Do you use your horn correctly?

sun-n-moon

Horns around here seem to be used by fat assed gits who can't be bothered to lift themselves out of the car to waddle up to the front door.

Richard53

I did my IAM car test a few years ago, and the only black mark I got was failure to use the horn when needed. I was slowly passing a bus which was letting off passengers, and the tester thought a brief toot would have alerted anyone thinking of walking from behind the bus of my presence. (No-one was visible at the time.) The guy was a Police class 1 instructor, so I didn't argue, but I thought that was a bit OTT. I was passing slow and wide, and I reckoned the extra noise pollution was unnecessary.

The horn is to alert other road users to your presence, nothing more, so any use of the horn to greet, admonish, encourage, insult or express anger is strictly not in the rules. The problem is that most people use it for everything but, with the result that a perfectly legitimate and polite use of the horn is taken by a lot of people to be a challenge to their masculinity which must be responded to at all costs.

Length is very important, as my wife keeps telling me. A short, polite toot is very different from a long blast in its effect on the other motorist.

skivenov

attila_ wrote: »

A horn is used too aggressively in this country and people take such an offence to it (both sides need to relax). In Italy we use a lot more, to warn, as a sign of annoyance, to say hello etc and its fine. I think here people are too highly strung when it comes to horns!!

True, but I'd driven in Italy. You're right, they don't use the horn, they just use the bumpers! :rotfl:

almillar

NBLondon - no new rules or anything or else you would have heard a lot more about it.
Generally, whoever is on the road first has right of way, so in your example, if the van is entering the road, and pedestrian is already crossing, the van must wait, and no honking is going to change that! If it's a warning to pedestrians that are about to cross, that's fine.

NBLondon

almillar wrote: »

If it's a warning to pedestrians that are about to cross, that's fine.

I was assuming that it was that. Now I do know to look over my shoulder 3 or 4 paces before I reach the kerb to see if anyone is looking to turn in. So the first time it happened to me just before I would have looked I thought "What's he beeping for?" Thinking back, that was a council van so maybe they've all had some driver top-up training that advises it. Given the number of pedestrians who do blindly amble straight out I can see why...

aileth

Richard53 wrote: »

I did my IAM car test a few years ago, and the only black mark I got was failure to use the horn when needed. I was slowly passing a bus which was letting off passengers, and the tester thought a brief toot would have alerted anyone thinking of walking from behind the bus of my presence. (No-one was visible at the time.) The guy was a Police class 1 instructor, so I didn't argue, but I thought that was a bit OTT. I was passing slow and wide, and I reckoned the extra noise pollution was unnecessary.

I can defo understand why he'd suggest it as we often play grand theft auto with pedestrians who step out between buses or in front of buses without proper obs, but he'd probably think you were just tooting him because he was in your way or other such rubbish and you'd get the two finger salute even though you were being considerate.

waynedance

I use my horn when people annoy me.........:mad: being honest.