So I'm in PA...

I've spent the entirety of my 25 years (minus part of the 4.5 spent in upstate NY while in college) in south central PA and the only place I can recall ever seeing a stop sign on an on ramp was on I-79 south of Pittsburgh (or maybe they were just so impossibly short you basically HAD to stop, it's been a while.) My special lady friend had an accident there several years ago pretty much exactly as wvumtnbkr describes. Pretty sure that one at the intersection between 15 and 30 is a result of construction.

But yes, nonetheless everyone seems to stop anyways, which may be my single biggest driving pet peeve. One day I will build a Bond-style car with rocket launchers in the headlights to dispense of this scourge.

Yes, our liquor laws are abso-freakin-lutely retarded, more so perhaps than even Utah and we're not even trying to run a Mormon theocracy in this state like they are. But at least now you can buy a 12 pack at a beer distributor, as of a couple months ago. Progress.

55 mph speed limits in this area serve no purpose other than to increase revenue. The stretch of I-81 from just south of Plainfield up through Middlesex (which is actually between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg; Intercourse is well to the east, and Beaver far to the west, make of that what you will.) was just changed from 65 to 55 maybe 6 or so years ago IIRC, with an accompanying "Fines Doubled Corridor" to boot, ostensibly as a result of a higher incidence of fatalities on this stretch of road. I would be very curious to see if the statistics have improved.

And to the OP: Were you out with the rest of the Shelby Dodge guys at the Susquehanna region auto x yesterday? I really enjoyed seeing all you guys that showed up, since I know pretty much NOTHING about those cars. A few of them were turning some pretty good times!

In Georgia, we have flashing red lights that are only used when there's heavy traffic. It prevents 40 cars merging at the same time.

I'm guessing these are different. stop signs that are always used sounds dumb and dangerous.

T.J. wrote: Beware of the Pennsylvania merge...that's where a car comes down the on ramp at just about the correct speed and then just comes over a lane without looking or signalling. I guess there they just expect you to adjust your speed or lane to stay out of their way.

Yeah? So what's your point? It's called "merging" right? What do you expect folks to do? Stop at the end of the ramp?

What I love is seeing a line of cars on the ramp getting ready to merge... so I move over into the left lane to give them space... along with the rest of the "regulars" who know the drill... then some newbie speeds up and tries to pass on the right - only to slam on their brakes due to the cars on the ramp merging... Dumbass...

Okay... now this is turning into another merging-rant thread...

moparman76_69 wrote: Y'all have some weird bugs here.

If you mean the ones from the show field today, they were weird. And not around an hour east of there.

lived in Lanc for 6 years, still miss the place.

don't forget to stop in Blue Ball before you get to Intercourse

The Amish sexual repression tour

Blue Ball

Intercourse

Middlesex twnshp

Climax

So if I have half a day in Philly what must I do beside find a legit cheesesteak

Also if I have about an hour in Baltimore what is the one thing I would have to do there?

We've already decided DC is for a future trip so that's out.

In reply to Furious_E:

Yeah I was out there for the 2nd run group just watching.

Baltimore... Inner harbor? That was cool a few years ago. Don't know if it still is.

moparman76_69 wrote: So if I have half a day in Philly what must I do beside find a legit cheesesteak Also if I have about an hour in Baltimore what is the one thing I would have to do there? We've already decided DC is for a future trip so that's out.

depends on what you are into..

Museums.. the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a must see. The Franklin Institute is very cool too, but is bound to have a lot of kids.

Penn's Landing has the seaport museum and a ferry ride across the Delaware to Camden and the USS New Jersey

So every stereotype of NE drivers is true.

Made it to philly, stumbled into west philly but found fairmount park and the museum of art. Staying at a hotel in Chinatown that is supposedly a 10 minute walk from Independence Hall.

Hey I haven't been to Lancaster in a while but I meet some really nice people from there at HPDEs in Virginia.

If you think a stop sign stinks, come to my neighborhood, where they have traffic lights at the bottom of the ramps during rush hour on I-66.

It's not a real problem, because the traffic you're merging into is going slooowwww. But still . . . .

For the record the only stop sign I saw at a ramp is in a construction zone. Although I'm in Columbus OH now and saw a red light at one.

Anybody here go to a rallycross east of Columbus? I saw a Subaru on a trailer on I70.

moparman76_69 wrote: So every stereotype of NE drivers is true.

what's wrong with NE drivers?

Seriously, if you think Philly is bad (it's not) take the NJ turnpike up to NYC.