As I was driving down the road yesterday, close to the rush hour traffic time, I heard someone honk their horn. This was one of those honks that was mean and angry. The duration was longer indicating that someone was upset. I started thinking about the use of a horn.
My take is this, the horn is to be used as a tool to alert others to keep them out of harms way. It should only be used in extreme situations so we do not become desensitized to its usage.
People who just lay on the horn anytime to indicate frustration or anger or road rage only cause more problems. First, the person that just cut you off, do you really want to take their attention away from driving? They seem to be having a hard enough time of it and if they have to look behind them to find out why someone is honking, they can not pay attention to what's in front of them. Given their lack of driving skills, do you think it is wise to divert any attention away from that?
Second, people around you wonder if you are honking at them. Their attention is also diverted causing more problems just because you are upset.
Third, is it really important to cause others grief because you are a bit angry? If you didn't get in a wreck, move on with life. No need to ruin someone else's day because that horn doesn't really convey your thoughts on what the other person did. They may just think that you are rude and they get upset that you honked for "no reason".
Fourth, LIKE YOU'VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG WHEN DRIVING, Right? No one is perfect. Have you ever accidentally cut someone off? Have you ever gone too slow/fast? Have you never got in to someone else's way unintentionally? If you haven't, you must be more ignorant than you think you are.
And last, get over yourself. Road rage and being angry and aggressive while driving will only ruin your day, raise your blood pressure, and cause undue stress on you. If you have such issues with "other drivers" then ride the bus.
1 comment:
I understand but the horn doesn't necessarily save you or your passengers from harm. If you are slamming on your break, you have a good chance of avoiding a collision. Paying attention to the road is very crucial to driving and watching all the other "drivers" is very important. If you can react with the horn, it may cause the other driver to move away from the sound of the horn but more than most times, I've seen them look around to see who is honking and not reacting.
Also, if you can react to avoid a collision without the horn, the horn may actually scare the driver and cause him/her to over react and cause an accident on the other side.
There are so many aspects to using/not using the horn, I just get upset when that's the first thing people reach for is the horn. Reach for the brakes or the steering wheel to adjust your course before you reach for the horn.
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