vehicle horn usage?

Merch

I've read in boards that the vehicle horn should not be used while stationary, but cant find that in the rsa site.
What I can find is below. I dont know if this comes in waves but Ive noticed an increase in certain vehicles beeping to gain attention, ie I'm here beep, did you not hear me beep beep, hey I wonder what this does? beep beep beeeeeeep.
I'll have to assume they dont have a mobile phone and are too lazy to get their fat asses out of the car/vehicle and walk a few feet.
It happens outside of the 23.30-7.00 time but its still not an emergency.
One's a business vehicle and the other is a private car.
If it was once or twice the odd time, I'd leave it, but its routine now at a few times a day from a number of vehicles.
I consider it selfish and inconsiderate.
I'm sure it came up when I did my test. I think there is little I can do to get the private car to stop, but the business vehicle could easily, its a bus. Can I approach the carriage office?

I have found the honest upfront method doesn't work with Irish people.

Using a horn
Only use a horn to:
warn other road users of on-coming danger, or
make them aware of your presence for safety reasons when reasonably
necessary.

dar83

I always put my horn to great and proper use when in a vehicle...











But only when in the company of a friend of the opposite sex.

djimi

Anyone who uses a horn in a residential area to notify someone that they are waiting should be hung drawn and quartered, with their head paraded around the town on a stick as a warning to others...

Some dickhead used to sit outside my place at 7.30 in the morning beeping at somoene to come out. Hes lucky I was too lazt to ever go down to him... :mad:

keithclancy

I use it when,

Pedestrians are walking onto a road and can't see me/aren't looking.
Cross roads in the countryside (Some farmers blow through those stop signs)
Person in the next lane is drifting over into my lane due to texting or something.
When a car is moving toward you in a car park and their not looking where their going.
Birds/Animals sitting on the motorway
When the person in front hasn't noticed the light has gone green due to arsing around with their sat nav/phone.

the list is pretty long, wouldn't use it in a housing estate though, I wouldn't even leave the engine running if its very early.

Lando Griffin

A guard stopped me once and was doing a full check on the car. He asked me to sound my audible warning device. Couldn't figure what he was on about and after looking around the dash a while he said "Horn"

H3llR4iser

I often don't even know if the horn is working or not - whenever something happens, I tend to focus my attention to try and safely avoid the issue. So many drivers think beeping is the almighty solution to every situation: a pedestrian crossing without looking? beep him/her off the road! a dog running in the street? beep it.

Except for the scenario where somebody is looking for a park and carelessly driving into you and the mobile-phone induced distraction, there is no real situation where using caution and the middle pedal isn't a better option than beeping. Use the brain, not the horn.

On the "beep, I'm here, come down" use, I totally agree with djimi.

djimi

H3llR4iser wrote: »

I often don't even know if the horn is working or not - whenever something happens, I tend to focus my attention to try and safely avoid the issue. So many drivers think beeping is the almighty solution to every situation: a pedestrian crossing without looking? beep him/her off the road! a dog running in the street? beep it.

Except for the scenario where somebody is looking for a park and carelessly driving into you and the mobile-phone induced distraction, there is no real situation where using caution and the middle pedal isn't a better option than beeping. Use the brain, not the horn.

On the "beep, I'm here, come down" use, I totally agree with djimi.

On the point of the pedestrian, it might actually be safer to beep them rather than trying to take evasive action which could put the safety of other pedestrians/motorists in danger. A pedestrian is able to react to you quicker than you can to them. Obviously it depends on the situation, and you should be looking to take evasive action whereever possible, but isnt it better to sound your horn to stop someone stepping off the pavement in front of you, rather than letting them step onto the road and you having to swerve/jam on to avoid them?

mitosis

djimi wrote: »

Anyone who uses a horn in a residential area to notify someone that they are waiting should be hung drawn and quartered, with their head paraded around the town on a stick as a warning to others...

Some dickhead used to sit outside my place at 7.30 in the morning beeping at somoene to come out. Hes lucky I was too lazt to ever go down to him... :mad:

Agreed. Worse, at 5a.m. on Sunday last a person dropping their friend off next door to me beeped goodbye to her. :mad:

Merch

I just dont get the whole,
Here I am beep beep
or
bye beep beep
in a blue moon Id ignore it but, continually no.

Ive heard people excuse it by saying, oh but they cant get out of the car, they'd have to leave the children, they could easily phone, hey Im outside get a move on, no need to wake the whole street.

Im convinced its laziness/never crossed their mind/dont know or dont care.

fcuking irish people, were a bunch of cnuts.

charlemont

I use it all the time to remind crawlers that the green light means Go.

eth0

Late at night while driving past a halting site

Anan1

H3llR4iser wrote: »

I often don't even know if the horn is working or not - whenever something happens, I tend to focus my attention to try and safely avoid the issue. So many drivers think beeping is the almighty solution to every situation: a pedestrian crossing without looking? beep him/her off the road! a dog running in the street? beep it.

Except for the scenario where somebody is looking for a park and carelessly driving into you and the mobile-phone induced distraction, there is no real situation where using caution and the middle pedal isn't a better option than beeping. Use the brain, not the horn.

I'd feel safer in a car with no seat belts than a car with no horn. I think the problem is that a lot of people interpret (and often use) the horn as meaning 'Get out of my way', whereas all it should mean is 'I am here'.

H3llR4iser wrote: »

On the "beep, I'm here, come down" use, I totally agree with djimi.

Me too, it's just bad manners.

L-M

Lando Griffin wrote: »

A guard stopped me once and was doing a full check on the car. He asked me to sound my audible warning device. Couldn't figure what he was on about and after looking around the dash a while he said "Horn"

Did he actually say that?

Merch

Does anyone know where its written down that says you cant use the horn while stationary, if it is written at all.
I can see that if I was parked (stationary) and someone reversed towards me I'd prefer give a beep if I was concerned they were going to hit me.
I beeped someone recently, I was in an estate, but they just reversed out their drive, and I could see they werent looking, if I stopped I think they could still have hit me, they may have intended looking but I could see they weren't.

But that is for a purpose, the one they were designed for
Beeping to say hey, here I am at anytime, just isnt right.

aujopimur

It depends on how cute her ass is.

-Corkie-

eth0 wrote: »

Late at night while driving past a halting site

Its better when your driving a Scania with twin train horns for that..

CiniO

I tend to use horn a lot.

1. In any emergency situation I would trigger it on to draw attention of other drivers around that something wrong is happening.

2. While driving on narrow country roads I sometimes beep the horn before blind bends to warn someone who might be coming towards me on this bend.

3. While overtaking in difficult conditions (narrow road, fog, etc) I use to to make other driver aware that I'm overtaking. Also sometimes when I see a driver in front of me doesn't look in the mirror and doesn't know I'll be overtaking, I use the horn.

But I'd never use it for any other purpose. Definitely not blowing it in housing estate to call someone. Very very occasionally I would use it (very short signal) for someone who is not going after green light has lit and been lit for a while.

djimi

CiniO wrote: »

Very very occasionally I would use it (very short signal) for someone who is not going after green light has lit and been lit for a while.

This is perfectly acceptable in my opinion (unless its traffic lights in a housing estate at night or something like that). Anyone who doesnt move at a green light after about 5 seconds deserves to get blown off the road!

Matt Simis

CiniO wrote: »

3. While overtaking in difficult conditions (narrow road, fog, etc) I use to to make other driver aware that I'm overtaking. Also sometimes when I see a driver in front of me doesn't look in the mirror and doesn't know I'll be overtaking, I use the horn.

If someone did that to me I would consider them some sort of impatient prick. I get the idea, but thats miles and miles from acceptable road etiquette.

djimi

CiniO wrote: »

3. While overtaking in difficult conditions (narrow road, fog, etc) I use to to make other driver aware that I'm overtaking. Also sometimes when I see a driver in front of me doesn't look in the mirror and doesn't know I'll be overtaking, I use the horn.

I took the bolded part to mean overtaking a stationary obsticle? If you are in difficult conditions such as a narrow road or poor visibility then you dont over take a moving vehicle, period. Doesnt matter how many times you sound your horn.

Im also not entirely sure that I agree with blowing the horn at someone to say that you are overtaking them. Startling a driver as you come up behind them is never the safest thing to do, and if youre not sure about how they will react to being overtaken then dont overtake them.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

I took the bolded part to mean overtaking a stationary obsticle? If you are in difficult conditions such as a narrow road or poor visibility then you dont over take a moving vehicle, period. Doesnt matter how many times you sound your horn.

Why not?
If there is enough space to overtake and visibility is good enough to see that distance I'll need to overtake is and will be clear, I can't see a reason not to overtake.
I travel 100 - 200 km a day on narrow roads. If I didn't overtake on them, I'd be spending twice more time driving that I do.

Im also not entirely sure that I agree with blowing the horn at someone to say that you are overtaking them. Startling a driver as you come up behind them is never the safest thing to do, and if youre not sure about how they will react to being overtaken then dont overtake them.

OK. Maybe I formed it wrongly.
In my region, most drivers don't look in their mirrors at all. If I want to overtake, I move right, indicate, but in 80% cases driver in front is still not aware that there's something behind him, so then I use the horn to make them aware of my presence. When I'm satisfied that he/she realised I'm behind and trying to overtake, then I proceed.
I've been doing it for years and can't see anything wrong with it.

Momento Mori

H3llR4iser wrote: »

I often don't even know if the horn is working or not - whenever something happens, I tend to focus my attention to try and safely avoid the issue. So many drivers think beeping is the almighty solution to every situation: a pedestrian crossing without looking? beep him/her off the road! a dog running in the street? beep it.

Except for the scenario where somebody is looking for a park and carelessly driving into you and the mobile-phone induced distraction, there is no real situation where using caution and the middle pedal isn't a better option than beeping. Use the brain, not the horn.
.

This.

And to the person saying that you'd be better off beeping than taking evasive action. Really???

In the time it takes to put your hand on the horn and beep your heart out you're better off slowing down as gently as possible. You're going to be aware of this person crossing the road at least a few seconds before hand, if not, it's too late anyway. If you really must beep you can always do this AFTER the situation. Like a "hey, what the hell was that?" kind of beep.

Too many road users are too quick to beep. It's really annoying and unnecessary and ultimately causes distraction to other road users which
can lead to dangerous situations while they're trying to figure out why you, the beeper, had to be an impatient pr*ck.

CiniO

Momento Mori wrote: »

And to the person saying that you'd be better off beeping than taking evasive action. Really???

In most cases you can do both at the same time.
Most cars are equipped with horn which you can trigger with just one finger without taking your hands off the sterring wheel.

djimi

CiniO wrote: »

Why not?
If there is enough space to overtake and visibility is good enough to see that distance I'll need to overtake is and will be clear, I can't see a reason not to overtake.
I travel 100 - 200 km a day on narrow roads. If I didn't overtake on them, I'd be spending twice more time driving that I do.

Why not? You said yourself you are talking about narrow roads or foggy conditions. Unless its pretty light fog then I think its near suicide to overtake in fog; have you any idea how many complete morons there are in this country who drive around in fog with no lights on?

As for narrow roads well if there is room to overtake and its safe then fair enough, but if its safe then I dont know why you would feel the need to alert other cars of your intentions. If its in any way unsafe then dont do it.

How far you drive a day doesnt come into it; if its not safe then dont do it. I doubt the person you hit while on the wrong side of the road on a foggy day will be too concerend about how much longer your journey would have taken...

djimi

Momento Mori wrote: »

This.

And to the person saying that you'd be better off beeping than taking evasive action. Really???

In the time it takes to put your hand on the horn and beep your heart out you're better off slowing down as gently as possible. You're going to be aware of this person crossing the road at least a few seconds before hand, if not, it's too late anyway. If you really must beep you can always do this AFTER the situation. Like a "hey, what the hell was that?" kind of beep.

Too many road users are too quick to beep. It's really annoying and unnecessary and ultimately causes distraction to other road users which
can lead to dangerous situations while they're trying to figure out why you, the beeper, had to be an impatient pr*ck.

A pedestrian can stop faster than a car can, and then jumping out of the way of a car has far less potential for real damage than a car swerving to avoid them.

And I didnt suggest that you dont take evasive action, but the poster was suggesting that they never use their horn, which to me is ridiculous. In my mind you do both, because if you allow the pedestrian to step off the path without alerting them then you might not avoid then. Use the horn and their actions combined with yours might save their life...

Viper_JB

Roundabouts with more then one lane on them....or when people decide that there's more then one lane on a one lane round about :rolleyes:, seems pretty common place for drivers to take the shortest route to their exit, reguardless of what lane/car they drift across, there are certain round abouts in Cork where you pretty much have your hand ready to beep the horn before you even join them. What's worring is when they get such a fright as they never expected a car to be there that they over compensate and swerve the other way - possibly into another lane/car.

djimi

Viper_JB wrote: »

Roundabouts with more then one lane on them....or when people decide that there's more then one lane on a one lane round about :rolleyes:, seems pretty common place for drivers to take the shortest route to their exit, reguardless of what lane/car they drift across, there are certain round abouts in Cork where you pretty much have your hand ready to beep the horn before you even join them. What's worring is when they get such a fright as they never expected a car to be there that they over compensate and swerve the other way - possibly into another lane/car.

If someone on a roundabout looks dodgy then just give them room. Its usually pretty easy to tell the ones who dont know what they are at. Im not suggesting that I have never blown at someone who annoyed me on a roundabout, but its almost always completely pointless.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

Why not? You said yourself you are talking about narrow roads or foggy conditions. Unless its pretty light fog then I think its near suicide to overtake in fog; have you any idea how many complete morons there are in this country who drive around in fog with no lights on?

I have pretty fairly idea. I'd say during fog there's more driver without a light than with ones which is astonishing.
But as I said - I wouldn't overtake during fog so dense, that I wouldn't be sure I'll finish the manouver before something appears. It wasn't great example anyway, as we get dence fog very seldom in this country anyway.

As for narrow roads well if there is room to overtake and its safe then fair enough, but if its safe then I dont know why you would feel the need to alert other cars of your intentions. If its in any way unsafe then dont do it.

Roads that I drive mostly are roads with broken line in the middle, and lanes of about 2m wide (on average).
It's enough space for two cars to pass when going opposite directions without slowing down, and that's what usually happens. But when nothing is coming from opposite side, most drivers would drive in the middle of the road, making it impossible for anyone to overtake. Horn really works then, and obviously if there is enough space for cars to pass, there is also enough space for cars to overtake.

How far you drive a day doesnt come into it; if its not safe then dont do it. I doubt the person you hit while on the wrong side of the road on a foggy day will be too concerend about how much longer your journey would have taken...

I never hit anyone so far, so I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.

djimi

CiniO wrote: »

I have pretty fairly idea. I'd say during fog there's more driver without a light than with ones which is astonishing.
But as I said - I wouldn't overtake during fog so dense, that I wouldn't be sure I'll finish the manouver before something appears. It wasn't great example anyway, as we get dence fog very seldom in this country anyway.

The main point I was trying to make is that if conditions are such that you feel the need to alert oncoming cars of your intentions to overtake then you should not be overtaking. Its one thing trying to wake up some moron who is driving in the middle of hte road and wont move, but if you need to alert a car in misty conditions that you might be there then you are pulling off a dangerous manouevre.

CiniO wrote: »

I never hit anyone so far, so I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.

It only takes one time.

Viper_JB

djimi wrote: »

If someone on a roundabout looks dodgy then just give them room. Its usually pretty easy to tell the ones who dont know what they are at. Im not suggesting that I have never blown at someone who annoyed me on a roundabout, but its almost always completely pointless.

On busy round abouts it's not always possible to safely give them space, just as easy to give them a friendly reminder not to hit you, but ya where possible that would definitly be my preference

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

The main point I was trying to make is that if conditions are such that you feel the need to alert oncoming cars of your intentions to overtake then you should not be overtaking. Its one thing trying to wake up some moron who is driving in the middle of hte road and wont move, but if you need to alert a car in misty conditions that you might be there then you are pulling off a dangerous manouevre.

Maybe I'm just used to much to Polish regulations, which require drivers to use horn when overtaking during bad visibility.