Drivers and their horns...

[Trekker4747]

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.

Not necessairl applicable when moving at slow speeds when coming off a stopped light and you're not moving at any rate of speed where the two car lengths are needed to have plenty of breaking distance. Get off the line and build that distance while going down the road. You don't sit there and wait for that gap to open up as you sit at a green fucking light.

There's people behind you who want to get to their destination maybe even need to get to their destination.

The light is on a sensor, if you don't move through it quickly enough it'll assume no one needs to get through and turn to yellow (and then back to red) so it can let waiting traffic get through.

A two-car length following distance isn't needed when you're going 10 miles an hour when speeding up from a red-light, it's needed on the road when you're moving at 45 miles an hour.

Lite turns green, your foot goes on the gas not sitting there day dreaming for several seconds while your brain processes the concept.

 

[Cakes488]

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

I had the same problem with not being able to honk the horn quickly enough because for some reason the horn(s) are the size of a fuckin quarter. I put velcro over it..that way I can instantly feel where they are -- and around here you need to access to the horn on a daily basis.

 

[JonathonWally]

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

I had the same problem with not being able to honk the horn quickly enough because for some reason the horn(s) are the size of a fuckin quarter. I put velcro over it..that way I can instantly feel where they are -- and around here you need to access to the horn on a daily basis.

"Horn broken, look for finger"

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

George Carlin had the right idea: A message board that could rise from the trunk of your car and broadcast any message you wanted:

"You drive like old people fuck...slow and sloppy"

 

[Cakes488]

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

I had the same problem with not being able to honk the horn quickly enough because for some reason the horn(s) are the size of a fuckin quarter. I put velcro over it..that way I can instantly feel where they are -- and around here you need to access to the horn on a daily basis.

"Horn broken, look for finger"

The finger is all well and good and I mean that in several different ways...but there is nothing like a good long blare to get someone's attention.

"You drive like old people fuck...slow and sloppy"

Looks like old people and drunk people fuck in the same way. I have this terrible mental image now that I need replaced.

 

[ByrdMan]

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.

Someone flying up at 110, I might wonder...

 

[Yoda]

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.

Ehh... Not really. Car lengths are not a good unit for following distance. Time separation is. 2 car lengths for people turning left from a stop is probably excessive. At 80mph on the freeway it's probably not enough.

In general I would say on the freeway that relative velocity is the most important safety consideration. If everyone is driving 60 mph, a driver going 80mph is dangerous. If everyone is driving 80mph on the other hand then a driver going 60mph is dangerous.

 

[iguana_tonante]

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).

Funny, I don't remember you being ever in a car with me...

Seriously, I know I need to drive less, ehm, emphatically, but when I sit behind the wheel it's like I possessed of the spirit of Tazio Fucking Nuvolari.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Nobody has the right to go slow either.

Uh, yes. I'm pretty sure you do have that right.

 

[Captain Ice]

What they teach here is about the best that I've encountered. It is not two car lengths. It's the amount of distance that your car will cover in 2 seconds, whether that's 2 car lengths or twenty depends on how fast you are driving.

Bottom line: It comes down to the fact that if you are the kind of person who thinks a shove will make me move out of your way, you can be darn sure that I will stand in your way like a rock wall until you stand down.

And on the post-it-note: There's this rumor floating around that we all are in a massive hurry to get places because we have to be there, and we don't actually have time to wait for pedestrians, or lights, or each other. The rumor is that it is because we are so darn important that the world will end if we are 5 minutes later than expected. That is a bunch of hogwash. I know this, because as a teenager I spent 10 hours a day working, 2 hours a day commuting by bicycle, and also did the family grocery shopping by bicycle on top of it. I survived.

Two points here...

Number one is that I do the exact same thing. Encountering a driver who is swearing, making aggressive hand gestures, etc simply because I'm not driving fast enough will NOT be allowed to pass my car. I will drive my car into the vehicle in front of me before I'll allow that driver in front of me.

Oh, and for those who think they'll just slide in between the car they're following and I when changing lanes in order to be in front of me....well, you better be able to quickly learn how to use your brakes because this simply is NOT going to happen. I take my personal safety very seriously on the road and will not risk it so that you can get somewhere five minutes sooner. If that five minutes is that important to you, then you would have left five minutes earlier than you did. If it's beyond your control, then suck it up and deal with it. Don't take your time management problems out on me.

Nobody has the right to go slow either.

How do you know that they're not looking for an address?

When you're in the fast lane on the freeway though, you do have a point.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Number one is that I do the exact same thing. Encountering a driver who is swearing, making aggressive hand gestures, etc simply because I'm not driving fast enough will NOT be allowed to pass my car. I will drive my car into the vehicle in front of me before I'll allow that driver in front of me.

I'm sorry, but that's stupid imo. You'll wreck your own car just to make a point? Don't be so emotional on the road.

 

[Yoda]

Two points here...

Number one is that I do the exact same thing. Encountering a driver who is swearing, making aggressive hand gestures, etc simply because I'm not driving fast enough will NOT be allowed to pass my car. I will drive my car into the vehicle in front of me before I'll allow that driver in front of me.

I'm confused... You're willing to ram the driver in front of you, who isn't the driver that's pissing you off? Am I misreading that, because that's fucked up.

Oh, and for those who think they'll just slide in between the car they're following and I when changing lanes in order to be in front of me....well, you better be able to quickly learn how to use your brakes because this simply is NOT going to happen. I take my personal safety very seriously on the road and will not risk it so that you can get somewhere five minutes sooner. If that five minutes is that important to you, then you would have left five minutes earlier than you did. If it's beyond your control, then suck it up and deal with it. Don't take your time management problems out on me.

If you took your personal safety seriously you wouldn't let your road rage cause you to make dangerous maneuvers to spite people...

Don't get me wrong, I've exacted revenge on drivers before, but never in a way that seriously jeopardized anyone. I think at freeway velocities it's probably not sane to get into a road rage pissing match against someone you think drives like an idiot. It's not worth it.

One time there was this woman on the freeway though... big fat ugly thing in a Sebring... it was a two lane freeway, and traffic congestion was pretty high... but she would jump lane to lane in highly dangerous spots... flapping her arms up and down widly (completely letting go of the wheel) in rage... honking at everyone, trying to intimidate them to get out of the way...

She didn't make it very far at all, I ended up taking the same exit right behind her, I outmaneuvered her on the surface streets and manged to get in front of her... then I slowed down and used the traffic in the other lane to box her in and forced her to go as slowly as I could (as it turned out the cars in the other lane were highly useful, cooperative and slow... perhaps they saw the same thing I did). She hadn't even done anything to me personally on the freeway, but she honestly needed the lesson. Well, calling it a lesson is probably aspiring to too much considering what a moron this woman appeared to be, but at the very least she deserved some impromptu vigilante justice.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

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.

Left lane, right lane, no difference. I'm not giving some asshole the satisfaction of getting out of his way because he wants to be a jackass on the road. This has been happening lately in a lot of construction zones around here, where it is a MUST that you drive the limit. Most of the time it's only one lane in these areas, the others are blocked off with cones. I drive the limit to avoid the army of cops who are clearly visible and just waiting for you to fuck up, and they get all agitated. Fuck 'em.

 

[KiraDax]

I will never, ever, ever understand drivers who throw tantrums because I'm simply going the speed limit, especially in heavy-traffic, heavily ticketed areas.

Listen, buster, you might (no, must, to be so confident) have a snazzy lawyer or enough money to pay off any tickets that come your way while you're out and about being a law-breaking idiot, but some of us don't. Completely ignoring the safety issue, I'm not putting myself on some waiting cop's blacklist just because you're in a hurry and can't grasp the meaning of those two numbers on that roadside sign.

 

[ByrdMan]

Well, if you have 4 lanes of bumper to bumper, or a single lane due to construction, of course you have to live with the conditions as they are. But if traffic is light, why not just move over to the right? I mentioned before that most states have some sort of "keep right" law. I don't see why you get moral superiority just because the law you're breaking isn't as actively enforced as the law I'm breaking.

 

[Aragorn]

I don't use my horn as often as I should. The closest thing I had to an accident was when some lady in the other lane saw that her lane had backed up because someone had to wait for a pedestrian before turning right, so her immediate knee-jerk reaction was to switch lanes to avoid it... without ever taking a look at the other lane. She would've hit me if I didn't hit the brakes, and fortunately the person behind me wasn't tailgating me. I did honk at her, but it was more of a delayed reaction.

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.

In my region, that amount of space encourages people to switches lanes into that space. Often on the freeway! I'm surprised there aren't more accidents than there already are here.

 

[Holdfast]

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).

You survived. What are you complaining about?

 

[Yoda]

In my region, that amount of space encourages people to switches lanes into that space. Often on the freeway! I'm surprised there aren't more accidents than there already are here.

True that. If you give people too much space then you lose your following distance anyway. I tend to defend my following space when necessary by shortening it when I detect an asshole so that he can't screw me. I don't keep EVERYONE from using the space, but if you let just anyone take the space then you'll have an endless parade of wannabe race drivers weaving through and pushing you backwards through traffic, and you'll never have proper following distance anyway.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

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.

So you are upset that someone would beep at you when you're not paying attention behind the wheel? Lucky you're in Washington and not the northeast, lol...

I remember driving in a rainstorm up in Boston about 12 years ago. I was trying to merge onto Storrow drive from Rte 93 when this guy wouldn't let me in. I repeatedly gestured a request to help me out, to which he repeatedly ignored me and continued to edge me out. I made the decision that my SUV was bigger than his car and since he was being a jerk I would edge my way in.

Well this guy got ALL sorts of po'd and started throwing change at my rear window. My truck was new at the time and since traffic was at a standstill and even though it was still pouring, I had had enough. I got out of the truck and whipped a Big Gulp sqaurely across his windshield, invited him out of his car (which he declined of course) and gave him the Yankee Stadium salute.

I'm sure he's still being a moron somewhere...

My advice? Pay attention and be courteous or ya might be enjoying a Mountain Dew.

 

[Starbreaker]

I use my horn when people cut me off or go 15 in a 55.