Horn abuse!

[Rose2Bear]

Today the person driving behind me seriously needed their car horn removed.

There are two cars in front of me and Horn Guy is behind me. We are waiting to make a left hand turn at a red light. The light changes to the green turn arrow  and everyone starts to move, but apparently not fast enough for Horn Guy's liking (hey its icey out!) because he lays on his horn. I glance back and he lookes angry.

We all make the turn and are going down the street, which is under contruction and is really busy this time of day. The car in front of me has to turn left, but the left lane traffic is moving steadily, so naturally the car in front of me has to wait awhile, as there was no light to this little side street he was turning on. Of course, Horn Guy will NOT stop honking, the ENTIRE time as the poor car in front of me waited to make its turn. As if honking was magically going to make the traffic that has the right of way in the left lane suddenly stop.

Unfortunately the car in front of me seemed to be one of those people who get scared by a horn easily because it seemed to me as though they kept trying to turn while they didn't really have the right of way just to appease Horn Guy - which eventually FORCED the traffic in the left lane to stop unless they wanted to get hit.

Horn Guy then turned on a street not five seconds after we got moving again. 

SERIOUSLY what is with people abusing car horns? Grant it just today I honked mine myself, but a red light turned green and about five seconds passed and the lady wasn't moving becasue she was fussing with her kid in the back seat. I'd say that's justified.

So etiquette question?
1. What do you consider the proper rules for honking? Scenarios? Time lengths?
2. Any good Horn Guy stories? We all know he's out there in a city near you...

[MrsP81]

Ugh. That would cause me to drive much much slower.

[Twik]

First of all, I wonder if any of the musical members got the same vision I did from the title, of someone beating up a trumpet.

Second - I don't think one should feel bad about a short tap on the horn to remind someone that the light has changed. Everyone spaces out sometime and doesn't see the light. I feel a short "bip" is kind of like tapping the person on the shoulder and saying "excuse me, you may not have noticed, but the light has changed". On the other hand, a prolonged "BEEEEEEEPPPPP!" is saying "move, you idiot!", and is rude.

(I sometimes wish horn manufacturers would give us several different tones to use - one for "polite requests", one for "&*(@" (which e-hellions of course would not use), and one for "look out, you're about to kill someone/get killed yourself!")

Beeping at people who can't move even if they wanted to is not only rude, it's dangerous.

[fklwmn]

I think the only time it is appropriate to use your horn is whn you are trying to draw another driver's attention to something. the short "Beep" for "just letting youknow the light has changed!" and the long BEEEEEEP for "Hey, I'm IN the lane and you're going to hit me if you keep doing whatyou're doing!"

And, well.. I admit to using a medium "BEEEP" for "That's the FOURTH time you've had plenty of room in traffic to make your turn but you weren't paying attention or just didn't want to do it!"

That's about it for me though. I actually think legally you can only use your horn in traffic to prevent an accident (which would be the longest beep above) but it doesn come in handy for other communication

[scansons]

Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits are objects of scorn to smart Americans who blow horns to break up traffic jams. -Mary Ellen Kelly .

[Bijou]

Today the person driving behind me seriously needed their car horn removed.

There are two cars in front of me and Horn Guy is behind me. We are waiting to make a left hand turn at a red light. The light changes to the green turn arrow  and everyone starts to move, but apparently not fast enough for Horn Guy's liking (hey its icey out!) because he lays on his horn. I glance back and he lookes angry.

We all make the turn and are going down the street, which is under contruction and is really busy this time of day. The car in front of me has to turn left, but the left lane traffic is moving steadily, so naturally the car in front of me has to wait awhile, as there was no light to this little side street he was turning on. Of course, Horn Guy will NOT stop honking, the ENTIRE time as the poor car in front of me waited to make its turn. As if honking was magically going to make the traffic that has the right of way in the left lane suddenly stop.

Unfortunately the car in front of me seemed to be one of those people who get scared by a horn easily because it seemed to me as though they kept trying to turn while they didn't really have the right of way just to appease Horn Guy - which eventually FORCED the traffic in the left lane to stop unless they wanted to get hit.

Horn Guy then turned on a street not five seconds after we got moving again. 

SERIOUSLY what is with people abusing car horns? Grant it just today I honked mine myself, but a red light turned green and about five seconds passed and the lady wasn't moving becasue she was fussing with her kid in the back seat. I'd say that's justified.

So etiquette question?
1. What do you consider the proper rules for honking? Scenarios? Time lengths?
2. Any good Horn Guy stories? We all know he's out there in a city near you...

I only honk to prevent an accident.  Like the other day, a guy pulled out right in front of me and I had to get his attention, fast.  I gave him the long beep.
I've never blipped to remind someone to turn.  I know they'll realize it soon enough on their own and those extra few seconds are not likely to make a difference.  If someone were fussing with something in their car (like, kids or a pet) I would assume they had to deal with something at that moment and would just be patient.
If someone is trying to force me to speed up or take dangerous action to do their bidding, I ignore them. 

[HogwartsAlum]

See my post about Ice Storm Traffic Etiquette...perhaps Horn Guy is related to Entitlement Boy? 

The only time I ever honk is the bip if someone is not paying attention to the green light, or a long, loud angry one if someone tries to kill me.

[housewife2k]

I was rear ended yesterday when I went to get Hubby from work. There was no damage to either vehicle, and thankfully, as we both had vehicles full of kids, no one was hurt.  We were in the right turn lane, with a red light, and a prominent no turn on red sign. When the other lady and I got out to check everything the car behind her started honking wildly and pointing at the lack of cross traffic and gesturing that he wanted to turn right.

Oooookay. Just had a fender bender on an icy road, need to make sure everything is all right. Secondly, it doesn't matter if the road is clear to turn on red when IT IS NOT LEGAL!

Someone called the police when they witnessed the accident, after ascertaining that we were good, the cop marched to the car behind us, whom he had heard honking as he pulled up, and chastised him for being an idiot!

[Evil Duckie]

I saw the title and thought- oh no the horn* section is at it again and were caught!

*french horn is what many call the horn.

Now back to the subject at hand. He was rude. He felt he was entitled to have the traffic move the way he wanted it to and when it didn't he let everyone know he was not pleased.

[TheaterDiva1]

Luckily, in parts of NYC, honking is illegal (unless it's an emergency situation).

I wish that applied to Midtown - that's where I work, and I get tired of hearing it all day (and it's usually the "hurry up and move, idiot!" variety).

[kingsrings]

Luckily, in parts of NYC, honking is illegal (unless it's an emergency situation).

I wish that applied to Midtown - that's where I work, and I get tired of hearing it all day (and it's usually the "hurry up and move, idiot!" variety).

My mom lives in NY, and it aggravates me to hear all the honking that goes on there. People honk all the time, over anything and everything. If I had to drive in that, I'd have a nervous breakdown right there on the road. I had no idea it was illegal in parts of NY, guess I'm not the only one who is driven crazy by it. I echo the others when I say I honk gently to remind people that the light has changed if they're not paying attention. And because some lights where I live are very short, I usually do it right away so the light doesn't turn red again. I also honk angrily if someone cuts me off, turns in front of me, or does any other kind of endangering activity.

One thing that is very rude that has happened to me several times is people honking at me when my car has stalled on the road. Hello?? Don't you think I'd be moving if I could? I don't know what they think they will accomplish by honking at me. Just being rude jerks instead of helpful citizens.

[FoxPaws]

The horn is intended to alert other drivers to danger or an emergency situation.

Wanting my parking space is not an emergency.

Needing me to get going when the light turns green to prevent an emergency (getting rear ended) entitles you to one blip.

Turning "right on red" is not an emergency, although it could become a danger to you if you don't lay off the beeping - there's a reason my blinker isn't on.

(All "yous" directed to Horn Guy and his brethern.)

[NOVA Lady]

Rose,

How timely! I just finished reading a funny story about someone who took their love of the horn too far. I don't know if we're allowed to copy and paste here, but heres the link if you want a laugh!

http://firstyearorlast.blogspot.com/2007/01/stop-honking.html )

[Lexophile]

I was in line at a drive-thru once and the guy behind me had a seriously bad attitude. I was alone in my car, and he was in a souped-up jeep. I was waiting for the person in front of me to move forward so I could place my order, but bad attitude guy wasn't liking to wait, so he revved his engine repeatedly every time I tried to talk into the speaker. I turned my head to see what his malfunction was, and he yelled at me, "What the F*&^% are you looking at?" I finished my order, rolled up my window, locked my door, and smiled and waved at him in my rear view mirror. 

He tried to intimidate me by following me around, screaming and yelling after I left the restaurant. My dad was a police chief at the time. I knew he was in uniform that day, so I called him and asked him to meet me in the parking lot at the police station. The jerk who was following me sped off as soon as he saw my dad standing on the curb. I turned in his plate number. What he did constitutes thrid degree assault in the state where I was living at the time.

[Belle]

I was taught by my driver's ed teacher, many years ago, that the horn is there for a reason. (He would reach over and honk it when my 15-year-old self was too shy to do so.)

---I honk to prevent an accident (e.g., somebody pulling out in front of me)
---I honk (lightly) if somebody doesn't realize the light has turned green

I didn't used to do the latter, but I sat through far too many green lights where the driver was dinking around, didn't realize it was green until 2 seconds before it turned red, giving them just enough time to get through while the rest of us had to wait for the next light. In that sort of situation, I don't blare my horn, but I will quickly beep it, and only if I've been waiting for at least 5-10 seconds and it's clear the driver isn't paying attention (e.g., trying to get something out of the back seat). I don't honk it because I'm pissed off, I just want them to look up and notice.

I did that once several years ago and the woman in front me promptly flipped me off and (from what I could tell from behind) started yelling at me. I must say, this was, um, before my e-hell days, and I should probably have served quite a bit of time in e-hell for what I did next. I was both annoyed and amused by her over-the-top reaction, so when I ended up in the lane next to her, about 20 seconds later, I beeped my horn and with a big grin on my face waved the same finger back at her. She pretty much exploded and looked as though she wanted to kill me.

Nowadays, there's NO way I would do that! To start with, it's horribly rude, and secondly, people like that are liable to hunt you down and claim road rage as a defense!

However, don't assume that a car horn means that somebody is pissed off at you. It's simply a method of communicating with other drivers.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do penance for my past e-hell sins.