Pittsburgh Left

Today, I was driving down Negley - a narrow road with one lane of traffic in each direction. The traffic was decently heavy each way, but moving well. The problem with the narrow streets in Pittsburgh is that, when a car in front of you needs to turn left, you're usually stuck waiting for them to turn before you (and everyone behind you) gets moving again. It can be incredibly frustrating when you're trying to get somewhere on time.

Like I was tonight. I was driving to my first pre-interview residents' dinner (a casual get-to-know-the-people hosted by residency programs) and found myself behind none other than a driver-in-training. You know the kind. A 90's model Japanese compact sedan with a big sticker and magnet that says "Learning Driver" on it. The kind that goes 20mph in the 25mph zones and takes reeeallly slow turns.

So I was behind this driver-in-training, and he/she turned her left turn blinker on (like 4 blocks before the turn). And then the light turned red. There were way too many cars stopped at the oncoming lane's red light, and I knew it would be 1 or 2 light changes before the training car would be able to turn left safely. I figured it would set me back several minutes.

BUT THEN. The light turned green, and the driver-in-training....

wait for it...

made a Pittsburgh left!

I was astounded. It was awesome but horrifying, all at the same time. But I was not late, and therefore it was more awesome than horrifying. Hooray for perpetuation of Pittsburgh's ridiculous driving to the future generation of drivers!

(or not)