PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Something happened a few months ago that’s made it hard for me to focus on the road.

No, it has nothing to do with my electronic devices.

In November, I was driving north on Interstate 79 through Cranberry in the left lane. I realized too late I was approaching my exit onto Interstate 376 and I had to get over. I put on my turn signal, squeezed in between two cars, and exited. It wasn’t my most proud driving moment, but it wasn’t the most egregious, either.

The car I had merged in front of laid on their horn and began flashing their lights. The horn I could understand, but the flashing of the lights confused me — did I have a tail light out? Was he warning me of a police car nearby?

I was further surprised, and starting to get nervous, when that car exited behind me and began tailgating me. The driver inched so close, and at highway speeds, that I decided to pull into the left lane and slow down quickly to get away from him. As soon as I put my turn signal on, the driver swerved into the left lane before I could get there. And then proceeded to run me off the road.

To reiterate, I did not come anywhere near this man when I passed in front of his truck to make my exit; there was plenty of space. I did nothing to intentionally make him angry. And we almost had a very serious accident.

Since then, I’ve found myself nervously glancing in the rearview mirror to see if someone is following me too closely (someone usually is) and if they look angry (they often do).

Road rage incidents have gotten more severe of late. I understand people as a whole may be more on edge given the pandemic, a dying planet, a contentious political climate, wars across the globe and inflation. I too am angry about those things. But I feel no need to take it out on someone I don’t know and will never see again who, like me, is just trying to get to their destination.

A few weeks later I was on my way home from work trying to merge from the Veterans Bridge to I-376 East, the part where it seems five roads merge into a parking area before splitting into two other roads (granted, this describes many spots in Pittsburgh).

Again, I was in the left lane needing to get over.

Trying. And trying. No one was letting anyone in.

Finally, a car a few behind me zipped into the right lane in front of a black truck. That truck seemed to lag for a moment, so I darted in front of them, quickly making my way to the far right lane.

I should have known that even on good days no driver is going to let two cars zip in front of them in bumper to bumper traffic, but I wasn’t sure when I was going to get another chance, so I went for it.

The truck came to a stop behind me, and I heard a loud honk. I glanced in my mirror and saw the driver give me the finger.

Propriety aside, my issue is this: You can better believe I kept a nervous eye on that truck the entire time we navigated through the three lanes of 376 from Downtown to the Squirrel Hill Tunnels. I didn’t know if that driver’s anger was pacified after a hand gesture or if he had more aggression to get out.

He ended up in another lane and we had no further incident. But guess what? We both ended up at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel at the same time. My merging into the open space in front of him cost him no time in his journey. (Arguably, it also saved me no time in mine, but trust me when I say I was starting to become convinced that no one was ever going to let me in.)

I’ve had the same experience fighting traffic on Ohio River Boulevard when cars have zipped around me in rush hour traffic … only for me to pull up directly next to them at the McKees Rocks Bridge stoplight. Their speeding saved zero time.

The Pittsburgh region is full of multi-lane roads with exits one after another, making speeding and passing more dangerous. If I’m traveling from the North Side to Ross, I’m on a highway for about 5 minutes. When I travel from Downtown to Aspinwall, I’m on 28 for about 10 minutes.

That’s barely enough time to get your car up to full speed. You’re not saving more than a few seconds by passing people or tailing them to get them to go faster — and does it ever really work?

Tailing people and honking and gesturing and running people off the road because you’re upset they cost you at most 30 seconds is just not worth it.

We’re all going to make it where we’re going. Unless we run someone off the road. Then we’re in for a lot of other problems.