[mints21]

Hi, just read this today in times of India, Delhi edition. I believe from the link that this story has already featured in Chennai two days ago.

The use of Horns in an India Metro like Delhi and Mumbai every single day is equivalent to that seen in Europe in one year.

This is strange, and what does it reflects about our roads and prevailing traffic conditions.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...-car-marketers

The report mentions that every luxury car manufacturers have to tweak the decibel levels of horns for their Indian launch.

The European horns don't last for more that 15 days in Indian honking conditions.

A spokesperson of a luxury car manufacturer is quoted saying that horn is the first component to be localised in any car segment because it requires special characteristics in Indian market.

We all honk but never realise that this is a part which gets the maximum attention of a car manufacturer.

PS: Quotes taken from Times of India, Sunday 19.01.2013, New Delhi edition.

Mods: Please merge this thread if such a thread already exists.

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by mints21

The use of Horns in an India Metro like Delhi and Mumbai every single day is equivalent to that seen in Europe in one year.

This is strange, and what does it reflects about our roads and prevailing traffic conditions.

Sir, The 1st sentence quoted by me itself shows how stressed is our driving now in a indian city and highways. The horn usage in India is not like a warning signal rather it has more to it i.e to push the other motorists to impossible positions and get termed as a non-sensible driver. Another factor is the civic sense that is absent in majority of indian drivers hence they find the horn as the easiest way to express their disgust on other motorists when something against their wishes happens on the road while driving.

It clearly reflects that how well are we educated about traffic discipline.

Thanks

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[ssadwelkar]

I see a lot of articles now a days in newspapers about “Excessive honking”, about how it is a health hazard, noise pollution etc. etc. I am sure we all agree on the above but what is the reason behind excessive honking? The following is my personal opinion.
I had been staying abroad since my childhood until about 10 years back when I returned to India. In my 20+ years of driving while abroad I don’t even remember honking, honking was a serious offence in that country and honking was done only in emergency situations, the main reason being the traffic was disciplined and there were no jay walkers or no wrong parking in the middle of the roads etc.

1. While driving in Mumbai, you will notice vehicles pulling out of parking without looking, what do you do to get his attention you honk but he does not stop or notice you so you honk again and again but still he does not notice you then you have to swerve your vehicle to right or left to avoid him or stop in the middle of the road as a result the vehicles behind you start honking, creating a chain reaction.

2. People driving at very low speeds on a fast track, you honk and flash lights but he does not give way, naturally you have to overtake him from the wrong side, invariably you will find him talking on his mobile phone or he will have an expressions on his face as if he is driving at the edge of a cliff. Can’t blame these drivers driving licenses are home delivered in 100 rupees I heard.

3. People driving against the flow of traffic, especially the bikers and rickshaws, you honk in panic, but it does not make a difference, so you have to negotiate your way through the traffic, while vehicles are coming at you + overtaking from the wrong side etc.

4. You will always find rickshaws and bikes parked haphazardly on a turning or on a flyover even during peak traffic hours, which causes traffic jams so people honk. Why are vehicles allowed to park on a flyover or on turns? Rickshaws park anywhere any time to pick up and drop passengers.

5. An example is at the In orbit mall signal while taking a turn to go to Borivali side from the Mall, there is always a heavy traffic jam and excessive honking as you will find numerous vehicles parked right at the signal where you take a right turn to go to Borivali, why do traffic cops allow this? Why can’t they make it a strictly no parking zone which will facilitate a smooth flow of traffic?

6. Yesterday while I was driving to Bandra on WE, on one of the flyovers a bike suddenly stopped on the right side as he wanted to take or make a call, does it make sense? I honked at him and I must have missed him by inches, similarly the guys behind me also started honking but he just ignored everyone.

7. While driving you cannot leave a safe distance between vehicles as the bikes or rickshaws will just squeeze through the gap. Bikers will overtake you from any possible gap and come right in front of the vehicle, do these guys have any sense at all? You need to honk to let him know that you are right behind him, are these guys blind or deaf or what?

8. Then we have these BEST buses who bully other vehicles because of the size of the vehicles, they have no turn signals, they stop where they want and turn when they want, without looking, even honking won’t get their attention, they just don’t care about the other vehicles on the road.

9. In most areas you will find people walking on the road either because there is no footpath or the footpath has been taken over by hawkers, so you have to honk to get their attention.

10. Then we have some vehicles with no taillights or functional brake lights.

11. Then we have motorist who always have their high beam ON.

12. The government is spending crores of rupees on widening of roads, but people use them to park their vehicles, there should be strictly no parking on main roads at least.

13. And not forgetting the people who park their vehicles much ahead after a red traffic light who not only block traffic from other roads but are unable to notice that the signal has turned green so naturally people behind have to start honking.

14. And some people are so used to noise that they have to honk just for fun for no reason.

The list will go on and on, if the traffic police can discipline the traffic and the drivers strictly then I am sure the honking will definitely reduce, the traffic department can earn crores of rupees in fines for wrong parking, abrupt lane changing et. etc. if the RTO decide to take matters seriously, this will also discipline the drivers and most importantly reduce the honking.

[bbhavan]

Originally Posted by ssadwelkar

I am sure we all agree on the above but what is the reason behind excessive honking? The following is my personal opinion.

I agree to the above reasons by which we are forced to do honking.

There are many, who unnecessarily honk and the main reason for it is their lack of patience and selfish attitude. They do not wait at least for a second, if the vehicle in front stops for a genuine reason.

On this Sunday, I went to worli and back (to Parle) and while returning, at the entrance of our society gate, I had to honk at a rickshaw. And that was my 1st honking in that day.

[Viju]

Originally Posted by mints21

We all honk but never realise that this is a part which gets the maximum attention of a car manufacturer.

No. Some of us really don't. I don't honk or flash my lights to pass someone or get right of way. I have been ridiculed by my co-passengers for not honking and waiting for someone to move.

I honk only in case a hit / accident is going to happen because someone is sleep-walking on the road or another driver is busy talking on his phone.

I used to get really irritated when someone honks from behind for no good reason (especially when he can see that I am as stuck as he is with a dozen vehicles in front of me, but he still expects me to vanish into thin air to make way for his almighty!), but after a lot of pacifying and counseling on the wastage of boiled blood by my better half, I have learned to turn a deaf ear.

We, as TeamBHP-ians must take an oath to stop honking. It is an uncivilized thing to do. Period. India or outside India. And we should probably include a sticker in the TeamBHP sticker set which says something to this effect.

[itsashishsharma]

I myself don't like most sounds that are on our roads except music coming out of my car's ICE.
Honking frequency, IMO can be reduced to may be 10% of what it is currently. Recently, I got Hella's skoda type horn installed in my car, I believe they make bearable sound, comparatively.

[IshaanIan]

I believe that what ssadwelkar says is true. We cannot stop honking completely since that way we will never miss accidents or get to where we have to be, on time.

Here in Hyderabad, the roads are actually quite wide. Still there is congestion. People say Bangalore traffic is bad but I would take it over Hyderabad anyday since the only way you can drive here, is aggressively. The traffic is unpredictable and downright daring. Everyone knows how to drive but no one knows how to share a road. These are my problems with other people:

People travelling at 20 in the fast lane (do they feel safer in the fast lane or something? I am trying to come up with a theory on this) piss me off because I look around and the first thing that comes to mind, is it's like a game of tetris; Everyone is just fitting into the gaps and travelling at the same speed So yes, I honk at the idiot in front of me (try flashing my lights if it is evening/night time first but usually doesn't make a difference)

People cut from every direction so after identifying such folk, I honk if they try such stunts with me.

People have both their ORVMs tucked in so I honk as a warning to them since I know they cannot be aware of my presence.

I stop where I am told to at the lights yet people squeeze through and stand on the zebra crossing in front of me inching their car and bikes forward like it is a drag race when I know that the moment the light turns green they will either spend time kicking their bikes back to life or slowly move ahead like they have just been woke up after only 2 hours of sleep.

No one lets you take a U-turn, at unmanned intersections, no one lets you turn or move forward, it is like everyone is in a hurry and cannot "waste time" but the truth is, they all drive aimlessly at 20 like they have no where to be at all.

At night they all use their high beam in small lanes, well lit main roads, while coming on the wrong side of the road, just everywhere. I try flashing my lights but only 1 in 10 responds by dipping theirs

I also honk at turdballs that stop to take phone calls on flyovers, drivers who stop in front of a turning either to ask for directions or to let someone enter or exit the back-seat and people that come on the wrong way of a circle

Now unnecessarily honking at lights, or at the person in front of you even though you can see everyone is stuck in a traffic jam, or in quiet residential areas etc. that is unnecessary and ought to be outlawed. Oh and let it be known that I do use my horn far less than my peers.

I have always hated seeing the police enforce speed limits when traffic is so unruly. The fact is, it doesn't make a difference merely adds more time to everyone's commute. They ought to first tackle lane discipline and IF there are still speeding problems, then introduce a speed limit. So, I feel driving schools ought to be more educational and tests more stringent in order to mold everyone from the village idiot to the rich corrupt local MLA, into better users of the road. If people still honk as much, then we can call it stupid.

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Here in Hyderabad, the roads are actually quite wide. Still there is congestion. People say Bangalore traffic is bad but I would take it over Hyderabad anyday since the only way you can drive here, is aggressively. The traffic is unpredictable and downright daring. Everyone knows how to drive but no one knows how to share a road. T.......

My friend, I couldn't have put my frustration in better words than that. I've also found Bangalore traffic to be saner than Hyderabad's, although the roads are surely more congested.

[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Everyone knows how to drive but no one knows how to share a road. These are my problems with other people:

I also honk at turdballs that stop to take phone calls on flyovers, drivers who stop in front of a turning either to ask for directions or to let someone enter or exit the back-seat and people that come on the wrong way of a circle

I echo with hellmet. It couldn't have been better than this.

I am one of those who hate to honk but off late traffic conditions in Hyderabad have become so hostile that you got to honk to survive.

[Daewood]

There is an even bigger problem here in Chennai than honking. It's the noise generated by the 'cut' silencers of autos. It's just unbearable if you are a pedestrian. It's almost impossible to walk during peak hours unless you've closed your ears with earphones or something like that.

[joybhowmik]

The horn is the most misused control of a vehicle in modern day India. In fact, people use it out of ignorance.
A few days ago, I found someone honking at me continously for few kilometers of my daily commute to work.
I knew I did not drive irrationaly, neither did I have a puncture, my doors were all locked and closed, my petrol tank lid was closed - in fact there was nothing in my demeanour that would attact attention. And yet that incessant honking!
So at the next red stop light, I got off from the car and asked this Swift chauffeur - what was the reason - did he have a medical emergency on board?
And he replied - quite nonchalantly - that he was honking because he had a horn.