So I'm in PA...

Lancaster to be exact.

A) Its 2015, why are there 55 mph speed limits on the interstate.

B) If anyone wants to see the largest congregation of running turbo dodges I can post up the info

C) Is Middlesex between Intercourse and Climax?

I do believe you hit Beaver first, but it's been a while since I've driven.......in PA!

moparman76_69 wrote: Lancaster to be exact. A) Its 2015, why are there 55 mph speed limits on the interstate.

Revenue for the state in fines/speeding tickets issued?

PA turnpike should be 65.. what road are you talking about Wilis?

I70 from the Ohio line to the turnpike is 55

Mo' Money!

Mo' Money!

Mo' Money!

The greater question is, why do the acceleration lanes have stop signs at the end?

In reply to moparman76_69:

I'll see you Monday. I'll have my Shelby Dak on a trailer. It isn't running right now. Or stopping. Or steering. Or much of anything.

Rob_Mopar wrote: In reply to moparman76_69: I'll see you Monday. I'll have my Shelby Dak on a trailer. It isn't running right now. Or stopping. Or steering. Or much of anything.

I'll look for you.

Duke wrote: The greater question is, why do the acceleration lanes have stop signs at the end?

Because it beats having a flood of cars come on at the same time. They made a huge difference in my area.

Soooo... That's somehow better when it's a flood of cars trying to merge into highway speed traffic from a dead stop?!

Because it beats having a flood of cars come on at the same time.

Speaking of beating, when someone comes to a stop at the end of an onramp i want to pull them out of their car and beat them over the head with a shovel until death and then roll the corpse into traffic.

When i'm getting on the highway, i want to focus on merging safely into MOVING traffic, not on the near-lethal levels of incompetence and cowardice of the idiot in front of me who never learned that the safest way to get into someone else's lane is to be going the same speed as them.

the stop signs at the ends of the acceleration lanes are one of the reasons I hate being near a PA driver while merging.. quite a few of them think that you -have- to stop at the bottom of all the lanes.. made me test the brakes on my car more than once

You can't buy beer at convenience or grocery stores here. Well, you can at a select few Weis markets, but not all of them.

This state is stupid. 23 years of kicking myself for marrying a resident who has no desire to leave.

ddavidv wrote: 23 years of kicking myself for marrying a resident who has no desire to leave.

Sounds like a LOT of self abuse there...

On all the highways going through the city of St Louis, the speed limit is 55. If there is a drop of rain on the road, you can xpect to ford through some rivers. I think that is why.

ehh, 70 between the ohio line and the turnpike is a narrow semi winding old road with lots of pot holes. That is why it is 55.

As to the stop signs at the end of "acceleration lanes"...

I only see this when there is construction OR the way the ramp is routed, you can't see traffic coming from far back until you are VERY near the road. This is NOT a common PA thing.

You are all correct that PA drivers can NOT merge properly. This is annoying to PA drivers that CAN merge! I have hit 2 stopped cars this way. Both times, the car in front of me accelerated to merge and subsequently stopped. I was looking backwards to make sure I can safely merge and then BAM!

I'm glad to hear they are going away. Everywhere I spend my time in central PA the stop signs are there - York, Lancaster, Hanover, Gettysburg area. And some of them are on perfectly straight roads where you have plenty of room to see and merge. Last time I was in G-burg there were stop signs at the ends of both these acceleration lanes:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.8461821,-77.1956994,852m/data=!3m1!1e3

In reply to Duke:

Oh good lord! That would annoy me too!

I live near Pittsburgh so maybe it is a bit different over this way.

they have been going away for decades.. people still stop.. and they take that silly habit to other states and stop there too

The 55 thing is a population density thing. For some reason PA decides if you are near a town of X number of people then 55, else 65 or even 70 like I380.

The stop sign on ramps seems to be a south central PA thing. All of the interstates and state highways near PHL, PBH, Lehigh, Scranton, Erie etc are normal as are I80, 81 and 83 thru those otherwise stop sign riddled areas (except in construction).

Hmm... I've been driving in PA for almost 30 years now... and the only stop signs at the end of ramps are in places where the ramp wasn't designed with enough room to allow for a standard merge lane. Rt 309 used to be great for them until they rebuilt the road and made the ramps longer. The only one I pass regularly now is in New Jersey at the Rt 29 ramp onto I-95S. Again - because there is no room between the interchange and the Scudder Falls bridge across the Delaware.

Not saying drivers don't stop at the end of ramps anyway... I've passed them on the shoulder more times than I can remember.

55 MPH in PA is more like a vague suggestion. On I-95 if you aren't doing 70 you'll get run over. It's not uncommon to get passed by someone doing triple-digits (15 years ago, it would have been me, but I've aged). Hell... even when the PASP set up speed traps drivers might slow down to 65... But generally you have to be going over 70 to get their attention in a 55 zone.

Yeah... our liquor laws are wacky. But being in NJ so much, they don't really affect me. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've bought alcohol in PA.

Y'all have some weird bugs here.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: The stop sign on ramps seems to be a south central PA thing.

Yep, the only ones I run across are on RT 15 around Gettysburg. Not all the ramps have a stop sign but the ones that do are more like a "T" intersection than an on-ramp.

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.