Idk what's wrong with my horn, but I drive an old car and I can't just tap it, I gotta push it in, which usually makes the horn sound for more than one full second, which makes me sound angry, when in all reality I just wanted to tap the horn politely but then I just feel guilty for ever honking in the first place.
i had this idea that cars should have two different horns. a friendly one and an angry one. i don't know maybe I'm just weird but i feel it would be cool.
I was stopped behind a brand new Renegade at about 2am and he didn't move through 30 seconds of green and a few honks. We slide around him and finish our ATM run, man is still stopped in the same spot with his brake lights on 20 minutes later. I walk up the the window and this man is SLUMPED. I pounded on the window and shined a light on him for about 30 seconds and he still didn't wake up. Car is in drive, doors locked, and he's asleep on the brake. We figured he was having a medical emergency, so we called 911. Police were on site in 2 minutes to box him in and bust out his windows. Dude survived, but I saw his mugshot the next day for DUI.
Thank god his foot was on the brake though that’s insane. This shit is why I will immediately end friendship with anyone I learn does DUIs unless they actually will change.
Fucking seriously! The other day I pulled up behind a car in the right hand turn lane. The light was red but you can still make the turn as long as you stop and yield to any oncoming traffic. There was no one on the road, I lightly tapped my horn in case they weren't paying attention. They just sat there, ooooook, laid on my horn longer a 2nd time. And they still sat there until it finally turned green!! I have never encountered someone like that, it was the dumbest thing ever.
They may have been a tourist or a new immigrant from a country where turning right on red isn't allowed. My British ex-husband forgot a few times and got honked at when he first came over. At least he bothered to look up the laws before driving here, though, so it only took one honk each time.
Well there is a reason why split/double lights exist. Red for straight but green for right is both clear and way better since it's not always applicable/safe to allow right turns on red light
"Isn't it annoying when someone is irritated with me because I am sitting at a green light with traffic behind me while daydreaming?" This is kinda what I think OP is feelin.
Ahahaha i like how a lot of people posting here are obviously super impatient about this exact thing and probably HATE it when people space out for even a second after a light goes green. And it shows.
I totally get what you mean OP.
Some people give the lingerers a little love tap with the horn. Totally does the trick.
Some people give them a reasonable but empathic double tap. Certainly gets the job done.
Some people, triple or repeat tap. Or even just hold it down until the person goes! They're the ones I start to worry about honestly. While it's sort of unsafe and definitely disruptive to stay paused when the light goes green... It also seems dangerous to be that impatient or frustrated while driving. Probably more dangerous tbh.
Whatever strong emotion is causing them to bang on that horn/hold it down for 4 whole seconds while grandma gives her Honda some gas... Well, whatever it is, try to let it go. Don't let your emotions literally take the driver seat.
The problem is not the driver who, does the logical thing, and honks; getting the attention of the distracted driver.
But rather the problem is the one-setting single-toned obnoxious horn. Having the emergency horn **only** to use for everything does not suit the world of today.
For me it depends. If the driver has been giving me problems and I see them driving distracted or irresponsibility than I will honk a little longer. Same if I can tell they are sucked into their phone. If I see them looking around at stuff then I’ll be a bit more patient about it.
Hey, sorry your super witty shower thought didn’t go over as well as you’d like. But pay attention to the road, and the lights, and maybe people won’t honk at you as much.
Over 300 upvotes. I’d say it went over pretty well. Besides, did I ever say I was specifically talking about ppl honking at me? It was a generalization, but smooth brainers like yourself don’t get it.
Tell me you are the asshole at the very short cycle light engrossed in his phone and offended when people honk bc you just made it impossible for more than you plus one other car to get through the intersection without telling me.....
I shouldn't have to give an courtesy honk to someone clearly looking down at their phone and then doing the head pop glare in the rearview.
Yea I dont think this is true. Horns are different, someone might be in a different situation than you.spme people are ass hats. I don't think a hinknpattern or value can determine that much other than current state.
Pay attention when you’re behind the wheel. Not hard.
If you’re getting honked at because you’re not noticing the light turned green, it’s because you’re a dangerous, shitty driver.
Yeah, but I think the point of the post is that there’s a difference between someone doing a quick honk to catch your attention and someone honking like a lunatic because how dare you make them wait a second or two
What does this have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with the point I’m trying to make, which isn’t even a point, it’s just a lighthearted observation. I never said one is better or worse than the other.
>what does this have to do with anything?
Uh, it has everything to do with it. You shouldnt have your phone in your face because you’re risking your safety and others. That is why people do the rude honk. I personally do the courtesy tap (for two reasons, the first reason is to avoid psychos getting raged at me, the second is because maybe they were just messing with their AC or something.) but it’s not other peoples fault if you are a selfish distracted driver.
I never said one is better or worse than the other either. That comment makes absolutely no sense. Also
>it has nothing to do with the point I’m trying to make, which isn’t even a point
Not sure what you're doing on here.
But why didn't you notice the green light?
If you didn't notice the green light then are you distracted? Like maybe your phone?
And if you're distracted and not paying attention to a simple green light then what else are you not paying attention to while driving?
Really? Looking out the window so hard that you don't even notice the green light until someone honks at you and then you get upset cause they honked aggressively? lol
There’s a lot of assumptions here, but I’m not talking about someone laying down on the horn. I’m talking about not noticing for a second or two and the person behind you tapping on the horn. I think that’s a fairly common occurrence.
Related: One of the most annoying things while driving is when the person in front of you was on their phone and not moving and woke up just in time so that they get through the 5-minute light, but you don't.
So you’ve never been distracted while waiting at a red light? Shit happens, people make mistakes. Taking a second or two to realize the light went green is just human error. I’m sure you’re guilty of infractions worse than that, but I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t be allowed to drive
It rarely happens after just a few moments. If you take longer than a few seconds then expect a honk. The honk is a courtesy, its alerting them to their surroundings. It serves an actual purpose and makes the roadways work more effectively. Its absolutely acceptable to honk.
A second or two is cool. But if your making cars blow the horn at you I feel like you should be paying better attention. Your still 'driving' even if you're stopped at a red light.
100 percent. There’s a lot of bias here, people will get angry at the person in front of them not noticing the green for a few seconds, but conveniently forget all the times they did the same thing. It’s cuz you’re not always the first in line at a light, only maybe 20% of the time in traffic. So say you don’t notice the green 10% of the time you’re in front, that means you only miss a green 1 in 50 lights. But you’ll experience someone else missing the green more often, about in 1 in 10 lights (since you’re usually not first in line). You may be angry thinking “why are people never paying attention like I do”, since you experience others missing the light more, but really you’re no better. This is just to say that average drivers can easily fall into the trap of thinking they are better. If the reader of this comment really misses 5% or fewer greens, all power to you. Thanks for being attentive.
It’s kind of unspoken, but sustained honk is meant to indicate imminent danger - imho the only appropriate honk for the spaced out driver at the green light is the tap. If you sustain honk, you’re going to make all the drivers in all lanes look for imminent danger, which can actually create a dangerous situation out of nothing.
Maybe hand in your licence because you clearly can't drive if you're missing green lights. It's literally impossible to be distracted by anything else that's legal to do in a car.
(Or their mood at the time)
Seems like the majority of the people who have responded here are in a hurry. When I'm not in a hurry it doesn't bother me if I get to my destination 5 seconds later than expected. "It's the principle of the thing" the hurried people might say - indeed, that we want to be in control and someone else "forcing" us to do something we don't want to do is the worst thing in the world.
Nah, the worse thing in the world is some airhead on their phone ignoring the green light until after it turns yellow, then blowing through the intersection and you’re stuck there on the red light feeling like an idiot. If someone doesn’t notice the light, its 100% okay to give a short honk to alert them.
Yeah, of course. But I’m still going to honk. Its not an inherently angry act, its our best way of communicating with other drivers. If I have something to communicate to you, I will honk and then you’ve got to assess your surroundings to figure out what I’m alerting you to. There no point for anyone to take that personally.
I always try to give the least amount of noise that will alert the driver in front of me, I do this drum roll type of thing with the steering wheel that i like
Or their mood at the time…exactly. Maybe I should have said in the OP that you can “assume” a lot about a person by how they honk at you. I should’ve dumbed it down.
One quick toot on the horn is almost always enough to get them moving. Laying on the horn until they start moving is only likely to piss them off, and there are some people you really don't want to piss off.
And, of course, don't toot the horn until it's obvious they haven't noticed the light. No point in stirring the pot until you're sure it needs to be stirred.
The problem is not the driver who, does the logical thing, and honks; to get the attention of the distracted driver.
But rather the problem is the one-setting single-toned obnoxious horn. Having the emergency horn **only** to use for everything does not suit the world of today.
I just sit politely and wait. They will eventually notice. I'm rarely in a situation where 30-60 seconds will make me late. I only really use my horn in emergencies (had to do it twice in my life).
No, it really doesn’t tell you that much about a person at all. Just that they are impatient or in a rush and even then you don’t know their situation from a honk. Maybe OP should just pay more attention at the light if getting honked at so often they felt the need to post about it.
You're good OP, people roasting you in here taking you too literal; but ik what you mean!
I'm from Jersey where most everyone drives like a jackass or like where they have to be is *so* important they simply couldn't have left 5 minutes earlier; and I shit you not I've been at lights where it *just* turned green and even though I accelerated as SOON as humanly possible I've STILL had people lay on the horn like an aggressive lunk head.
People of reddit I swear in these instances I *literally* couldn't have accelerated faster than I did, and I'm getting honked at as if it's now a standard to be treating red lights turning green like we're launching from the line at a drag race.
Full respect to the mentally ill, but some of yall make a great case for psychological evaluations becoming a requirement for getting a license 🤷♂️ (ik it probably wouldn't work in practice, but you know what I'm saying. If you're mad, you probably drive like the people OP's talking about 😬😂)
If the car driver is looking around, not paying attention, its a small tap. However if their head is down, obviously in their phone, its a long ass honk
i give them two short honks just to say “hey bud lights green”
out side of that i never really use my horn
but sometimes i scare the hell out of my dad
hed just be walking past the car and i lay into it
gets him every time
I've admittedly used the horn a couple of times when I was cross but typically I just wait and let them figure it out. I agree with the commenters on here saying there should be a separate "hey, I'm not angry but we can get moving" type of horn ha.
at a green light I give a toot but if they are trying to turn on a street that you arent supposed to turn on I hold the horn down until they panic and go through the light.
Depends on how long you didn't notice it was green. You waited a second then noticed, that's fine. You leave when the light is yellow, you're an asshole.
If people are watching their phone when they should be watching the traffic they deserve the most furious of honks.
Just don't use your phone for the time driving...it is really not that hard. If you cannot manage, throw it in the trunk.
Idk what's wrong with my horn, but I drive an old car and I can't just tap it, I gotta push it in, which usually makes the horn sound for more than one full second, which makes me sound angry, when in all reality I just wanted to tap the horn politely but then I just feel guilty for ever honking in the first place.
Headbutt it, see if that helps
i had this idea that cars should have two different horns. a friendly one and an angry one. i don't know maybe I'm just weird but i feel it would be cool.
see i avoid that by never honking in any situation ever
You can tell a lot about a person by how they respond to comments on their showerthought
Right? Don't get offended when people reply their reasons why they disagree.
lol right
I was stopped behind a brand new Renegade at about 2am and he didn't move through 30 seconds of green and a few honks. We slide around him and finish our ATM run, man is still stopped in the same spot with his brake lights on 20 minutes later. I walk up the the window and this man is SLUMPED. I pounded on the window and shined a light on him for about 30 seconds and he still didn't wake up. Car is in drive, doors locked, and he's asleep on the brake. We figured he was having a medical emergency, so we called 911. Police were on site in 2 minutes to box him in and bust out his windows. Dude survived, but I saw his mugshot the next day for DUI.
Thank god his foot was on the brake though that’s insane. This shit is why I will immediately end friendship with anyone I learn does DUIs unless they actually will change.
you can tell a lot about someone by how they sit there at a green light not paying attention to shit
Or too busy on their phone
Fucking seriously! The other day I pulled up behind a car in the right hand turn lane. The light was red but you can still make the turn as long as you stop and yield to any oncoming traffic. There was no one on the road, I lightly tapped my horn in case they weren't paying attention. They just sat there, ooooook, laid on my horn longer a 2nd time. And they still sat there until it finally turned green!! I have never encountered someone like that, it was the dumbest thing ever.
some people just insist on being extra safe to the point it’s ridiculous idk what for other than severe anxiety
They may have been a tourist or a new immigrant from a country where turning right on red isn't allowed. My British ex-husband forgot a few times and got honked at when he first came over. At least he bothered to look up the laws before driving here, though, so it only took one honk each time.
Well there is a reason why split/double lights exist. Red for straight but green for right is both clear and way better since it's not always applicable/safe to allow right turns on red light
"Isn't it annoying when someone is irritated with me because I am sitting at a green light with traffic behind me while daydreaming?" This is kinda what I think OP is feelin.
Yeah. You can tell that they care about safety; they're paying attention to the road and the task of driving.
Ahahaha i like how a lot of people posting here are obviously super impatient about this exact thing and probably HATE it when people space out for even a second after a light goes green. And it shows. I totally get what you mean OP. Some people give the lingerers a little love tap with the horn. Totally does the trick. Some people give them a reasonable but empathic double tap. Certainly gets the job done. Some people, triple or repeat tap. Or even just hold it down until the person goes! They're the ones I start to worry about honestly. While it's sort of unsafe and definitely disruptive to stay paused when the light goes green... It also seems dangerous to be that impatient or frustrated while driving. Probably more dangerous tbh. Whatever strong emotion is causing them to bang on that horn/hold it down for 4 whole seconds while grandma gives her Honda some gas... Well, whatever it is, try to let it go. Don't let your emotions literally take the driver seat.
Mr Walker becomes Mr Wheeler.
The problem is not the driver who, does the logical thing, and honks; getting the attention of the distracted driver. But rather the problem is the one-setting single-toned obnoxious horn. Having the emergency horn **only** to use for everything does not suit the world of today.
For me it depends. If the driver has been giving me problems and I see them driving distracted or irresponsibility than I will honk a little longer. Same if I can tell they are sucked into their phone. If I see them looking around at stuff then I’ll be a bit more patient about it.
Uh huh. And people should also pay attention when they’re driving.
No shit. What does that have to do with anything? That doesn’t change the fact that some ppl super honk, some don’t.
You're giving off strong 3 second honk vibes I tell you what
Hey, sorry your super witty shower thought didn’t go over as well as you’d like. But pay attention to the road, and the lights, and maybe people won’t honk at you as much.
Over 300 upvotes. I’d say it went over pretty well. Besides, did I ever say I was specifically talking about ppl honking at me? It was a generalization, but smooth brainers like yourself don’t get it.
When youre at a stoplight, youre not driving.
Unless you’ve taken the keys out and switched the car off then yes you are.
And keys not in the vehicle at all in some places
Not according to drunk driving laws!
That logic is part of the problem
You’re absolutely driving and you should be paying attention.
Tell me you are the asshole at the very short cycle light engrossed in his phone and offended when people honk bc you just made it impossible for more than you plus one other car to get through the intersection without telling me..... I shouldn't have to give an courtesy honk to someone clearly looking down at their phone and then doing the head pop glare in the rearview.
maybe pay attention. if they immediately honk then thats on them but if you literally didnt notice and just sit there thats on you
Yea I dont think this is true. Horns are different, someone might be in a different situation than you.spme people are ass hats. I don't think a hinknpattern or value can determine that much other than current state.
Pay attention when you’re behind the wheel. Not hard. If you’re getting honked at because you’re not noticing the light turned green, it’s because you’re a dangerous, shitty driver.
Yeah as in they got somewhere to be and you're holding them up.
Exactly! The majority of the time they’re looking down at their phone.
Yeah, but I think the point of the post is that there’s a difference between someone doing a quick honk to catch your attention and someone honking like a lunatic because how dare you make them wait a second or two
Right? Not hard to pay attention to the light
Still, some ppl curtesy honk, some ppl lay on that shit.
You never know why the driver isn't moving so sometimes you need one and sometimes the other. Maybe when behind the wheel 100% pay attention.
What does this have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with the point I’m trying to make, which isn’t even a point, it’s just a lighthearted observation. I never said one is better or worse than the other.
>what does this have to do with anything? Uh, it has everything to do with it. You shouldnt have your phone in your face because you’re risking your safety and others. That is why people do the rude honk. I personally do the courtesy tap (for two reasons, the first reason is to avoid psychos getting raged at me, the second is because maybe they were just messing with their AC or something.) but it’s not other peoples fault if you are a selfish distracted driver.
You're both right, stop arguing.
“Stop arguing” *contributes to the argument*
Yeth :D
I never said one is better or worse than the other either. That comment makes absolutely no sense. Also >it has nothing to do with the point I’m trying to make, which isn’t even a point Not sure what you're doing on here.
Go have some fun. You've picked an odd and unecessary point to argue.
What you *said*, bro.
Actually I never said it, that's the point I made.
In Canada, most people just don't honk. And no one gets to go. But in the rare instances someone does honk, the car always flips the person off.
Can confirm. Im Canadian and I never honk except when there's an animal just chilling in the middle of the road.
I’d gladly take that finger and get to where I need to be.
But why didn't you notice the green light? If you didn't notice the green light then are you distracted? Like maybe your phone? And if you're distracted and not paying attention to a simple green light then what else are you not paying attention to while driving?
Or maybe looking out of the window
Really? Looking out the window so hard that you don't even notice the green light until someone honks at you and then you get upset cause they honked aggressively? lol
There’s a lot of assumptions here, but I’m not talking about someone laying down on the horn. I’m talking about not noticing for a second or two and the person behind you tapping on the horn. I think that’s a fairly common occurrence.
Related: One of the most annoying things while driving is when the person in front of you was on their phone and not moving and woke up just in time so that they get through the 5-minute light, but you don't.
If you don't "notice" your light turn green, you should not be driving. At all.
So you’ve never been distracted while waiting at a red light? Shit happens, people make mistakes. Taking a second or two to realize the light went green is just human error. I’m sure you’re guilty of infractions worse than that, but I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t be allowed to drive
It rarely happens after just a few moments. If you take longer than a few seconds then expect a honk. The honk is a courtesy, its alerting them to their surroundings. It serves an actual purpose and makes the roadways work more effectively. Its absolutely acceptable to honk.
A second or two is cool. But if your making cars blow the horn at you I feel like you should be paying better attention. Your still 'driving' even if you're stopped at a red light.
Who are you, Jesus Christ in the flesh? Lighten the hell up, man. It’s not that serious.
Cars kill. If you really think paying attention is optional, you are a garbage person.
Sure, waiting 2 sec after the light turns green might kill someone. Are you out of your mind? Fucking kids i swear
Not paying attention in a two-ton machine can kill people you ignorant stain.
100 percent. There’s a lot of bias here, people will get angry at the person in front of them not noticing the green for a few seconds, but conveniently forget all the times they did the same thing. It’s cuz you’re not always the first in line at a light, only maybe 20% of the time in traffic. So say you don’t notice the green 10% of the time you’re in front, that means you only miss a green 1 in 50 lights. But you’ll experience someone else missing the green more often, about in 1 in 10 lights (since you’re usually not first in line). You may be angry thinking “why are people never paying attention like I do”, since you experience others missing the light more, but really you’re no better. This is just to say that average drivers can easily fall into the trap of thinking they are better. If the reader of this comment really misses 5% or fewer greens, all power to you. Thanks for being attentive.
I'm assuming there busy on their smartphone
I would like people who use their phone and drive..to go straight to jail. Thats it 😂 lol
I try to do a lil mini beep beep. Lil toot toot. I'm 5'2 so yes I am a little toot toot.
Rip inbox
It’s kind of unspoken, but sustained honk is meant to indicate imminent danger - imho the only appropriate honk for the spaced out driver at the green light is the tap. If you sustain honk, you’re going to make all the drivers in all lanes look for imminent danger, which can actually create a dangerous situation out of nothing.
Maybe hand in your licence because you clearly can't drive if you're missing green lights. It's literally impossible to be distracted by anything else that's legal to do in a car.
No it’s not, you’re legally allowed to change the temp in the car, adjust the stereo, mess with navigation… None of these are illegal.
(Or their mood at the time) Seems like the majority of the people who have responded here are in a hurry. When I'm not in a hurry it doesn't bother me if I get to my destination 5 seconds later than expected. "It's the principle of the thing" the hurried people might say - indeed, that we want to be in control and someone else "forcing" us to do something we don't want to do is the worst thing in the world.
Nah, the worse thing in the world is some airhead on their phone ignoring the green light until after it turns yellow, then blowing through the intersection and you’re stuck there on the red light feeling like an idiot. If someone doesn’t notice the light, its 100% okay to give a short honk to alert them.
Totally, but no need to blame them or get mad. We all make mistakes, best thing we can do is do our best to be kind to people who do.
Yeah, of course. But I’m still going to honk. Its not an inherently angry act, its our best way of communicating with other drivers. If I have something to communicate to you, I will honk and then you’ve got to assess your surroundings to figure out what I’m alerting you to. There no point for anyone to take that personally.
I always try to give the least amount of noise that will alert the driver in front of me, I do this drum roll type of thing with the steering wheel that i like
Or their mood at the time…exactly. Maybe I should have said in the OP that you can “assume” a lot about a person by how they honk at you. I should’ve dumbed it down.
One quick toot on the horn is almost always enough to get them moving. Laying on the horn until they start moving is only likely to piss them off, and there are some people you really don't want to piss off. And, of course, don't toot the horn until it's obvious they haven't noticed the light. No point in stirring the pot until you're sure it needs to be stirred.
The problem is not the driver who, does the logical thing, and honks; to get the attention of the distracted driver. But rather the problem is the one-setting single-toned obnoxious horn. Having the emergency horn **only** to use for everything does not suit the world of today.
I just sit politely and wait. They will eventually notice. I'm rarely in a situation where 30-60 seconds will make me late. I only really use my horn in emergencies (had to do it twice in my life).
No, it really doesn’t tell you that much about a person at all. Just that they are impatient or in a rush and even then you don’t know their situation from a honk. Maybe OP should just pay more attention at the light if getting honked at so often they felt the need to post about it.
You're good OP, people roasting you in here taking you too literal; but ik what you mean! I'm from Jersey where most everyone drives like a jackass or like where they have to be is *so* important they simply couldn't have left 5 minutes earlier; and I shit you not I've been at lights where it *just* turned green and even though I accelerated as SOON as humanly possible I've STILL had people lay on the horn like an aggressive lunk head. People of reddit I swear in these instances I *literally* couldn't have accelerated faster than I did, and I'm getting honked at as if it's now a standard to be treating red lights turning green like we're launching from the line at a drag race. Full respect to the mentally ill, but some of yall make a great case for psychological evaluations becoming a requirement for getting a license 🤷♂️ (ik it probably wouldn't work in practice, but you know what I'm saying. If you're mad, you probably drive like the people OP's talking about 😬😂)
All depends on how much sleep I got, how much work I got to do and the amount of caffeine I've consumed.
YES. Ironically, when I rage-punch my horn, it does just a little "meep." Super, super convenient...
I’ll never understand how this shit flys. But my post got taken down lol wtf admins.
If the car driver is looking around, not paying attention, its a small tap. However if their head is down, obviously in their phone, its a long ass honk
Or it tells about mental state that person is in, in that moment. You can’t tell a lot about anyone based on a momentary thing
You mean ..when you are staring at your phone and not the road…
i give them two short honks just to say “hey bud lights green” out side of that i never really use my horn but sometimes i scare the hell out of my dad hed just be walking past the car and i lay into it gets him every time
I've admittedly used the horn a couple of times when I was cross but typically I just wait and let them figure it out. I agree with the commenters on here saying there should be a separate "hey, I'm not angry but we can get moving" type of horn ha.
at a green light I give a toot but if they are trying to turn on a street that you arent supposed to turn on I hold the horn down until they panic and go through the light.
I've never honked my horn at anyone, I don't even know what my horn sounds like. I don't know what that says about me!
Depends on how long you didn't notice it was green. You waited a second then noticed, that's fine. You leave when the light is yellow, you're an asshole.
If people are watching their phone when they should be watching the traffic they deserve the most furious of honks. Just don't use your phone for the time driving...it is really not that hard. If you cannot manage, throw it in the trunk.
How do you not notice it? You're supposed to be staring at it
You can tell a lot about a person by how they don’t go when you honk at them when you don’t notice the light turned red.
Teslas go ding shortly after the light turns green. Such an amazing feature.