The Pennsylvania Left (and Other Driving Anomalies)

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: bp
Date: January 13, 2009 at 02:30 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

I've been out to Reading, PA a few times and I've lived in Pittsburgh for a few months now and I've noticed something that PA drivers do that's strange to me. Let's say you're stopped at a red light (planning on going straight through the light) with oncoming traffic facing you with one or more of those cars turning left. When the light turns green, the first car turning left will frequently turn left in front of you and the rest of the traffic going your direction. I've also been in the situation where I'm turning left and the oncoming traffic will wait for me to turn, even so much as flashing headlights or waving me on. You see this every now and then everywhere when a car tries to sneak through a light first, but it appears to be accepted and expected in PA.
So for you Pennsylvania residents, what's up with that? Where does that come from?
Are there any other places that have what might be considered odd driving habbits (other than the Brits driving on the wrong side of the road, of course...)?

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Brick
Date: January 13, 2009 at 02:52 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

I spent about a month in San Juan, Puerto Rico and rapidly learned that lane markers are a polite suggestion, not an actual guide to where you should keep your car.
Central Ohio seems to have these weird highway entrance/exit ramps. Instead of like you will see on the interstate, where exit and entrance have their own ramps, for some reason around here they decide to combine the two. As you are merging right off the of the highway trying to exit, you combine with an entrance ramp full of people trying to merge left to get on the highway. Makes for loads of fun during rush hour or any sort of inclement weather.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: MMAStudent
Date: January 13, 2009 at 02:54 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

bp said:
I've been out to Reading, PA a few times and I've lived in Pittsburgh for a few months now and I've noticed something that PA drivers do that's strange to me. Let's say you're stopped at a red light (planning on going straight through the light) with oncoming traffic facing you with one or more of those cars turning left. When the light turns green, the first car turning left will frequently turn left in front of you and the rest of the traffic going your direction. I've also been in the situation where I'm turning left and the oncoming traffic will wait for me to turn, even so much as flashing headlights or waving me on. You see this every now and then everywhere when a car tries to sneak through a light first, but it appears to be accepted and expected in PA.
So for you Pennsylvania residents, what's up with that? Where does that come from?
Are there any other places that have what might be considered odd driving habbits (other than the Brits driving on the wrong side of the road, of course...)?
Click to expand...
There are a lot of people who can't drive in PA, but that's not something anyone who knows how to drive would do. Left turn always yields to oncoming traffic unless the light specifically has an arrow on it. You'll also find that the farther east you go in the state the worse the drivers become, especially in bad weather. If there is bad weather it takes me 1.5 hours to get home no matter what simply due to rubbernecking or accidents.. mostly just rubbernecking.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: MMAStudent
Date: January 13, 2009 at 02:55 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

I also forgot to mention our unique drivers, the AMISH!. If you live near Lancaster area, or the Sunbury/Selingsgrove area you will want to be on the look out for amish buggies crusing the streets. They usually pull over to let traffic by but there have been some crazy incidents of head on collisions with amish buggies because people are so shocked to see these things on the road.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: bp
Date: January 13, 2009 at 03:00 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

Brick said:
I spent about a month in San Juan, Puerto Rico and rapidly learned that lane markers are a polite suggestion, not an actual guide to where you should keep your car.
Central Ohio seems to have these weird highway entrance/exit ramps. Instead of like you will see on the interstate, where exit and entrance have their own ramps, for some reason around here they decide to combine the two. As you are merging right off the of the highway trying to exit, you combine with an entrance ramp full of people trying to merge left to get on the highway. Makes for loads of fun during rush hour or any sort of inclement weather.
Click to expand...
Yeah those are a pain in the ***. The 71/270 interchange is bad. The 75/275 ramps are the same way. As far as entrance ramps go, we've got some highway entrance ramps with stop signs at the merge. At least in the city anyway. I'm still learning my way around so it's hard to avoid them sometimes.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: RawckOn
Date: January 13, 2009 at 03:12 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

In arizona, A red light is just a green light thats changed its color. It still means the same thing, its just a different color. A yellow light is an indication that you are going too slow and you must speed up. Cars have the right away and pedestrians and bicyclists must yeild, specially at a cross walk. If its between midnight and 4:30am you can and must turn left on a red if able.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: elfudge35
Date: January 13, 2009 at 03:21 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

many places in Jersey don't have left turns, you pass the street you wish to turn left on and then there's what looks like a highway on ramp on your right where you turn right 270 degrees and then you go straight through the intersection

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Andre3000
Date: January 13, 2009 at 03:24 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

Turning left immediately when the light turns green is a straight d*ck move IMO. A lot of Toronto cabbies pull that move.
Whenever someone does that to me I am tempted to accelerate into them and T-bone the sh*t out of their car.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: osubuckeye4
Date: January 13, 2009 at 03:45 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

The stupidest driving "anomalie" I've ever seen:
I'm in downtown Chicago (about 2 blocks from Union Station) and it's about 8:30-9 AM, I state the time because it pretty much rules out the possiblity of this guy being wasted.
Anyways, if you're familiar with downtown Chicago, you know that there are a lot of one way streets.
Well I'm waiting to cross the street and it's a 5 lane, one way street. There is a taxi cab (so it's his job to transport people around in his cab) in the furthest lane on the right, the light is red.
The light turns green and the cab turns his left turn signal on, slams on the gas and ends up running right into the passenger side door of the car in the middle lane.
The absolute stupidest driving move I've ever seen someone perform when sober... who the hell tries to make a left across 5 lanes of congested traffic all going the same direction as you?
---
"Ghost ridin the whip" (which I think has been touched upon already on these forums), is the stupidest thing I've ever seen done with a car in general... I don't know if it really counts as driving though.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Andre3000
Date: January 13, 2009 at 03:47 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

osubuckeye4 said:
who the hell tries to make a left across 5 lanes of congested traffic all going the same direction as you?
Click to expand...
A cab driver.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: crazycroat57
Date: January 13, 2009 at 06:55 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

In Missouri I have noticed a bad habit that has been developing dramatically. Someone turning out of a parking lot or other entrance/exit into the turning lane and stopping because they couldn't get all the way across the road. So instead they sit in the turn lane trying to merge back into traffic going the same way. I encountered this first in Springfield MO and it has steadily risen north, much to my chagrin.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Archean_Life
Date: January 13, 2009 at 07:12 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

bp said:
I've been out to Reading, PA a few times and I've lived in Pittsburgh for a few months now and I've noticed something that PA drivers do that's strange to me. Let's say you're stopped at a red light (planning on going straight through the light) with oncoming traffic facing you with one or more of those cars turning left. When the light turns green, the first car turning left will frequently turn left in front of you and the rest of the traffic going your direction.
Click to expand...
I can easily one-up that. I've seen lots of crazy sh*t in LA - but one of the most memorable was this same situation you're describing where the first car guns it to turn in front of everyone else - but in this case there were two lanes of traffic, as well as a right turn lane, and a left turn lane. This guy in the left turn lane decides he wants to turn right, rather than left, so as the light turns green he proceeds to cut off 3 lanes of traffic going his same direction so that he can turn right instead of left. I think he got away with it just because everyone was awestruck by the gall it took to try that.
Other common LA driving maneuvers:
"The LA end run": Lots of fast moving major roads in LA lack left turn lanes, so cars are commonly stopped in the left lane. If a turning car doesn't signal early enough, or if there's traffic in the right lane, a jam of cars builds up behind them. Then it's a chaotic race to see who from the left lane can gun it out the side of the jam first. This frequently results in accidents or near accidents and generally s*cks for the stopped cars closest to the front because they have the least room to maneuver. This happens every few minutes on some roads.
"The sneaker": In this one, you pull up at a light intending to go straight and next to you there's a right turn-only lane. Some *sshole gets in the turn-only lane pretending like they're going to turn right, but when the light changes, they gun it and cut you off. Usually this is so they can cut ahead of a few cars and not wait their turn. I have a car with more guts now and I rev my engine if I think they're going to try this. That usually gets them to back down and then they try to sneak in between you and the second car in line. I see this about once a week in my neighborhood.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Showdown
Date: January 13, 2009 at 07:13 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

Brick said:
I spent about a month in San Juan, Puerto Rico and rapidly learned that lane markers are a polite suggestion, not an actual guide to where you should keep your car.
Click to expand...
:lol:

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Nick_Havok
Date: January 13, 2009 at 07:25 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

crazycroat57 said:
In Missouri I have noticed a bad habit that has been developing dramatically. Someone turning out of a parking lot or other entrance/exit into the turning lane and stopping because they couldn't get all the way across the road. So instead they sit in the turn lane trying to merge back into traffic going the same way. I encountered this first in Springfield MO and it has steadily risen north, much to my chagrin.
Click to expand...
HaHaHa! This cracked me up because I see dumbasses doing it all the time. And I am south of you so it makes sense. :lol:
But I can't stand when a freakin moron gets their car completely sideways blocking the lanes leading into an intersection because they were too stupid to plan ahead and figure out where they needed to be, and they try to bully their way back over. I mean the jackass could realize the error of their ways, pull off to the right, go back and retry. But nope they would rather just sit their big *** piece of s--- vehicle right there...sideways...and just wait there until the traffic finally starts moving and someone lets them through.
Can't stand 'em. With their goofy *** f*ckin faces as they do that fake little waive and smile that says, "I'm a complete douch that can't drive. Thanks for stopping and letting me drive my retarded *** over three lanes of traffic so I can get in the left hand turn lane. Dar!"

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: crazycroat57
Date: January 13, 2009 at 08:21 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

Nick_Havok said:
crazycroat57 said:
In Missouri I have noticed a bad habit that has been developing dramatically. Someone turning out of a parking lot or other entrance/exit into the turning lane and stopping because they couldn't get all the way across the road. So instead they sit in the turn lane trying to merge back into traffic going the same way. I encountered this first in Springfield MO and it has steadily risen north, much to my chagrin.
Click to expand...
HaHaHa! This cracked me up because I see dumbasses doing it all the time. And I am south of you so it makes sense. :lol:
But I can't stand when a freakin moron gets their car completely sideways blocking the lanes leading into an intersection because they were too stupid to plan ahead and figure out where they needed to be, and they try to bully their way back over. I mean the jackass could realize the error of their ways, pull off to the right, go back and retry. But nope they would rather just sit their big *** piece of s**t vehicle right there...sideways...and just wait there until the traffic finally starts moving and someone lets them through.
Can't stand 'em. With their goofy *** f*ckin faces as they do that fake little waive and smile that says, "I'm a complete douch that can't drive. Thanks for stopping and letting me drive my retarded *** over three lanes of traffic so I can get in the left hand turn lane. Dar!"
Click to expand...
I have one other one about KC. As most old towns are relatively the same I am sure there are a few who can relate. In downtown KC if you are on a one way turning left onto another one way it is completely legal to turn left on red as long as you are going with the traffic on the one way. I use to valet and deliver pizzas downtown and would get stuck behind idiots all night long just sitting at empty lights.
Stoplights in downtown KC late at night are also notoriously for being similar to Brick's described traffic lanes in PR.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Nick_Havok
Date: January 13, 2009 at 08:28 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

crazycroat57 said:
Stoplights in downtown KC late at night are also notoriously for being similar to Brick's described traffic lanes in PR.
Click to expand...
Yep, last time I was down there and left The Sprint Center to meet up with you for UFC 89 I was running those things like an idiot.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: crazycroat57
Date: January 13, 2009 at 08:34 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

Nick_Havok said:
crazycroat57 said:
Stoplights in downtown KC late at night are also notoriously for being similar to Brick's described traffic lanes in PR.
Click to expand...
Yep, last time I was down there and left The Sprint Center to meet up with you for UFC 89 I was running those things like an idiot.
Click to expand...
Eh... No worries those cops are degenerates worse than us down there. That's why they work there. I have still not been to the Sprint Center or the P&L district. I delivered half the s--- to build the goddamn Sprint center and I have still not even been inside. f---ing bulls---.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Nick_Havok
Date: January 13, 2009 at 08:42 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

crazycroat57 said:
Nick_Havok said:
crazycroat57 said:
Stoplights in downtown KC late at night are also notoriously for being similar to Brick's described traffic lanes in PR.
Click to expand...
Yep, last time I was down there and left The Sprint Center to meet up with you for UFC 89 I was running those things like an idiot.
Click to expand...
Eh... No worries those cops are degenerates worse than us down there. That's why they work there. I have still not been to the Sprint Center or the P&L district. I delivered half the s**t to build the goddamn Sprint center and I have still not even been inside. f**king bulls**t.
Click to expand...
It was nice.
Metallica sounded AWESOME in there.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Origin761
Date: January 13, 2009 at 08:54 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

Brick said:
I spent about a month in San Juan, Puerto Rico and rapidly learned that lane markers are a polite suggestion, not an actual guide to where you should keep your car.
Central Ohio seems to have these weird highway entrance/exit ramps. Instead of like you will see on the interstate, where exit and entrance have their own ramps, for some reason around here they decide to combine the two. As you are merging right off the of the highway trying to exit, you combine with an entrance ramp full of people trying to merge left to get on the highway. Makes for loads of fun during rush hour or any sort of inclement weather.
Click to expand...
They are some of the dumbest things ever engineered. We have a couple like that around Cincinnati as well,mostly 275. You can't hesitate at all.

 

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: buildingblocks5150
Date: January 13, 2009 at 08:59 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/the-pennsylvania-left-and-other-driving-anomalies.9153/

im from jersey. we seem to be one of the only places that consistantly uses jughandles and traffic circles. these get a little effed up by your typical moron or or WWI vet who for some reason is still driving themself around but its really bad when someone that doesnt know these patterns gets involoved. if i see an out of state plate i tend to keep my distance cause i know they are about to do something crazy. no to mention the people in this state are fairly ruthless with eachother. or unofficial modo is "NJ, where only the strong survive." these things can make the occassional day at the beach look like this