Are You A Horn Honker?

[Ronstar]

DW has a friend who lives in town. I always honk when we go by her house. And the friend says that all her friends honk when they go by. Something about her personality and house location justifies a honk.

 

[Car-Guy]

Yes Yes!! I forgot I actually did that yesterday and this evening to people that I know. Honk then of course a big old hand wave also. LOL

Forgot all about those "honks".... I was thinking more of "get moving" honks.... But yes, I honk at the neighbors maybe once a week or so... Often it's the only communications we have for months at a time since we are so far apart. Especially in the winter when we are not "out and about" on our tractors...

Spring and summer we often will stop and talk while out on the tractors or working the fence lines... Different life out here in the open country....

 

[Scrapr]

Weird thing. I noticed that lots of people honk their horns going through tunnels. At least in Smoky Mountains NP.

That's not weird. That is awesome. Tonight it was dark & raining pretty hard & I was in a bit of a mood. Came through the tunnel & several people are honking. Put a smile right on my face. Dad always honked in tunnels

 

[RobbieB]

I give the texter in front of me a short beep so he can drive when the light turns green.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

They don't know the meaning of a honk...I have seen countless wildlife out here in the sticks, from dogs to cats to cows to geese to deer. I forgot to mention beavers and coyotes. The only thing that works is stopping till they move it off the road.

I disagree. I've made many whitetail deer flee off the road by honking my horn at them

 

[Midpack]

When I lived near Chicago, lots of people honked their horns at the slightest provocation, so I did too. Now in NC almost no one honks their horns, so I don’t either. So I guess it depends on what others are likely to do. Drivers are noticeably more courteous here than Chicago.

 

[Koolau]

When someone brakes & turns w/o using turn signal BEFORE braking, I honk long & hard. It's like they want to get rear-ended. Braking & then using turn signal is absurd.

That's SOP here.

Living with coast roads, EVERYONE has to turn sooner or later - almost all to the left which are the worst. SO, on a 2 lane each way, folks are always in both lanes because of traffic volume. Let's say you have one person in front of you in the left lane. You both get caught by a traffic light. Naturally, traffic builds up in the on-coming lanes. The light turns green and THEN the guy in front of you turns on left signal as he pulls into the intersection. You're stuck until all the oncoming clears and s/he makes the left turn. I try to avoid the left lane now. DW and I even bet on which cars will actually turn left. Oh, and having the left signal ON isn't a guarantee. But I'm not bitter!

 

[street]

I imagine there might be time or two I felt like I should honk but then again it maybe someone I know. Living in an area where everyone knows everyone or at least who you might be, I would feel very out of place to honk for just wanting them to move etc.. I take life at a slow pace and they will move or I have the time so it doesn't matter to me. I don't get fired up enough to honk I would rather show curtesy and patience any more in life.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I was in Aleppo, Syria, in 1963.....horns going night and day.

Central Cairo had international-style "no honking" signs posted all over when I visited there 40 years ago. Motorists seemed to regard them as a suggestion.

 

[Nemo2]

Motorists seemed to regard them as a suggestion.

At one time in Riyadh, since apparently the motor vehicle accident deaths were outstripping the birth rate, they hired a guy, (a Brit I believe), who had car wrecks strategically placed at intersections as warnings.

The Saudis took them to be challenges.

 

[Gumby]

What I learned driving in Palermo, Sicily about 15 years ago is that the stop signs are mere suggestions and, when it comes to intersections, fortune favors the bold. Oddly, however, when out on the highway, the Italians were quite fastidious about staying in the right lane except when actually passing. And it appeared that they paid more attention to the actual driving of the car, rather than texting, eating, reading etc.

 

[RobbieB]

Eating in cars is needed in these covid times. We even did dimsum.

But in the parking lot not moving -

 

[audreyh1]

Wow - so long since I heard anyone honking!

 

[audreyh1]

In my experience more horns are honked in NYC and Caracas than all the rest of the world combined. Mexico City is also pretty bad.

Here in South Fl horn noise is common and irritating. Older drivers not only honk frequently, their blasts are long. Very curmudgeonly.

Wasn’t there a video about India where they made the traffic light stay red longer if people were honking too much?

 

[mbooth]

Wasn’t there a video about India where they made the traffic light stay red longer if people were honking too much?

Ah yes India & Sri Lanka. Gears, braking & turn signals, and other mechanical means of driving, are superfluous, all driving manoeuvres are carried out via the horn Additionally, keeping to lanes is regarded as optional, each vehicle-pilot makes their own flight-path

 

[youbet]

People first in the left turn lane often daydream so when the light turns green, they get 2 seconds to wake up or they get a gentle reminder.

“Honking” and “gentle reminder” form an oxymoron.

 

[youbet]

When I lived near Chicago, lots of people honked their horns at the slightest provocation, so I did too. Now in NC almost no one honks their horns, so I don’t either. So I guess it depends on what others are likely to do. Drivers are noticeably more courteous here than Chicago.

That’s a NE Indiana thing more than a Chicago thing. Two very different places.

 

[Amethyst]

An awful thing used to happen when I would drive on I-81 to visit my parents in North Carolina: truckers honking their air horns to make me look at them. I assume they were checking out my face (I was only in my 30's). The loud noise would practically stop my heart.

I rarely honk my horn. I'm very sensitive to noise and honking horns bother me quite a bit and I don't want other people to be bothered like I am so I don't use it if it isn't necessary.

 

[Amethyst]

The gentle reminder is a horn-tap, not a honk. I use it, and I don't mind if someone else uses it with me.

“Honking” and “gentle reminder” form an oxymoron.

 

[Nemo2]

Ah yes India & Sri Lanka. Gears, braking & turn signals, and other mechanical means of driving, are superfluous, all driving manoeuvres are carried out via the horn Additionally, keeping to lanes is regarded as optional, each vehicle-pilot makes their own flight-path

1985, my third time in Sri Lanka, R&R from Riyadh. Rented a car with my late wife.

Pulled into a restaurant just after an Oz family with driver.

Ocker says to me "You're game, driving yourself" - if the driver hadn't been standing next to him I'd have said "better me than one of those guys.."

Must admit though...the minibus trip, Bucharest to Brasov was 'exhilarating'.

 

[Sgare]

People first in the left turn lane often daydream so when the light turns green, they get 2 seconds to wake up or they get a gentle reminder.

Yep, I honk a few times a week. If the light turns green and you don't start moving you get a short honk.

 

[kaneohe]

“Honking” and “gentle reminder” form an oxymoron.

the "gentle reminder" is a "toot"..........not a "honk".............a short duration version of the "honk".

 

[Sgare]

Yep, I honk a few times a week. If the light turns green and you don't start moving you get a short honk.

I should say toot, not honk.

 

[PatrickA5]

I will "toot" if someone doesn't move, but I give them plenty of time (probably 5 seconds). I don't mind if someone toots me, if I'm braindead. Just don't honk at me the second the light changes.

 

[sengsational]

Interesting. Didn't know that.

In Florida, horn honking is legal only when warning others of an emergency. All those annoying folks honking their horns for other reasons are breaking the law.

In NYC, of all places, I was stopped by the cops for honking the horn when someone was in a right turn lane and unsuccessfully trying to go straight. Just a warning, but still...

When I lived near Chicago, lots of people honked their horns at the slightest provocation, so I did too. Now in NC almost no one honks their horns, so I don’t either. So I guess it depends on what others are likely to do. Drivers are noticeably more courteous here than Chicago.

Also here in NC, DW was in a parking lot, moving slowly as the drive-through line to progressed. Someone started backing up, so she gave a polite 'toot'. The backer paused, then promptly resumed and bumped into DW's then stationary car! She was trying to be 'polite', but should have laid-down on the horn. And in fact the offender criticized her for not being a better honker

The gentle reminder is a horn-tap, not a honk. I use it, and I don't mind if someone else uses it with me.

Is anyone else annoyed by the vehicle manufacturer's choice to use the horn to prove a vehicle has been remotely locked? Totally unnecessary noise pollution! My vehicles lock without a noise at all, and have an external speaker that makes a less-annoying beep, but only if you press it twice. Nothing like a nice walk in the parking lot being spoiled by some bozo locking his air-horn equipped truck right when you're three feet from it (wow, that was really curmudgeonly of me, wasn't it...take it as entertainment, please).