mcours2006

It's been a long while since I've heard someone honk at me during a commute. I obey all the laws. Ride assertively. I am very visible, with lights, hi-viz clothing, and reflective materials. I also use a mirror so I know exactly what's coming up behind me.

Hearing a honk directed at me from behind is very unnerving. I don't need you to honk at me. I know you're there. I'm doing what I need to be safe. I need the motorist to do whatever it takes to not hit me or put me in danger. Honking doesn't accomplish any of it.

When I hear it, I don't do anything, really, other than curse under my breath. I'm learning to let things go too.

AlmostTrick

I figure the person giving the finger always looks like an A-hole to any onlookers. I don't want to be that guy.

And really, if someone is honking because they're angry with you, they're trying/hoping to piss you off. Flipping them off means they accomplished their goal... and won. I prefer to ignore, and give them zero satisfaction.

San Pedro

The honking is not much of a problem, though I have only gotten one, and it did anger me because the guy was driving one handed looking at a cell phone.

I do get very angry when I'm cut off or buzzed by a semi truck, especially when it stops a 100 meters down the road or less at a congested light.

indyfabz

Women honk at me because I am hot.

And it's good to see that the world's supply of troll bait has not been diminished my overfishing.

bmthom.gis

Wearing headphones reduces the volume of the honk and of accelerating trucks and buses. Of course, that's a whole other debate (quietly stirs the pot...)

snow_echo_NY

this morning on my commute, on a large street that has express and local lanes, i was in the bike lane. then i approached a rather large truck parked in the bike lane. i made my way to take over the local lane to pass. then a car speeds up behind me and proceeds to honk at me while i'm passing this 200 foot truck.

i made my way back into the bike lane after i safely passed the truck, then from the bike lane, cursed him out and told him to *****

no one has tolerance for schmucks who do that. if you do this, you're a schmuck and putting the rest of us at risk because you decide being a schmuck is more important than our lives.

It's obvious to everyone here on BFs to change your behavior now - change it to behavior that follows best practices below.

and to re-quote the California laws:

rumrunn6

ongoing evaluation of your route, your choices of how you ride and lane position, and how you handle intersections. we need to get along with the traffic we ride with the best we can. beyond that, smile & wave, just smile & wave

I think old ladies honk the most, but fortunately they are rarely out and about during commuting hours

mcours2006

Yes, that would be completely reckless!

mgw4jc

Just now read through this whole thread. It should have ended with the "honk at the guy's cat" post, cause that was hilarious.

Some questions:
Why do people keep quoting California's laws when @justadude lives in Florida?

Who would turn on their flashers when they are braking? Don't you people have brake lights that come on automatically? I think all 50 states require them.

Why have we not clarified that @justadude is not possibly using a rear horn? Maybe his steering wheel has two places to honk - a front and rear.

@justadude, sorry that you've felt attacked here. Yes, there were some misunderstandings on your passing techniques, but those seem to have been cleared up. But the honking with a front facing horn to alert drivers behind you does seem odd to me too. The only way I can see this as necessary is if you can tell that the driver behind you is distracted as you are braking and you want to "wake them up."

If you are biking and hear a car behind you honk, you would have no idea that the car is honking to alert other cars behind him and would have to assume it is for you, the cyclist. Most cyclists (or at least those posting here) seem to agree that not honking is better.

Even when intended for good, a honk is jarring and startling. As a cyclist, do you agree or disagree with this?

Tundra_Man 

In Alabama it's legal to drive the wrong way down a one way street as long as you hang a lantern on the front of your vehicle. Just because the law states something is legal doesn't always make it a good idea.

In both of these cases, driving the wrong way down a one-way street and using a horn when passing, it's not illegal to refrain from these activities. You're not going to get a ticket for not honking when you pass.

tjspiel

Sweet !

That could come in handy.

I-Like-To-Bike

Honk to "alert" the drivers behind you that you are braking? Ha, ha, that's a new one.

This suggests that you have not heard about brake lights, don't know what they are for, and are unaware that drivers behind you will never hear you honking and even if they did wouldn't have a clue about why you are blowing your horn.

justadude

I'm surprised to read this from some people here, who as a group generally claim great awareness of what's happening around them:

Hearing a horn tapped directly in front of them would not call their attention to what is happening directly in front of them.

When you're on a group ride as cyclists, do people in your groups not call audibly to those following when stopping?

As I said before, I gave some example of why a driver may use a horn and it is not directed at the cyclist. But some people here want to argue that every use of a horn is wrong anywhere near a cyclist, because they say they are a cyclist and don't ever want to hear a motor vehicle horn. I don't have any more time to debate or explain the various ways which drivers use the horn in this forum.

justadude

Just remember the danger to yourself of acting on feelings of anger or rage by getting into a fight with a stranger, or anyone really, on the street. You could go to jail and then be sued by the other person for medical bills and whatever else, from the other person who will claim to be a victim of your "road rage". Really, if you stop and think about that, you'll realize it's not worth it. If you're more concerned, call the police and report the reckless driving as you saw it, with a description of the driver and vehicle, and vehicle license number. The police can look for the driver to talk to him or her about the fact that someone complained he or she was driving recklessly.

rhm

I knew sooner or later someone would catch on.. Clearly this is a result of my yelling, whenever someone honks at me, I yell "go to California!"

Yes, they do. I rarely ride with large groups (this is the commuter forum, isn't it?) but I was riding with a group of about 25 bikes on Sunday, and was amazed at the amount of front-to-back communication. Car up, jogger up, hole, stopping, and so on.

Surprisingly (to me) only a few of the riders in that group had helmet (or eyeglass) mounted mirrors, and I seemed to be the only one regularly calling out "car back." There were conversations going on, a lot of pairs of cyclists riding side by side, sometimes three or more, spilling out into the left lane occasionally. A lot of road noise, and of course wind noise. Quite a few cars honked at us, and I couldn't blame them. We were not riding very politely, and I was continually reminded why I don't like to ride in large groups.

noglider 

@justadude, you have said more than once that you're leaving the discussion, and clearly you want to have the last word. The consensus here is that your ideas are not so great. You're free to disagree, but I think it would be valuable if you considered that we have ideas that could help improve your driving. Sometimes it's hard to consider that our own ideas are not the best, but it's useful. Every time I have a close call, I try to get over my reflex of believing "the other guy" was at fault. I ask myself if it was my fault, fully or partially, and even if it's not, I ask myself if there's a way to avoid what happened or at least mitigate some aspects of it. Maybe you're not as sensitive to honking sounds when you're on your bike, and that means you don't know how jarring it is to the rest of us. You don't really want to jar people's nerves, do you? And besides the fact that it's at least a little upsetting, as we've already said, it's not even necessary to honk when you're passing. So when you combine the facts that a car horn honking at a cyclist (1) is upsetting and (2) is unnecessary, that makes it a bad idea in general. Horn sounds enter a cyclist's ear much more strongly than a motorist's ear.

McBTC

This thread reminds me of something I learned years ago and it's sort of fun to do (if you're not in a hurry and have a few seconds to spare). Ever wait behind someone in a left turn lane and when the green arrow lights up they just sit there, oblivious of "our" turn to cross the intersection because they've zoned out or are distracted? Next time it happens, don't honk... just wait there... seconds go by... may seem like minutes... hours... and, see what happens next...

noglider 

@McBTC, yes, I've done that, and yes, it's fun. I often push the limits of my own patience. When I'm driving a car in heavy traffic and most people are acting stupidly, I'm at the point where it usually doesn't irritate me any more. It has taken practice, working deliberately on this.

In other threads, you'll often see me saying that to get angry is to lose the game. People cut me off or buzz by me too closely or honk at me, and most of the time, I shrug it off and forget it as soon as I can. Stupid stuff happens too often for me to get super ticked off every time it happens. So my complaints about honking should be seen in this light. It's something the driver should not do unless totally necessary to avoid a collision. Drivers should not use horns to indicate anger, and that's very common here in the northeast. At the same time, when people do what they shouldn't do, I try to do my part which is to control my anger about it, since I don't think the anger serves me well.

wphamilton

That's what I do - I sometimes go years between honks.

What's funny are the regional differences, as you mentioned in the other post. Some rural towns, no one seems to care how long you'd sit at a green light. Some urban areas, the general tolerance is often less than a second!

mcours2006

My buddy, who lives in a small town, tells me that he never, ever uses his horn, regardless of how egregious the driving infraction is, because there's a high probability that he knows the person.

I, on the other hand, who lives in an urban area, can count to 1 before a horn sounds when a hesitant driver doesn't go on advance green.

justadude

@noglider I did state I would be finished with this thread, but I see you've called me back yet again. I've read all your posts to me, including this gem: "Thank you for admitting how badly you drive so we can discuss this.". I am not the villain advocate for dangerous driving, or for using motor vehicle horns to harass cyclists, which you almost seemed to assert about me here. I did not disagree with you, except when you made some unfair assertions about my driving. If you live in New York City, which is a completely different environment from mine, that may explain some differences. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding between us, and I sincerely wish you a nice day!

noglider 

@justadude, I'm not dragging you in. Posting and reading is your choice.

I'm sorry also, for the fact that I haven't conveyed my point to you adequately. If you understood what I'm saying, I don't think you would say what you said.

Thank you for the good wishes, and I wish the same to you. I hope you keep participating.

Daniel4

There's a language to car horns. A short blast means "I'm here, be careful". Many short blasts means "I'm a friend and I want to say hello." Only the long blast means "Get outta my way."

In my commute and in many rides, I don't hear a lot of car horns. But more often than not, it's for another motorist.

I don't ride my bike to get angry. I ride because it makes me feel good. Traffic irritants come with the territory. Let it go. You know you don't have the ability seek revenge anyways.

Walter S

Nobody said you used the horn to harass cyclists. Using it in a non-emergency situation is the problem. You're just being cruel to do otherwise given the overwhelming percentage of cyclists that want you to stop with the honking.

Darth Lefty 

My toddler has a book I read him at bedtime, about the Little Blue Truck who has a Beep! Beep! Beep! for all his farm animal friends, but a rude Dump Truck hoooonks to get them all out of the way. When the Dump slides into a bog and gets stuck, none of the farm animals will help him out until the Little Blue Truck tries to push him out and gets stuck too.

In other words, it's all about intent, and you can usually make a pretty good guess of the intent. Of course it doesn't help if you're drinking rageahol