I hate using my car horn

[imoldernu]

Re: emergency beeping... easy to fix... open the remote, and put a piece of paper under the button. Avoid the evil eyes.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover Yeah...the person texting at a green light or drifting into my lane doesn't deserve the rudeness of a horn blast.

Really? Someone is a real threat to hit you by drifting into your lane and you're worried about being rude to them?

The texting thing, yeah, maybe a bit rude, but it's more rude to be texting when you should be driving. I tap as lightly on the horn as I can, to alert the driver and trying not to be a nuisance to others around me. On the occasion where I've been distracted and missed a light turning green, I'm fine if the driver behind me taps their horn to make me aware.

My neighbor is the type to toot as a greeting. He would see me out running and honk, and it was dangerous because it would startle me. I also figured if someone was honking maybe there was an issue and I should get completely off the road, which was dangerous because we have no shoulder and I'm likely to wind up in a ditch or off the side of the hill. I told him he had to stop it and explained why, and as a former runner he understood and did stop. He wasn't being rude, just thoughtless.

[MooreBonds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I should add - in addition to warning about impending danger/fender-benders, I absolutely will lay on the horn when a phone-user isn't paying attention when the light turns green. If I could, I'd tazer them as well. They are a risk to everyone on the road, and pedestrians.

+1 If someone starts moving into my lane without looking, you better believe I will give them a good 5 second beep. If someone is a bad enough of a driver that they don't look before changing lanes, they need to be notified that it's not acceptable behavior. (note: this isn't when I'm zooming along at 20 mph faster than them - this is when going within 1-2 mph or so of their speed, and they simply drift or change lanes without looking). If I didn't honk, I would have at LEAST had a side swipe accident. Not to mention a possible chain reaction if the offender were surprised to hear their car hitting something and instinctively hit the breaks - causing a possible logjam accident with the car(s) behind them.

Do people really just sit there and let someone merge into their lane (and their car) without honking What do you do? Politely slam on your breaks and swerve out of your lane to let the bad driver in? That sure doesn't let the other person know that they nearly caused an accident.

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2ODude My pet peeve is people whose cars honk when they lock them. I wouldn't own one that did that; I assume you can program most to otherwise. My one car discreetly makes a non horn noise, the truck blinks its lights. Nothing like walking through a parking lot in my usual fog and some unoccupied vehicle beeps at me. Argh.

There are probably 2,395 people who select a car with "remote key fob locking activation signal" as one of their variables. For the 99.999999% of the rest of us, we take what comes with the car.

And for additional thoughts that you obviously haven't considered: what about parking garages when you don't remember what floor you are on? you can't see the photons bending around the curves or floors of the garage, but you sure can hear the sound. How are you supposed to verify that the car is locked if there is a car on the other side blocking your view, or if it's very bright outside - like everyday sunlight?

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover Yeah...the person texting at a green light or drifting into my lane doesn't deserve the rudeness of a horn blast.

I'm sure this was intended to be in the "sarcasm font" (which we need so badly!).

[liveanon]

I use the horn any time I need to. I don't care what the other person thinks (usually they're not thinking). Just yesterday I had to lay into the horn when a lady was backing out of a parking space and didn't see me. She stopped, looked around and continued backing up and I had to honk some more. At least it got her to stop, I don't think she ever saw me (Large GM SUV v. mid-size sedan). At red lights, when the light changes, if the person in front doesn't move within a second or so I give the horn a quick tap so they can put their phone down long enough to get across the intersection before they resume texting.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum Really? Someone is a real threat to hit you by drifting into your lane and you're worried about being rude to them?

I was being sarcastic. If my safety or that of my vehicle is threatened, I lean on the horn with no guilt. At the very least, it may get someone looking my way who can be a potential witness.

[rodi]

I think I've honked 2 or 3 times in the last year. Once for a person at the front of a left turn queue who didn't notice the green. (And this is at an exceptionally long light cycle so missing the light literally adds 4-5 minutes to my trip.) The other two were for lane changers/drifters who didn't see me.

I was honked at once - not sure why... I was in my lane, and folks were merging into/out of my lane... I was in a lane that had 2 lanes exiting to the right of me, 2 thru lanes on the left of me, and my lane was going to disappear at my exit, directly ahead. (For those in San Diego - this was South 163 at the University and Washington exits in Hillcrest... A place of many merges since two freeways meet and two major exits shrink the freeway.). I think the honker assumed I was going to change lanes and wanted my "spot"... but I wasn't upset, just considered the honker to be clueless.

To the OP - the guy at the carwash was clearly in the wrong to be so rude... but in your circumstance I would have honked also.

[Jack_Pine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tadpole I opened the thread to say something about texters at red lights but I see other people have had this problem. How else can you wake them up from their virtual realities and stay in your car?

Paintball?

[Jack_Pine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by liveanon I use the horn any time I need to. I don't care what the other person thinks (usually they're not thinking). Just yesterday I had to lay into the horn when a lady was backing out of a parking space and didn't see me. She stopped, looked around and continued backing up and I had to honk some more. At least it got her to stop, I don't think she ever saw me (Large GM SUV v. mid-size sedan). At red lights, when the light changes, if the person in front doesn't move within a second or so I give the horn a quick tap so they can put their phone down long enough to get across the intersection before they resume texting.

Pretty much with you though I usually give them 3 seconds so it is obvious to them they are clueless.

[Samz]

My Grandmother kept driving well into her 90's and even in metro Atlanta traffic.

She always thought the truckers on I-285 were honking "hello" to her .

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2ODude My pet peeve is people whose cars honk when they lock them. I wouldn't own one that did that; I assume you can program most to otherwise.

They can be programed not to do that but it requires the owner to open the manual and read it. You're expecting miracles?

[Tadpole]

On a serious note - I did not use my horn yesterday when a bicyclist going down the sidewalk suddenly crossed over the street to the sidewalk on the other side. She did this without checking the traffic behind her on the street. A fraction of a second later and I would have hit her without even seeing her coming. I did not startle her with my horn and, luckily, I was the only car at risk for hitting her. That kind of unexpected situation can take your breath away. There are serious no-horn situations out there too.

[Pbkmaine]

I was working in Minneapolis when a colleague from the NYC office flew in. Being a Brooklyn girl, the first thing she tested on the rental car was the horn. Not working. On reporting this to the rental agent, his reply was: "Do you really think you'll need it?"

[Redbugdave]

Then there's the people too lazy to get out and ring the doorbell or knock on the door. It's easier to sit in the car and honk the horn. I have one of those down the road.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave Then there's the people too lazy to get out and ring the doorbell or knock on the door. It's easier to sit in the car and honk the horn. I have one of those down the road.

Extreme loathing for those folks.

[clifp]

I haven't used my horn on the Tesla, hell I don't even know if it works. One nice thing about Hawaii is nobody use them I can drive for a week and not hear one.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave Then there's the people too lazy to get out and ring the doorbell or knock on the door. It's easier to sit in the car and honk the horn. I have one of those down the road.

We have an idiot that comes to pick up a kid across the street about 7 in the morning. They will honk 3 or 4 times in a 2 minute period. I'd really like to go outside and throw eggs at their car.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyBoy5 We have an idiot that comes to pick up a kid across the street about 7 in the morning. They will honk 3 or 4 times in a 2 minute period. I'd really like to go outside and throw eggs at their car.

I think you'd get better results if you egg your neighbors's house until they learn to have the kid ready when his/her ride shows up...

[ronin]

The added wrinkle around here is that you can extend the distance of the doorbell by stopping in the middle of the street and blocking traffic while you ring your horn and wait for your passenger.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp I haven't used my horn on the Tesla, hell I don't even know if it works. One nice thing about Hawaii is nobody use them I can drive for a week and not hear one.

Wow - I'd certainly want to know how the horn works, and get used to using it. It would be a shame if someone backed into that beautiful car and smashed it up, if it could have been avoided by alerting them by honking the horn. Maybe even more important in an EV, as they are quiet and maybe not as noticed.

It could even save a pedestrian's life. I seriously think everyone should be ready and willing to use their horn, it needs to be instinctive so you don't fumble when a sudden need arises.

-ERD50