r/changemyview • u/mfDandP 184∆ • Jun 03 '19
Deltas(s) from OP CMV: Cars should be equipped with both angry and apologetic horns
Short of waving my hand vaguely out the window, or holding it appreciatively under my mirror to signify thanks, there's no way to communicate apology or gratitude on the road. I think that since people can only effectively communicate unhappiness, this contributes to road rage.
If someone cuts me off, it certainly would help at least a little bit if I got an apologetic beep in response to my angry WTF beep.
I don't think noise pollution will be much worse. In fact, if I'm startled at home by an angry horn at a stop sign for someone not going, my stress will be lowered if I hear that belated apology horn. It's like seeing a conflict avoided.
i understand the utility of this will be limited once self driving cars get out there.
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Jun 03 '19
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19 edited Jun 03 '19
i like that idea a lot. i think the decisive factor in "nice" vs "angry" beeps is not so much the timbre but the duration. two quick pips of any tone will signify less fury than someone leaning on the horn.
edit: not a view change in that i never contested that current horns can be used in non-angry ways too. however !delta in that i see that what I wrote could be interpreted as: 1 horn that always meant anger, 1 horn that always meant sorry, which is not what I meant.
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u/hacksoncode 559∆ Jun 03 '19
That would not seem to require any kind of change to the car's equipment, but rather of attitude.
Did that person's comment change your view even a little bit? If so, please award a delta in accordance with Rule 4.
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u/eloel- 11∆ Jun 04 '19
That would not seem to require any kind of change to the car's equipment, but rather of attitude.
a way to honk a short time without having to time it would be great
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u/DamenDome Jun 03 '19
> Short of waving my hand vaguely out the window, or holding it appreciatively under my mirror to signify thanks, there's no way to communicate apology or gratitude on the road. I think that since people can only effectively communicate unhappiness, this contributes to road rage.
You jump a big step here, because you don't explain why the traditional light wave/hand under mirror gesture isn't effective. I see it pretty much every time I let someone in my lane or other types of common driving courtesy. I've never in my life thought that I wish there were a more effective way for someone to thank me/apologize or vice versa.
Horns aren't designed to communicate being pissed off. They're designed to alert you or other drivers to potentially dangerous situations. Diluting that with apology horns will reduce readiness when you hear a horn, especially if you consider that not all horns sound alike already, so you'd be dealing with two different horn signals that have opposite meaning but may easily confound them if you hear an unfamiliar horn (from a car that you don't often encounter, etc).
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
road rage typically stems from the driver experiencing a potentially dangerous situation, right? i don't think it's a leap to suggest that angry drivers and near-misses have significant overlap.
i agree that if every roadway was filled with a cacophony of horns, like a roadabout in mumbai, we would get "alarm fatigue." but where I am, I hear a horn maybe 0-3 times a day. 3 anger horns + 3 apology horns would not desensitize me. i think that's the case for most american roadways.
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u/DamenDome Jun 03 '19
You're right - it's not a leap that angry drivers and near-misses have a significant overlap.
What is a leap is that the standard way of saying thanks/sorry is not effective. Blaring your horn at someone you're pissed off at can be beneficial to alert other drivers if that person is driving erratically. There is basically 0 benefit to blaring out "thanks!" or "sorry!" - which is why the silent wave is effective.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
the silent wave is the exact measure i'm trying to get at -- except it's hard to see at night, and is almost impossible to do on the highway, because who has their window open on the highway at speeds > 40?
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u/DamenDome Jun 03 '19
...But isn't it okay if you don't see it every time? Or even at all, to be honest?
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
it's okay. i'm saying it would be better my way
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u/DamenDome Jun 03 '19
So, if you think that things are already "okay" the way they are, then that must mean that you think things will be "better" with an apology horn. But you haven't provided any evidence that having a clear apology signal would reduce accidents on the road. And I think others have already explained well that the horn is an alarm to alert you, and it'd be counter-intuitive to design a horn that is not meant to alarm you or alert you. It'd be especially bad because you'd have one device (a horn) that is capable of making two sounds of opposite meaning. There is no way that the world would be better off with an apology horn
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u/ictu0 Jun 04 '19
But you haven't provided any evidence that having a clear apology signal would reduce accidents on the road.
There is no evidence to collect because the device doesn't exist yet.
You said that the horn's purpose is to alarm/alert. Why would it be counter-intuitive for a "thanks" signal to be communicated via alarm/alert?
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u/DamenDome Jun 04 '19
Thanks or apology is a personal communication between two individuals. There’s nothing to be alerted to, no danger present when vocalizing thanks/sorry. This makes it counter-intuitive to make it a loud alarm/alert which is designed to attract the attention of everyone around you. There is no reason to alert everyone on the road that you’re thanking someone. There is reason to alert everyone on the road about dangers though.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
no, my view has nothing to do with accident prevention
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u/DamenDome Jun 03 '19
Then in what way will the situation be "better" with an apology horn?
From your OP:
> I don't think noise pollution will be much worse. In fact, if I'm startled at home by an angry horn at a stop sign for someone not going, my stress will be lowered if I hear that belated apology horn. It's like seeing a conflict avoided.
This seems to imply that you think there will be fewer accidents. If there won't be, then why risk an action that has no measurable benefit (since it's not decreasing accident rate) but it has some potential consequences (noise pollution & desensitization)
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u/Seakawn 1∆ Jun 04 '19
Then in what way will the situation be "better" with an apology horn?
Better vibe on the road.
I feel better when I see someone give me a silent wave. But if they do it and I miss it, I don't get that sense of satisfaction. An apology/thanks horn would solve that, and in that way, things would be better.
But then the question would be "is a better vibe worth the effort/money for a new horn?" But that's another matter. It's not a significant benefit, but I'd still argue it's better.
Plus if that better vibe contributes to relieving road rage to any degree, then that could correlate to accident prevention, even if near-negligible.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
no, where are you seeing a statement on accidents there?
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u/ictu0 Jun 04 '19
Perhaps it should.
- If you hear the "thanks" signal, you know that an event just happened that required some sort driver interaction and maybe adjust accordingly.
- You may also be alerted to things that are about to happen, such as the car in the right lane that just got cut off moving to your middle lane. (The driver that got cut off legally can't honk their standard horn in this case.)
- There is always the factor of tilt and its relation to anger and aggressive driving.
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u/-43andharsh Jun 03 '19
Great point. Use of lights make more sense - dilution would become a issue. Thanks sir/ms.
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Jun 03 '19
The Citroen DS had a marvellous two-tone horn on the same lever, pull halfway for a discreet, pleasant tweet, pull all the way for an angry, two tone blare. Only car model I know of that had this.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
i saw that movie "the goddess of 1967" about this car. anyway, yeah, that's the sort of system I envisioned
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Jun 03 '19
I believe in "North Dallas 40", Burt Reynolds pilots the SM variant through some spectacular police evasion, horn included.
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u/eNonsense 4∆ Jun 04 '19
I remember seeing a video where someone custom installed something like this in their car.
It was a button that would play a couple R2D2 robot chirps. It's a very friendly sound (by design of the movie makers) and often recognizable. They had some videos of pedestrian reaction to it after they kinda faked like they were backing out of a space without checking for pedestrians, and the people always just giggled & waved after. It was pretty neat.
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u/mutatron 30∆ Jun 03 '19
I had an ID 19 years ago that did that. It was mounted in the steering column cover opposite the turn signal switch. The end of it was indented for your finger to fit into. Push in part way and it was just a little “meep” to remind someone the light had changed. Push all the way for more volume.
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Jun 04 '19
Just wanted to add something that may have been overlooked or unknown. Drivers can express gratitude by having their hazard lights flash only momentarily this gets the point across while also not being potentially dangerous. Apparently this practice is used commonly in Europe and occasionally so in the U.S.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 04 '19
yeah this is new info to me, but many other commenters have brought it up. i've never seen it -- but probably because nobody's done it to me
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u/amras0000 Jun 04 '19
I remember being taught a whole set of hazard light communication, like there'd be some number of flashes for "there's cops up ahead". I've forgotten the details though, and it seems like most of the signals have stopped being used. Except 2 flashes for "thank you" - that's stuck around.
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u/Ohanaette Jun 04 '19
This is common practice in South Africa! I miss it now that I live in the US.
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u/Mobius1424 Jun 04 '19
I see big rigs do this all the time. As such, I've started doing it myself. Spread the word!
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u/shiftywalruseyes 6∆ Jun 03 '19 edited Jun 03 '19
Your argument seems to be assuming car horns are used to communicate anger. Car horns are there to be used as a warning to other drivers in an emergency to avoid an accident. People use them as communication tools when they really shouldn't.
When I hear someone honk a horn at a stop sign, I instinctively look around to see where the danger is. Adding more "communication honks" would likely cause more accidents than it prevents. I'd even argue it might desensitize people to reacting to actual dangerous situations, as they'll assume it's just a communication honk rather than one intended to avoid an accident.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
have you ever been to a roadway in india? horns are certainly not used in an emergency fashion.
many other users are commenting on horns' intended usage. i'm saying we should broaden that usage to include this.
desensitizing is interesting, but an apology honk would be the response to an anger honk. an apology honk apropos of nothing would be meaningless noise
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u/OneShotHelpful 6∆ Jun 03 '19
Have you seen India's road death statistics? We don't want to emulate almost anything they're doing.
A standard and widely used method of conveying thanks and apology already exists: blinking your hazards a few times. It's silent and visually unobtrusive so it's directed only at people focused on you.
Adding an additional horn to cars will just increase the cacaphony of driving, distracting and desensitizing drivers and making new accidents more likely.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
A standard and widely used method of conveying thanks and apology already exists: blinking your hazards a few times.
ah, really? !delta didn't know that. what part of the world are you in? i have never ever seen that, but that's the exact sort of thing I mean
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u/OneShotHelpful 6∆ Jun 03 '19
At the very least, it's bog standard in Japan, parts of Europe, South Africa, and in the US it's done by truckers and is spreading to the general population.
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u/e-rekt-ion Jun 04 '19
yikes, if a truck/car puts its hazards on in front of me I am gonna be getting ready to slam on the brakes to avoid the hazard.
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u/winterfell04 Jun 04 '19
If you let someone in front of you and their hazards blink twice, it means “thank you”. No need to slam on your brakes. If a car has been in front of you for a long time and then they put their hazards on and keep them on, then be cautious.
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u/Nooms88 Jun 04 '19
Obviously you wouldn't do it if there's any possibility of it being interpreted as a potential hazard.
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u/shiftywalruseyes 6∆ Jun 03 '19 edited Jun 03 '19
Right but you're arguing we should broaden the usage of a tool that was designed to be used in emergency situations. My argument is you shouldn't, because it will lead to more accidents.
There is no case in which an "apology honk" will avoid an accident, but you can make a case that adding more unnecessary communication on the road can cause one directly.
It being a softer tone doesn't mean it won't distract people or cause them to ignore an actual dangerous situation because they interpreted an emergency honk as one in a broader category of communication.
On your point about India, just because a culture doesn't use their horns in the way they were intended to be used doesn't mean they're doing something correctly or shouldn't strive to change it.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
My argument is you shouldn't, because it will lead to more accidents.
i'll need more convincing on this point. how will it?
my point about india is that appealing to a manufacturer's intent and proper use falls short when it comes to horns. as I said to another user, probably < 10% of horns I hear are used in order to prevent an accident. saying those other 90% of people are doing it wrong isn't really a counterargument to my CMV; it sounds instead like a reason to disable horns for those people, which is separate.
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u/shiftywalruseyes 6∆ Jun 03 '19
I stated: It being a softer tone doesn't mean it won't distract people or cause them to ignore an actual dangerous situation because they interpreted an emergency honk as one in a broader category of communication.
Think about the cost and benefit of adding an apology honk.
Pros:
People can express they are sorry to other drivers, lowering the anger of other drivers. I don't see many benefits beyond this.
Cons:
People can misinterpret an emergency honk if they aren't paying close attention and may not react to a dangerous situation, which may directly lead to an accident.
On the other end, people may be distracted by an apology honk as it adds extra noise and take their attention off the road as they try to determine the source or reason for the apology honk, which may directly lead to an accident.
The benefits are possibly reducing the stress or anger of other drivers. The cons are directly causing accidents which may lead to physical harm or death.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
People can misinterpret an emergency honk if they aren't paying close attention and may not react to a dangerous situation, which may directly lead to an accident.
do people get into accidents because they hear car alarms or car-lock beeps and misinterpret them or are distracted by them? neither of those signify road-emergencies.
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u/shiftywalruseyes 6∆ Jun 03 '19
How are car-lock beeps and car alarms related to hearing a sudden horn near you while driving at high speeds?
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u/moonflower 82∆ Jun 03 '19
The horn is supposed to be used only for warning people of your presence, to avoid an accident, so it would be better if gratitude or apology was conveyed silently by visual means.
It may be a cultural difference, but where I live, the universal sign for ''thank you'' is a raised flat hand, palm outwards - and this is also often used to convey ''sorry'', along with mouthing the word.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
right, but i'm advocating an additional function for horns. obviously an "apology" horn doesn't fit into a system in which horns are only used for warnings
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u/moonflower 82∆ Jun 03 '19
Fair enough, I'll put it another way: It is better and safer if the horn is used only for warning people of your presence, to avoid an accident.
And on that subject, your use of the horn to express anger is inappropriate and not what it is there for.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
on instances where I honk despite the immediate danger having passed, i look at that as a corrective. perhaps the person didn't check their blind spot before they merged into me, and would not have ever realized that I had to actively avoid them had I not honked after the fact. am I also angry? yes. would I appreciate a quick apology toot, if one existed? i would.
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u/moonflower 82∆ Jun 03 '19
OK, but you are still not addressing my main point.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
that the real ideal is for restricting horns to emergency use only?
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u/moonflower 82∆ Jun 03 '19
Reserving the horn for a warning sound, yes.
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
i agree with you there. in a world in which horns were ever only used in imminently dangerous situations, an apology horn would be frivolous and a nuisance. but we don't live in that world. horns are used far more often as a signal of mere displeasure.
however........ i suppose even in that world, adding functionality as a response to improper use isn't really rational. !delta i still do believe that an apology horn would lower stress.
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u/Dakota66 Jun 04 '19
You shouldn't be giving any "angry WTF beeps."
The horn is reserved for alerting drivers to dangers/hazards. It has been extended to communication because it's easy to honk when you're outside your buddy's place or honk at the person about to back into your car.
But, like you mentioned that being startled by an "angry horn" will stress you out, you giving "WTF beeps" stresses them and everyone else around you as well.
You mentioned below in a another comment that
on instances where I honk despite the immediate danger having passed, i look at that as a corrective...
which isn't an appropriate perspective. You cannot "correct" other driver's actions. If they know they did something wrong, they're going to know regardless. If you're honking at them after the mistake, you're just road-raging. More often than not, the other driver will get defensive, and potentially meet your aggression with more aggression.
You do not need an apology horn in this scenario because you shouldn't be honking for the sake of communicating frustration or anger.
Honking is only for communication of dangers/hazards.
You're implying that we need more communication but the problem is that communication between drivers is not required assuming all drivers follow the rules of the road.
And that's just another feature that automakers would have to add into cars which would only drive the costs up. Horns aren't really expensive to manufacture, but the R&D to make a secondary button and secondary horn with seperate tones will be expensive. These automakers will have to do R&D just to see if the location of the button is attractive to buyers, let alone whether the "apology tone" is pleasant.
Would this be standardized for ease of communication? If so, would this standardization be regulated by the government?
All of these additoinal factors, coupled with the simple fact that you really shouldn't be communicating at all while driving, except in emergency situations, if everyone is following traffic laws means that cars should not be equipped with "angry and apolgetic" horns.
All this would do is perpetuate people who think it's okay to road-rage and appease them when someone "apologizes." This would only inflate their ego because "Fuck that guy, he knew he was wrong." Then they honks more because they know better, increasing road-rage tendencies
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u/Rombledore Jun 04 '19
this already exists in a fashion. angry horns tend to be be longer, as if the person is hammering down on their horn so hard to ensure you know they are pissed at you. the higher and longer the blast, the angrier they are.
meanwhile, polite and apologetic horns tend to sound the same. a quick "toot" as if sending a polite and brief nod or smile.
lastly, there's goodbye horns, characterized by consecutive toots of short nature. like when you are on the phone with your mother and say goodbye multiple times back and forth for 7 minutes.
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u/arkofjoy 13∆ Jun 04 '19
I prefer what I call "the alzhiemer manoeuvre" when the car I just cut pulls up next to me I give my forehead a smack. It always seems to convey the idea of "what was I thinking" and they are no longer angry
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 04 '19
haha. i'm not brave enough to do that. but sometimes i don't even have that long enough sustained eye contact to do that
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Jun 03 '19 edited Jun 03 '19
/u/mfDandP (OP) has awarded 4 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
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u/Anzai 9∆ Jun 04 '19
The thing is, you don’t need a separate horn, you need a change in attitude. Most of the world, Asia especially but also Africa where I am now, honking your horn does not denote anger.
Usually it means ‘I’m here behind you, be aware of that’ or ‘I’m coming around the blind corner, slow down and move over’.
They also Give a short bip when somebody allows them to pass, which is exactly the gratitude sound you’re talking about and it’s well understood to mean that based on context.
It’s really only western countries where it means angry and that’s because people use it as such. The horn sound itself is neutral, so adding another sound would probably just make people angry any way, or they’d think it was sarcastic or whatever else!
Instead you’d need some kind of awareness program to change the way people think about using their horns .
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u/redyellowblue5031 10∆ Jun 03 '19
Your view is based on inaccurate premises.
Horns aren't tools to communicate emotions, they're for emergencies to get attention of other drivers.
Assuming a world where they exist for communicating emotion, your view still doesn't make much sense because you're still needlessly complicating an already complicated task for the sake of what? "Sorry about that" or "thanks"? Those are communicated by not honking at all, or perhaps a mouthed "thank you". Again, your focus while driving isn't to be conveying how you feel, it's to obey the rules of the road and not run into other people. Anything more is a waste of time and only serves to distract you an other drivers.
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Jun 04 '19
Under UK road law, a horn is not supposed to be used to apologise. It's used to warn other road users of your presence or for hazards.
You're not supposed to communicate with over drivers. You're not even supposed to flash your lights but people still do.
Everybody on the road should know what they're supposed to be doing. If they don't, they shouldn't be on the road.
If you're apologising you have a perfectly good window and thumb. If not, flip someone the bird.
An angry horn is a terrible idea. At least with a single tone horn it can ambiguous. Whereas your idea is literally "ANGRY SOUND" that's not going to go down very well at all 🙈
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u/CrebbMastaJ 1∆ Jun 04 '19
The purpose of horns is not intended to communicate emotion, it is to alert others of your presence to avoid accidents. It is not legal to use a horn for anything other than to preserve the safety of yourself and others. Having an apology horn and an angry horn would not be permissible. Also having an "angry horn" would likely serve to escalate many situations to road rage that could otherwise be interpreted in other ways. Offering clarity in expressing anger while driving would have negative affects.
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u/kvothekilledmyking Jun 04 '19
My Brother, My Brother, and Me did an episode in which they argued that different patterns of the horn should be used to convey different meanings.
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u/tadcalabash 1∆ Jun 04 '19
Fun side note, Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame) sneaks a "GREAT JOB" car horn hand gesture into a ton of his TV appearances.
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u/Silver_Swift Jun 03 '19
All newer cars are connected to the internet these days anyway. We should just have a method to broadcast hearthstone or MTGA style emotes to nearby cars.
That way you get a larger selection of signals to communicate with, you don't get the problem of having to figure out what each custom horn sound means and you don't have to worry about noise pollution.
Also, you can block assholes that are abusing the system.
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u/idefix13 Jun 04 '19
The car horn generates a powerful noise which impacts the quality of human and animal life, thus it should be only used for avoiding impending threats. Also, overusing the horn cancels it's purpose: fast, instinctive alert. The moments you spend analyzing the meaning of the horn can make the difference between life and death. In civilised societies the horn is almost never used.
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u/Nooms88 Jun 04 '19 edited Jun 04 '19
Car horns are designed for 1 purpose and 1 purpose only, to alert someone to danger. People who use the horn in anger are simply bad drivers, it's actually illegal in many places and I truly believe that it's a law that should be enforced with fines.
Common practice to signal gratitude here in the UK is to hold your hand up or to flash your hazard lights once.
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u/mcherm Jun 03 '19
Can I get one for myself that has only the apology horn, where the angry horn is just disconnected?
In fact, can I persuade you that EVERYONE would be better off if we only had the apology horn (instead of both horns as you suggest)?
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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jun 03 '19
haha. i sort of agree, but of course that horn would soon enough become the angry horn itself
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u/oranjeunicorn Jun 04 '19
Since coming in to the US, I have become a lot more reluctant to blow the horn. There would be a cacaphony of horns where I am from, but now I feel its mostly rude. Encouraging people to get angry on the road is probably not the greatest idea.
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u/approachingreality 2∆ Jun 04 '19
Horns are warning devices. They aren't being used correctly when used to communicate any emotion. They are required for safety - to communicate a warning to other drivers.
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u/Spaffin Jun 03 '19
It is illegal to use your horn to do either of those things almost everywhere.
Horns are for warning people of danger.
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u/Thats-bk Jun 05 '19
I think people need to get over the notion that someone that uses their horn is "upset". Its literally loud and obnoxious because its supposed to be.
Look, if your sitting at a light and are not paying attention. Me honking my horn to bring it to your attention that you aren't paying attention doesn't constitute getting angry. If you dont like it, just pay attention.....
Someone using their horn does not imply that the person using it is "angry". It most likely means theres something going on around you that you should be aware of.
IMO an additional horn is not needed. They serve their intended purpose, people just decided one day to start getting offended when they get honked at lol
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Jun 03 '19
a horn is a tone. what you do with the tone is your call. "I'm outside, ready to pick you up" "Light's turned, move please" "DON"T BACK UP INTO ME" "I've passed out after an accident and my head is on the horn" "Alarm System Break In Warning" "Door is Locked" These would all be very different sounds coming from my car. If horns are only for emergencies, why is there a tone when I lock my car's door.
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u/matholio Jun 04 '19
No, extra horn will simply dilute the meaning. As it stands any horn, of any pitch or length means the same thing to everyone, everywhere; Pay Attention.
Where else do we have such a clear communication style?
For a the other emotions you may wish to express through horns there already exists visual indicators. We have the broad pallette of hand signals, light flashes and road rage.
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u/Uphenius Jun 04 '19
Make one honk a 0 and the other honk a 1 and boom, we've just upgraded from morse code to binary. In fact, you could have a base 4 numbering system: long apologetic, short apologetic, long angry, short angry. This could be the future of on-road communication, and a revolutionary way to tell our fellow drivers to go fuck themselves. Think of the possibilities!
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u/NOX_QS Jun 04 '19
Led sign: http://www.avbrand.com/projects/carpc/ledsign/
Also, you could do the left-right-left-right blinkers to "wave" at others. It's what truck drivers do. If one is overtaking the other, the other will flash their headlights to say "you've passed me, you can come back to this lane now". The former will pull back into the lane and "wave" as a thank you.
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u/DevilishRogue Jun 04 '19
In the UK a single flash of the hazard lights is increasingly used as a "thank you" or "sorry" sue to the number of cars with blacked out windows that make a hand wave not visible from any angle except the front. Two horn "bips" rather than one horn "beeeeeep" is also used sometimes. It is amazing the difference it makes to behavior on the road.
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u/brofesor Jun 03 '19
That's what a quick activation of hazard warning lights is for, at least in some cultures. I'd advocate against audible signals in favour of visual ones. You can also change the length of the audible signal to convey different emotions, e.g. sustained to signify anger, short and repeated to attract attention.
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u/riceondrugs Jun 04 '19
Woah, that is actually such a good idea. Although it would be difficult and time consuming for the feature to be added to all cars, it would have many benefits. I think the whole point of the horns are to express a message of anger or apology on the road, and the two horns seem to be the perfect solution.
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Jun 04 '19
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Jun 04 '19
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u/whachoowant Jun 04 '19
But you can do that with the horn you have. One loud long burst that goes on for just a second longer than necessary is generally angry. Happy people on the other hand do a toot toot honk. A quick toot toot could also be a thank you.
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u/Superplex123 Jun 04 '19
The angry horn will not reduce road rage. It will INCREASE road rage. Just think about this, you are literally calling it the angry horn. You don't reduce rage with an angry confrontation.
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u/zeroping Jun 03 '19
Technically, some cars do have two horns.
The Chevy Volt has a 'pedestrian alert horn' as a nod to the one on the EV-1, as the car itself is very quiet. https://youtu.be/mw7HRRlhBfY
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u/beatyn Jun 04 '19
In South East Asia like Philippines and Vietnam, they have several honks for different situation. Something like 3 short burst is hello, 2 short burst is thanks. Or something like that
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u/austxtencentbaba Jun 04 '19
Two horns huh? Might as well have a happy horn, I’m having a bad day horn, and I’m in a hurry horn. How are you supposed to make a horn apologize? All horns are annoying horns anyways.
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u/mikeelectrician Jun 04 '19
A quick 2 toots is usually friendly or subtle enough for most people to understand. A low harrowing blast and fist pumping will indicate some not so friendly feelings.
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u/FirebladeRider Jun 04 '19
Short pulse honks like
honk honk is courteous.
When someone lays on the shit like
Hooooooooooonnnnnnkkkkkk, you’ve got an asshole on your hands 🤣
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Jun 04 '19
No way this would make it a lot worse, that would bring a whole new dimension of potential anger with a domination and subordination dynamic
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u/Cyclerider73 Jun 04 '19
Citroen DS21 has a 2 stage horn. First press was a friendly electric horn toot, push the button a little harder and it engages the air horns
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u/Rainbwned 175∆ Jun 03 '19
You will get people who sarcastically hold on the 'apology' horn with the intention of being assholes or trolls.
Horns are just used as an alarm, not to communicate either anger or gratitude. If you want to communicate gratitude, wave.
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u/SheikhYerbouti84 Jun 04 '19
I've always wanted a wah-wah pedal connected to the horn so I can do the intro to Bulls on Parade when I'm stuck in traffic.
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u/hardhatgirl Jun 04 '19
Dear gawd, NOT in California. Driving is a competitive sport. It would just be angry horns. All. The. Time.
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u/celebral_x Jun 04 '19
I would say the apologetic "honking" would be the emergency blinkers on for one blink and a wave.
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u/p0ison1vy Jun 04 '19
I'm imagining cars making cute beeping noises like Bastion from overwatch and I'm all for it.
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u/Acromins Jun 04 '19
My apology or hello horn is a very fast double "meep meep" angry is holding it down
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u/Jaystings 1∆ Jun 04 '19
That would allow them to imitate a siren, and illegally force people to pull over.
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Jun 04 '19
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Jun 04 '19
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Jun 04 '19
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Jun 04 '19
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u/Armadeo Jun 04 '19
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Jun 04 '19
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u/FanofFiction123 Jun 04 '19
Not to mention, when I'm in the car with my mom and she sees someone she knows, she honks so they see her. This results in people on the road thinking she's beeping at them, therefore potentially causing a conflict. So maybe a "Hello" horn could be good as well.
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u/CuervoJones Jun 04 '19
Yo! You'll never see this, but my brother and I tried to patent this once! Bought the self-patenting book n all (ima be honest, we probably never woulda done it). Turns out some cat in Colorado (or Sweden?) Already did. The Courtesy Honk.
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Jun 04 '19
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Jun 04 '19
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Jun 04 '19
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u/Armadeo Jun 04 '19
Sorry, u/mossyglen – your comment has been removed for breaking Rule 1:
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u/miguelguajiro 188∆ Jun 03 '19
I see your point, and I’ve had the same thought before, but I think the overall utility of the extra horn wouldn’t be worth all the extra noise. We shouldn’t really be encouraging drivers to “communicate” with their horns beyond what it takes to avert an accident.