Pittsburgh is for left turns

Driving in the eastern part of the U.S. has always been an adventure that I relish.

A few weeks ago, we were giving someone a ride home from a show and he jokingly said, “Were you ever a New York taxi driver?”

I shrugged because although I never drove a taxi, I did have to drive in and out of Manhattan often for the theatre tour I managed. I loved the mania of it all, the feeling that “whatever you do, don’t stop, just keep it moving”.


Pittsburgh is not as crazy as the big apple. Drivers here are far more aggressive, though, than on the west coast. This doesn't mean that yinzers aren't accommodating at all, though.

Case in point: the “Pittsburgh Left”.
 

If you’re stopped at a red light and the car across from you has the turn signal on, you have to assume that car will turn immediately when the light turns green, whether it has the right of way or not.  Cars won’t always take the Pittsburgh Left, but you just need to watch out for it.  It's better to assume they're turning. 

This maneuver has become such the unwritten rule that now cars that have the right to go straight will often stay stopped and let the oncoming car turn left, usually waving them on.  

The first time a car turned left at me, I was coming right at it and had to stop (see diagram courtesy of www.boringpittsburgh.com for my thoughts).  

And the first time a car waived me on so I could turn left, I was confused by the generosity and an action that seems the exact opposite of the aggressive idealogy of driving in this town: "Is he waving me on?  But...its his right of way, I...uh, okay..."

But now I take the Pittsburgh Left all the time, whether I deserve it or not.

Hey, I’m just trying to blend in.