justadude

You guys are 100% right. All honking is bad, in any and every circumstance. I am going to remove the horn from my car right now. I don't know what I was thinking before. I will be angry and complain about it, whenever other drivers honk their horns.

Spoonrobot 

Or just don't honk at cyclists?

Walter S

Help out on that score and layoff the horn.

AlmostTrick

It's not that honking is always bad... I get enough friendly / warning honks that it often doesn't even startle me. And I get that your honks were not done in anger but well intentioned. Still, they are not necessary.

justadude

I'm going to cancel my account here and quit using this forum, because I don't like it any more.

PatrickGSR94

If you need to alert drivers behind you that you may need to slow down quite a lot, use your emergency flashers. Honking is intended for things/people more or less in front of the car, not people behind.

McBTC

It's a regional thing. For those of us who grew up in SoCal the only people who actually honk are from East coast big cities who move here and ruin the place and are pretty much the only ones who probably should be honked at. There are of course exceptions.

Walter S

That might be a good idea if you came to BF to find people that agree with your every move.

kickstart

Like with other things, excessive behavior outside the norm will be counter productive, and not appreciated.

justadude

In a good forum, I expect to find people who don't argue or make accusations with my every post, while in doing so prove they didn't actually read it.

Because my post before, which minutes before You also quoted in reply, I said, "It seems my thoughts about it are not well-received by a few people here, and that's ok.".

So when you say "...if you came to BF to find people that agree with your every move", it just shows you didn't read my post.

It seems clear to me from your own words in your responses, that you Walter S, and the other guy who has nearly 25,000 posts here, responded negatively to my posts without actually reading them.

Basically, what I understand is you want to back up the person getting angry at drivers, which is ok. Maybe drivers who use their horns annoys the hell out of you. Ok. But you came at me about it like a troll, which is not ok.

Walter S

If strong disagreement with your honking is trolling then I'm a full time troll.

justadude

For the third time, Walter: I said, "It seems my thoughts about it are not well-received by a few people here, and that's ok.".

And then you said, "...you came to BF to find people that agree with your every move.". <-- That is what makes trolling.

For anyone who reads your misunderstandings of what I wrote in this forum and attributes them to me: I do not routinely or even frequently use my horn when I pass a cyclist on the road, but briefly in the occasional situation in which I believe it is necessary for safety. That is according to the law and recommended practice in my state, and the way which I was taught to drive. I have been driving over 20 years and just recently reached 200,000 miles on my current vehicle. I've had no accidents or complaints from drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, or anyone really. I'm sure you or someone else will criticize or mock again what I have just written here, but I don't care any more. Troll on, and be angry as you like.

GovernorSilver

I grew up in California and lived in Florida for 3 years.

I have never seen a driver in either state honk with the expectation that another driver behind them is going to understand that the honk is for them. Based on my 3 years living in FL, the drivers there honk at people in front of them, not behind, just like in CA.

Walter S

Then Florida passes the IQ test!

justadude

Patrick that seems like a good idea, but... in my state hazard flashers are specifically only to be used on parked vehicles, and are illegal when used on moving vehicles.

For example: you're going 35 mph on a 2-lane road, and want to give cyclists who appear in front of you at 10 mph the right-of-way. Sure, apply the brakes. But if the car following doesn't brake when you brake, what is the point? I've seen it happen more than a few times to other people. If I may tap my horn as I brake, the following driver is made aware. This doesn't mean I tap my horn every time I brake or see cyclists ahead, of course.

The general idea is safety, of course, and not to annoy cyclists.

McBTC

California Driver Handbook - Safe Driving Practices [h=3]Horn, Headlights, and Emergency Signals[/h]

[h=3]Use Your Horn[/h]

• Only when necessary, to avoid collisions.
• To try to get "eye contact" with other drivers. You may tap your horn to alert another driver who might turn in front of you and cause a collision.
• On narrow mountain roads, where you cannot see at least 200 feet ahead of your vehicle.

[h=3]Don't Use Your Horn[/h]

• If a driver or bicyclist is going slowly, and you want him or her to drive faster or get out of your way. The driver or bicyclist may not be able to safely go faster, due to illness, being lost, intoxication, or having mechanical problems with the vehicle.
• To alert other drivers that they made a mistake. Your honking may cause them to make more mistakes or to become angry and retaliate.
• Because you may be angry or upset.
• To honk at pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists unless necessary to avoid a collision. Remember that your horn sounds much louder outside a vehicle.

NOTE: Honking your horn may startle other drivers. It is safer to slow down or stop instead of honking your horn.

Hypno Toad

Love it!!!

+1 Happened today, honked with no clear reason (besides bike on the road), I waved and blew a kiss.

I used to give the one-finger salute to honkers, I was in the process of changing my attitude on honkers (flick them off to wave) when I was leaving work one day and I hear a horn behind me and I gave a friendly wave. Good thing, because it was a co-worker. This really solidified it in my mind, don't be an a$$hole to anybody on the road, you have no idea who it is. (that said, I still fall back to the one-finger salute from time-to-time 'cause I'm still an little bit of an a$$hole).

justadude

"On a two-lane road, tap your horn, or at night blink your headlights to let the other driver know you are passing." Florida Drivers License Handbook 2014, page 38, Section 5.25 - Passing.

It looks like, on the two-lane road, I'm supposed to tap my horn Every time when I'm passing. Good to know.

Walter S

Thank you. Honking is especially purposeless when the honk is to alert people behind you. Just tap your brakes a couple times while slowing. You're far more likely to annoy or startle somebody than anything else with the honk.

noglider 

We've explained why we don't like it when we're on bikes. It's loud and sudden and unnecessary. We can tell what you're doing with our ears.

rmfnla

I realized years ago that, with so many people on the road, even if everyone made only one mistake a week we would all see lots of stupid stuff every day.

Just relax and give others the same break you no doubt expect when it's your turn to be less than perfect...

caloso

If you're referring to me, I did read your posts. I think you're wrong and your attempted justifications and arguments are unpersuasive.

justadude

Of course, it is preferable for a driver to not use the horn when braking. Unless it is abrupt and unexpected braking, as in an emergency.

McBTC

• Avoid honking your horn.

Bicyclists can usually hear an approaching vehicle and loud noises can startle bicyclists, causing a crash.


~Florida Drivers License Handbook 2014

justadude

I'm not referring to you, and as I have not crashed into any cyclists or other cars, I am ok with your opinion.