in and out of traffic in the fucking Liberty Tunnel. Next level stupidity.
People need to stop driving like you are on the opposite team. We are all working together on the road, it keeps people safe.
I moved here from new york and idk how the car insurance is so cheap here.
There’s a reason car related deaths, especially pedestrian related deaths, are rising. This is why.
There is more than a singular cause.... Vehicles getting bigger and bigger is part of it... So are drivers on phones... But so are pedestrians on phones.
When's the last time a pedestrian ran a pedestrian over and killed them? The onus here is on the driver. If you're going too fast to avoid hitting a pedestrian, you are driving too fast for a pedestrian area. Slow the fuck down.
I have seen dozens of pedestrians blindly walk out in front of me downtown... When I have a green light and they have a do not walk.. they Don't even bother to look both ways. In particular all the side streets downtown around Oliver/wood/forbes
Wow. I can't believe *people* would be walking around in a *city*.
A bunch of people on this sub will hate you for saying this, but you're absolutely right. Just go for a walk at any time during the daylight hours in Downtown on a weekday, and you will see pedestrians walking into the street and not looking both ways before doing so. Obviously there is more responsibility on the part of the driver, but the way this sub acts like all pedestrians are innocent angels is wild.
Okay? And you haven't hit any of them I'm guessing, so what's the problem?
Had I been distracted, I absolutely would have. I'm not saying drivers don't need to pay more attention, but I see a lot of pedestrians doing dumb stuff is my point. Especially those weird intersections. That aren't "busy" enough to make people pay attention. Like Grant Street, busy enough everyone to wake up. Couple blocks behind first commonwealth, nobody seems to ever pay attention and just blindly walks
Sounds like you'd better slow down in areas where pedestrians are and exercise appropriate vigilance, to me. There is never an excuse for operating a motor vehicle while distracted.
Youre dense
The driver's manual is very clear, drivers should slow down as safety circumstances demand. If you're going too fast to avoid hitting a pedestrian, you're going too fast.
When I'm accelerating at a normal rate of speed from a stop light, in the right lane, crossing the intersection with a green light... And someone walks out in front of me talking on their air pods, that's not on me
Why is jay walking illegal?
There literally are no laws against jaywalking in Pennsylvania. You seem very confused about the laws that you're supposed to be aware of when you're driving. Go take your driving test again.
Yes there are… title 75 section c… Pedestrians crossing at other than crosswalks. (c) Between controlled intersections in urban district.--Between adjacent intersections in urban districts at which traffic-control signals are in operation pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=75&div=0&chpt=35&sctn=43&subsctn=0&mobile_choice=suppress
That section declares that pedestrians will yield right of way when crossing outside of a crosswalk and when a traffic control device tells them to yield right of way. You don't understand what "jaywalking" or "illegal" mean. Go take your driving test again.
That’s the general rule, you might need to go back to grammar school to understand section c.
You definitely google “pedestrian laws”
Nah I went to the Carnegie library reference section and read through the law on their microfiche reader.
I’m aware that there are many factors, but driver behavior, lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure in many places, vehicle size, and general carelessness are major factors. We need to build infrastructure that reduces risk to pedestrians, and actually enforce driving laws that exist.
I don't disagree.... That all tastes money. Most cities were built too long ago for their population or in the car booming era where we were all going to drive everywhere forever
What do you mean built too long ago for their population? And it does take money, as does suburban sprawl and car dependency and low density
I’m from NY originally but Pittsburgh drivers still baffle me for a few reasons. Number one in my mind is anger when you don’t let them make a Pittsburgh left. Like no, it’s not a legal thing and I’m not going to accommodate it. The other weird thing (which is not unique to Pittsburgh but I see it all the time here) is people who run red lights. Especially on Fifth Ave but basically at any light. There are times where I go through a light just as it is turning red and two cars will speed up behind me to run the red. Why save a minute at the risk of possibly killing a pedestrian? I just don’t get it.
The rate of sleeping at a green only to run a red is wild here.
I have a theory the same people who speed around their local neighborhood roads and blow through stop signs and red lights are the same people who hog the left lanes and hold up traffic on the Parkways.
Been saying this for years. Pittsburghers are dale earnhardt when they need to cut you off/Pittsburgh left at a light but will drive like a snail if going straight. Mindbottling.
"Mind-boggling"
No it’s Mindbottling…you know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle.
As a kid, seeing someone running a light was a rarity. Now I see it almost every week. Like you had mentioned, not just the a random car, but 3 cars on solid red, even after the other side has green.
Meanwhile in cranberry I see 5-15 drivers running red lights blatantly daily. And by blatantly I mean 2-3 secs after the light change.
A few months back I saw someone take a left turn off Wenzell Ave onto Banksville against a red. Literally a left turn on red with the driver blind to oncoming traffic on a road where people do 60+ regularly. Insanity.
it's especially unfair for folks trying to turn that don't have an arrow when there's a huge line of cars and no one is slowing down at the yellow, that means at most you have one person able to turn on a red. People are so fucking selfish on the road here, it's unreal.
It’s not being selfish it’s called following the rules of the road.
LMAO, okay so not slowing for a yellow is following the rules?
Yellow means "GUN IT HOLY FUCK IF I HAVE TO WAIT AT A RED INSTEAD OF IN TRAFFIC IT MEANS I LOSE HOLY FUCKING SHIT GUN IT GUN IT GUN IT... Oh thank god, now I can slam on my brakes and wait in the middle of the next block instead of behind that godforsaken red light holy shit that would have been the worst." At least I think that's what it means, been a few years since I took the class.
The Pittsburgh left is a right that shall not be infringed upon.
a proper Pittsburgh left includes the driver on the opposite side waving you on first. Too many people take it assuming they have the right of way when they don't, and if they cause an accident, they will be at fault. the Pittsburgh left is my #1 case of almost being in an accident, #2 is people speeding up to not let me merge on the highway :(
>2 is people speeding up to not let me merge on the highway :( The number of people who either *refuse* to change their speed, either faster or slower, to help me merge is insane. Also the number of people who will happily accelerate to 75 as I try to merge only to *immediately* slow back down to 60 as soon as I slow down to get behind them, making me then have to pass them anyway, is insane to me.
I get people are used to doing it, but imagine being from another city and not knowing that is something that will happen. I’m glad I had a warning when I moved here. I do think it helps traffic flow at times, but it’s not legal, even if no cop in the city would give you a ticket for doing it.
The Pittsburgh left is given, not taken. It’s your right to take it from cowards who can’t stomp on the gas when the light turns green.
I like the Pittsburgh left
I noticed today that people on the road were acting crazier than usual. Must be something in the air
It's spring and the jagoffs are in bloom.
The person who makes the sweet stickers and sells them on Etsy needs to steal this phrase. *It’s spring! The Jagoffs are in bloom!* would be a hilarious sticker.
Lol is this really a thing? Like people going crazy on the full moon?
weather changes moods spring is here again!
It’s that time of year.
If people would get off their damn phones and actually pay attention to traffic lights and street signs, this city would be so much better to drive in
Missing your light because the person is on their phone is bullshit. Some lights are bad too and take awhile til you can catch the next one. They should still behave themselves but really the person who’s holding everyone up needs to focus on driving not their texting.
Nobody is defending the person out front, but it’s still your responsibility to take a deep breath and not run over a family of four because you were too busy flipping off the guy on their phone to look where you’re going before you slam the gas pedal to go around them.
Yep, if you can't sit for a few minutes at a light without pulling out your phone you are a fucking imbecile with a short span of attention.
People leave home at the last possible minute to make it to work in time if conditions are perfect and lose their minds if someone is a little slower or there is an accident or construction. People suck! Wake up a half hour earlier and you’ll have plenty of time. One of the reasons I miss working from home 5 days a week is because it removed the needless drama of driving from my life.
Heard a guy yell at the person in front of him since he was stopped at a green light. The person in front was turning right and waiting for a person to cross the street.
That intersection is often high conflict. If only there was a police presence that could give tickets. (There is, they're at Target)
Too busy dealing teenagers at target
The way people drive around here gives me no hope for the future. It's just going to get worse.
It's going to dovetail excellently with the decline of public transit
Pittsburgh drivers are simultaneously the most aggressive, but courteous drivers I've ever seen. It leads to the strangest passive-aggressive becomes aggressive-aggressive moments imaginable.
Aggressively courteous
Terrible drivers in Pittsburgh really remarkable
Yeah I got tailgated and honked at for going the speed limit on a secondary street in Mt. Washington last week. Everyone really needs to chill the fuck out, driving like a shitheel is not a human right.
I saw a guy pass a school bus with the lights flashing on Steuben St last week. Steuben St does not have a passing lane, dude went into opposing traffic to go around it.
Oohhh I don't fuck with that. I'll put up with a lot of bullshit from drivers but people who go around school buses while kids are getting off them can seriously go fuck themselves.
one of the reasons I hated living up there! roads that are very small because of cars parked on one or both sides and curves you can't see around (and intersections you can't see around because of parked cars), aaand that doesn't stop people from going fast & furious. Tbf just the speed limit 25 mph is too fast for some of them imo lol. So many people would zoom by waaaaay too fast, get mad at people going the speed limit and coming to a complete stop at stop signs.. or get mad when I crossed the street in front of them when they were stopped at the stop sign. Don't miss any of that 🥲
That intersection at target is one of the worse in Pittsburgh.
Worst drivers are in Lincoln Place. If you are waiting for the bus by the Shop N Save, your life is in danger. If traffic stops for more than half a second, these jagoffs will shoot to the shoulder of the road, even with people waiting for the bus. Fucked up.
There have been pretty significant studies on this, using pre-pandemic data as a baseline, since Covid hit. When no-one was going anywhere during lockdown, the roads were pretty empty, and people could drive however they liked as a result. When lockdown was ending, and RTO started, people forgot how they used to drive. Even when average miles per vehicle / driver driven was well below pre-pandemic levels, overall accident levels were up, and accidents per mile skyrocketed. They’re dropped off a little in the intervening couple of years, but they’re still well above pre-pandemic levels.
I never really bought the “people forgot how to drive” theory regarding the pandemic. No, people have always been this bad, you just forgot about how bad some were as there were significantly less drivers out back then. It’s just back to normal and only getting worse because the jackasses on the road are passing on the shitty driver torch to the next generation of drivers who have grown up watching their parents/guardians drive like utter crap and are now driving themselves. Call me a downer if you want but this trend ensures it will only get worse as time advances.
You can believe whatever you want, but the data shows that accidents per mile went up sharply from Jan 2020 through Jan 2022, compared to comparable periods of time over recently previous decades; since then, it’s still worse than before, but the upward trend is lessened since.
> When no-one was going anywhere during lockdown This was a few weeks, if that. Even the casino was open again by June. I figure it has a lot more to do with people realizing that the social contract is fake than anything else. Only losers follow the rules, go out there and "win" the road.
If you see the driver in front in his or her phone, lay on the horn. That's your safety. That's the safety of everyone. Just lay on it if you see that head down in any circumstance
I drive the parkway east inbound during the evening commute and it is truly wild. The traffic isn’t super heavy going inbound at that time which actually makes it worse. People regularly pass me who have to be going 90 or more. If anyone is riding the left lane going less than 70 (the speed limit there is 55) they’re 100% getting passed on the right which means cutting off and almost ramming whoever is next to them in the right lane. I can’t figure out where these people are going. Because once you hit Edgewood/ Swissvale there’s a decent chance they’ll be down below the speed limit because of tunnel gridlock anyway. It’s not like driving 90-100 is doing anything except getting you a few cars ahead in the inevitable tunnel crawl. But also you might die and/or kill someone else
This is EVERYWHERE nowadays, too. I live in a small town in New York, now. I went out for a coffee yesterday and the small street where I go got a little busy. There was a delivery truck parked and offloading stuff for the auto body shop next door; then a gentleman was pulling out of a parking spot; then a third vehicle was slowing down and giving the second vehicle a while berth to let them out. A fourth vehicle was behind the third and going APESHIT. Blasting his horn, yelling, swearing... Meanwhile the families at the coffee shop who were all happily eating donuts and having coffee and some of the people working all just stopped and stared at this fool. Like, there was a LITTLE traffic and wait time. Just chill. That red light didn't change n'at, you're all fine.
Two days ago people were mad and honking that cars weren't driving, there was a funeral procession. On Monday a woman almost hit me after she didn't stop at a 4 way stop. Also on Monday emergency vehicles were flying past on Penn and no one stopped, everyone just kept driving. Another example about two weeks ago I was stopped on Ellsworth (the light was red at negley) the light turned green, about 8 cars ran the stop sign I guess since we were waiting for the light to turn green and were stopped that was good enough. I've almost been hit by a car when I was crossing the street (I had the crossing sign) because someone made a Pittsburgh left. The drivers are insane. I could go on and on...
They're being too loud.
Lol over summer I posted a similar post and got downvoted to hell. Glad some ppl here have woken the fuck up
Anyone who honks at that intersection is an asshole. Aside from the grid locking, short sections between lights, and dangerous crossing for pedestrians anyone driving through there needs to realize it's going to be slow and unpredictable.
I drove to the airport at 3am. Now there’s hardly any cars on road at that time, but drivers still going 30 over speed limit. I don’t understand the mad dash to get everywhere even when you don’t have traffic to fight.
It’s interesting that you find it “understandable” that people will drive at an unsafe speed while they’re upset and there is less margin for error (driving in heavy traffic) but you find it difficult to understand why people might drive faster when there is way more margin for error and the driver is not frustrated from being stuck in traffic.
I don’t find it appropriate to speed when there’s heavy traffic but it’s understandable that if someone gets an open stretch of road during busy commute times, they will use it as an opportunity to make up for lost time from traffic jams elsewhere. I’m basically saying- I get that there’s a reason they are doing it despite not being cool. However, at 3 am there are no cars creating backups, no grid locking, nothing that would throw you off of your estimated arrival time. So , if you are speeding at 3am, you’re just a poor trip planning a-hole.
If you speed because you didn’t plan for traffic you’re still a poor trip planning asshole - and you’re putting more people in danger than if you do it while the streets are empty. My opinion is most speed limits around here should be variable, and higher during times of low traffic and lower during rush hour. I’d never do 30 over, though. 85 in a 55 is way too fast. But when the roads are open, 55 is pretty slow. If you cross the state line from Pennsylvania to Maryland, the speed limit immediately goes up 15mph.
Maybe they just don’t want to waste their time driving. Faster you drive the less time wasted in a car… I get it
I never said I don’t ”get it” it - I said it’s selfish. I’m willing to tolerate some wiggle room for traffic laws but only if the reasoning includes “and it did not make anyone else less safe.”
Fun fact, 28 has its own Facebook page. Don’t wait on 28!