Drivers and their horns...

[Jan]

I seldom use the horn except for a mini-honk if somebdoy doesn't seem to notice that the light's changed. I don't see any reason to let my blood pressure rise over a minor inconvenience even if I miss the light that time.

The times I want to use the horn to warn somebody doing something unsafe (like changing lanes in the space I'm already occupying), half the time I can't locate it fast enough and I'm busy taking evasive action.

Funny how horn conventions seem different from place to place. Growing up in Chicago I was used to people honking almost as soon as the light changed. In New Orleans it seemed like the honking started seconds *before* the light changed. In Denver and Orlando, when somebody honks you pretty much know they're tourists because the residents tend to be tolerant of the people who don't know what they're doing or panic at missing an exit.

Jan

 

[Trekker4747]

Weird, I was just going to start a thread on a topic like this. Today I was sitting at a red light with my girlfriend when the light went green. The dude in front of us took his sweet ass time to get his car into gear (he must be new to manual transmissions or something) leaving a huge gap between him and the cars in front of him. My girlfriend honked and got really upset, which I totally understand...here we are trying to get home to her sick mother who may die any second and this guy is twiddling his thumbs at the red light. To make things worse, he continues to just mosey along at a snails pace. I'm not sure but I think I saw a really douchebag-y smirk on his face in the rear view mirror. Makes me wish we had battering rams on your cars sometimes.

I want a tractor-beam on my car so I can just pick slow people up and place them behind me.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

How about torpedoes and phasers?

 

[Emher]

WHo cares about battering rams, just get a Dodge Ram, they're huge!

 

[TGTheodore]

I just wish it were legal to hold up a badge so the idiot can see it in his rear view mirror.

--Ted

 

[ByrdMan]

The slowing down thing, I've done that. I'll be going 5 miles over the limit, and some jackass will be riding my ass, honking, shouting and beating on his steering wheel. I'll slow down to the actual speed limit just to piss him off even more.

If your in the right lane, cool. If your in the left lane, you should be dragged from your car and shot.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I drive like a screaming devil, but I honk just in case of imminent danger. Too much social interaction for me. (Plus, with my luck he will probably be a psycho and cave my head in with his car jack.)

 

[Holdfast]

I drive like a screaming devil, but I honk just in case of imminent danger

Aren't you Italian? I thought honking your horn was the fundamental form of communication on Italy's roads?

Mind you, I guess incessant honking on Italian roads that may not be incompatible with only doing in in case of imminent danger...

 

[Smiley]

If somebody is going 20 under the speed limit with no opportunity to pass for awhile and no apparent reason for the snail's pace, is it okay to honk?

 

[iguana_tonante]

I drive like a screaming devil, but I honk just in case of imminent danger

Aren't you Italian? I thought honking your horn was the fundamental form of communication on Italy's roads?

Mind you, I guess incessant honking on Italian roads that may not be incompatible with only doing in in case of imminent danger...

Quoted for truth: we always drive too fast, too sharply and too aggressively. It's something between a national pride and an national emergency, since lots of people get killed and maimed every year. Kinda like Americans and their guns.

Honking is common around here, but not as much as you could expect. It's usually confined to big cities. Country folk just don't see the hurry. Myself, I don't like loud noises, so I don't use mine very much.

 

[Trekker4747]

The slowing down thing, I've done that. I'll be going 5 miles over the limit, and some jackass will be riding my ass, honking, shouting and beating on his steering wheel. I'll slow down to the actual speed limit just to piss him off even more.

If your in the right lane, cool. If your in the left lane, you should be dragged from your car and shot.

I'd argue that 5-over the limit is sufficent "speeding" for all lanes of the highway.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The slowing down thing, I've done that. I'll be going 5 miles over the limit, and some jackass will be riding my ass, honking, shouting and beating on his steering wheel. I'll slow down to the actual speed limit just to piss him off even more.

If your in the right lane, cool. If your in the left lane, you should be dragged from your car and shot.

Why? Nobody has the right to speed.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

Nobody has the right to go slow either.

 

[Trekker4747]

The slowing down thing, I've done that. I'll be going 5 miles over the limit, and some jackass will be riding my ass, honking, shouting and beating on his steering wheel. I'll slow down to the actual speed limit just to piss him off even more.

If your in the right lane, cool. If your in the left lane, you should be dragged from your car and shot.

Why? Nobody has the right to speed.

It's not about "rights" it's about at least two seperate things.

First of all, it's not "your" job to police the roads. If someone is coming up behind you and they want to speed, let them. Now, granted, if you're already speeding sufficently yourself (staying within a "legal" buffer of at-most 10-over (where it goes from non-moving-violation to moving violation) you may have some freedom to "force" that person to drive "slower" but if you're hovering around the speed-limit (or worse lower) and someone is coming up behind you you should just move over and let them speed and let them get the ticket. Hell, it's probably more likely you'd get the ticket for impeding traffic. Infact, I've seen many highways with signs on the side that says "slower traffic keep right." They "expect" people to speed, for safety they want the slower people to keep right.

Secondly, there's the "law of the road" the "laws" that've been made by culture and society itself by using the roads that are only fractionaly monitored and policed by law enforcment in the grand scheme of things. In the "law of the road" if you're going the speed limit you should keep out of the far-left lane, which is for people who want to excessively speed. The center lane should be "cruisers" (people going slightly over the speed limit) and the far-right lane for the speed-limit nazis and the pokes.

 

[CaptainStoner]

When she honked the horn you acted like an ass and moved slower and were happy about this, again delaying people and causing more congestion. Either learn to drive or take the bus.

As always, you're dead wrong on traffic. Yes, the ideal is for everyone to move along at maximum efficiency.
But, it is a community road, and if you can't accept that you HAVE to share it, then it is you who should be taking the bus.

I had a similar one on the highway the other day, coming out of a construction zone. I slipped into the left lane to pass a car doing a bit under 65, my speed around 72 at the time.
As usual, it's the pickup truck drivers with the big engines who think they own the roads. A truck comes up behind me at around 80+, and, God forbid - has to slow down.
Now, this was not a good move on my part - any risk at those speeds is a bad gamble. In truth I didn't realize the great speed of the pickup until I was already making the lane change.
But yeah, all these pushy drivers can bite me. Seriously. If you drive, prepare to share the road, prepare to be frustrated, and worst of all - you will have to use your brakes if you are driving up someone's ass.
Tailgaters are idiots. Gunning the engine like the Daytona 500 coming out of a construction zone = idiot.
It's a highway, not a race.

 

[Trekker4747]

As always, you're dead wrong on traffic. Yes, the ideal is for everyone to move along at maximum efficiency.
But, it is a community road, and if you can't accept that you HAVE to share it, then it is you who should be taking the bus..

Part of sharing is making sure everyone gets fair use/time. If soemone takes their sweet-ass time to move after the light changes that means soemone is going to get caught when the light turns red. Something that wouldn't of happened if that first person had simply moved through the intersection.

I've no problems at all sharing the road with people, I'll let people in on highways (well, so long as they're making an effort to use the acceleration lane appropriately) hell, I've even let people make lefts on green even when I have the right-of-way, I'll let people out of driveways or parking spaces when I'm on the main road. Believe me, I can share the road.

I just assume not share the road with someone sitting their picking their nose while the short-lived green light goes stale.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Secondly, there's the "law of the road" the "laws" that've been made by culture and society itself by using the roads that are only fractionaly monitored and policed by law enforcment in the grand scheme of things. In the "law of the road" if you're going the speed limit you should keep out of the far-left lane, which is for people who want to excessively speed. The center lane should be "cruisers" (people going slightly over the speed limit) and the far-right lane for the speed-limit nazis and the pokes.

Law of the road? What is this, the Old West?

 

[ByrdMan]

Actually most states have some sort of "keep right" law on the books, and the ones I've seen don't mention speed. As I see it, if your driving 100 mph in a 55 and someone comes up behind you moving 110, you move over to let the pass.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

you move over to let the pass.

The only reason I'd do that is if I thought they were going to hit (or, worse, shoot) me.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I was sitting there in the left turn lane minding my own business waiting for the light to change, not paying a whole heck of a lot of attention.

The cars began to go, and I was taking my sweet time; by the time I shifted into gear, the vehicle in front of me was probably between two and three car lengths ahead.

It was a nice sunny afternoon and I was happy... until this woman driving a big pickup truck behind me started laying on the horn. I looked at her in my rearview mirror. She appeared to be making irritated hand gestures and talking rapidly to a man sitting on the passenger side.

At that moment, my primal instincts kicked in and, instead of laying my foot on the gas, I eased it into third and cruised on out at a nice, slow pace, taking special care to ensure that I was going slower than normal. There was nothing she could do about it, and having exacted my revenge, I felt happy once more.

Such lends me to open a discussion regarding drivers that have a way of getting under the skin of even the most patient people, and to my point about horns; USE ONLY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY*

*Or to get the attention of somebody you know.

You were sitting at a light and taking your sweet-assed time to move when the light changed. You deserved the horn. The light is only green for a short time, you take your time to move -to the point where there were several car lengths between you and the car in front of you- fewer people get through before the light changes back to red. This will cause congestion.

The light changes. You move.

That simple.

When she honked the horn you acted like an ass and moved slower and were happy about this, again delaying people and causing more congestion. Either learn to drive or take the bus.

Or you could remember the rules of proper following distance to ensure that you don't hit the car in front of you in case of a sudden stop. Two+ car lengths is actually considered the correct amount.

BTW, I can't think of a single time I've used my horn. In emergency situations, I'm too concerned about moving my car than hitting the horn. In situations like this, I'm just not an asshole, so I wouldn't bother.

I drive like a screaming devil, but I honk just in case of imminent danger

Aren't you Italian? I thought honking your horn was the fundamental form of communication on Italy's roads?

Mind you, I guess incessant honking on Italian roads that may not be incompatible with only doing in in case of imminent danger...

Quoted for truth: we always drive too fast, too sharply and too aggressively. It's something between a national pride and an national emergency, since lots of people get killed and maimed every year. Kinda like Americans and their guns.

I was in a car with an Italian guy who passed six cars by driving in the oncoming traffic lane in the pouring rain. He then proceeded to tailgate the car in front of him the rest of the way (at this point, visibility was near zero, not to mention the ground being slippery).