Ever thought of driving without honking in B'lore? 'Are you insane?'...
Generally I hate to listen to more noise than is absolutely necessary. Think of horribly noisy rikshaws, people honking every 15 seconds, a neighbour drilling a borewell through the night. So, I try not to use my horn unless, ofcourse.... you know.
To my luck, the horn on my year old car stopped working Thursday last week. Apparently the part in the steering column to get it fixed is not a stocked item. Don't know if it is illegal, but thought why not try some 'homk-less drivining'. Have been at it for more than 8 days now. So, here goes the report.
Result: No kiss marks on my car. On the average, the experiment cost me a few (negligible) extra minutes (to commute 15 kms or so each way on Mysore Road and city centre daily).
Now the 'experience' part:
Frankly, first trip was scary. We are not supposed to use the rearview mirror (if by chance that is not folded or broken) you see - guy in front expects to 'hear you out'. Without the luxury of hooooonnnnk, invariably I was forced to slow down each time and wait for my path to clear. But as kms passed, confidence grew.
On two occassions, pedestrians decided to jump from the median right in front of me, without even a glance (since they only have ears to hear you out on both sides and not mirrors). Once, the guy was so close when he decided to take a leap (I was doing may be 40s), my heart was up in my throat. Fortunately those disk brakes, ABS and fairly empty side lane did the trick. That guy and others around were really confused if they should shout at me or not. Of course the thumb rule says the car driver is always at fault. But enough had noticed his great leap forward to chew his a** instead.
As a daily routine, ricks and two wheelers drive on the wrong side in front of BHEL on Mysore Road. When there is a chance, I try to block their way, and honk my heart out. But these days the routine is trying to block the way with a sheepish smile on my face.
Invariably, I always lost the duals where one out of two cars (or less often, ricks or buses) noses up front by cutting the other off. Tradition demands that you honk, and just go, right? I could never 'just go' to beat the other guy - how could I be sure those bikes all around had 'heard me out'?.
Downside? Worst case - Extra few minutes of driving each way.
So, go ahead. It is safe not to honk when you don't have to. If you don't believe me, try out Ravi's 'no-honk-kriya' for a day and report here. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Ravi
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Comments
Don't underestimare safety...
A reminder: Don't cut your horn wires off yet. There are plenty occassions where yourself and/or others might be at risk if you don't honk.
Ravi
Quite easy actually
Ravi,
Fully second your findings. My horn works fine, but I rarely use it. Typically most of my journeys will have no honking. There are days when I drive 50-60 km and still don't use my horn. I have driven till Bandipur from Bangalore and using the horn only a couple of times.
Defensive driving is what is needed. The average speed in this city is some 15 kmph. Slowing down the odd time to let a pedestrian pass or at crossroads (vs. honking loudly through) cannot cost you too much time. All that saved time will be taken up at the next signal.
Of course I never ever honk at a traffic light when it turns green or at a stalled vehicle. Chances are that the person will start up faster without getting all hassled by the honking from the back. Basic presumption is that people really don't want to spend more time than necessary on the roads.
I have also trained all my regular taxi drivers that speeding and honking (needlessly) inside the city is not okay and it can cost them my business.
Hopefully more people will limit their honking.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Never use the horn.
I never use the horn - have never found an occasion to use it. One just has to slow down near interesections and near people. In the nights, flashing lights acts as effectively. Well, let me be more precise - the few times I have used the horn have been out of frustration - which is why the majority of people use it.
Some people who ride with me sometimes worry about my non-usage - they claim `people expect it' or I'll take forever to reach my destination. The truth is that I usually travel faster than most people and am usually more relaxed at the end.
In fact, in Mumbai, one really great thing which reduces horn noise is the fact that BEST busses only have the rubber horns - they dont have the ridiculous power horns which are common in BMTC busses and private busses. And I'm sure their safety record is much higher than BMTC.
Ramesh
I honk only when animals are in my way..not to our carbon copy
Yes, honking is a disease in urban driving scenario.
One derives some psychological satisfaction of having honked and expressed his intolerance to the driver in front and then puts on the music only to hear the same intolerant honking alert from the driver behind him. That is the only purpose it serves.
- Civilised people should honk only to make animals move away if they are in front of their vehicle because they understand and really make way; whereas, our carbon copies in front of us will only say - shut up and ignore us.
- Vasanth Mysoremath
electricals dont work..
on my bike..an old yam..never had a horn on it after its first year (its 10 yrs now)..that helped me kick the habit..
I rarely go honking..however these days cars are very silent and hence peds will not recognize a vehicle behind them..thats when i honk..a little!
else on my bike..never..cos i cant!
btw is it a crime according to laws not having a horn?
Functioning horn.
I think one of the things you are supposed to have - to pass inspection - is a functional horn. After all, it is a safety device. But given that no one really checks or cares, I suppose it doesnt matter.
I'm pretty sure that the power horns are illegal, but nobody ever checks. And I dont know why they started putting in regular horns in bikes and scooters and autos - the `kreek, kreek' horn of old bikes and scooters did the job of relieving frustration.
In fact, I think Rahul Bajaj should be tried for destroying the quality of life of most of India. The autos, while arguably a good invention, have not seen much technological changes, at least on a large scale, in 30 years. The Tempo Traveller is one of the most offensive vehicles on the road with a most offensive horns to be found.
At the end of the day, though, it boils down to enforcement of laws and teaching of good driving habits - which will happen if laws are enforced. But there is absolutely no will amongst the people in power to do so. Whether it is horns, or parking illegally or drving badly - nobody really cases and justs adjusts.
This may be a different issue - but one of the things that really annoys me is autos blocking and occupying bus bays. This forces the bus to stop 3 mts away from the kerb, blocking the road - though I suppose he would do that anyway, as its too much trouble slow down and ease in to the bus bay apparently.
What can one do - well, my way of dealing with this is to release my frustration by posting to Praja !
Ramesh
Horn Decibel Check
Along with emmission standards, we need to have horn decibel standards which needs to be checked along with emissions. Something on this needs to be done to avoid unnecessary sound pollution.
It is easy to be on the road
It is easy to be on the road without honking for kilometers and days together. Meeting friends or a good movie is a better stress reliever than honking with each breath.On my motorbike i seldom find a need to use the horn. On my bicycle, well i didnt get a bell installed.
I happened to see a bumper sticker "Honk if you are stupid"(or something to that effect) in the city few days back.
In Indore, the traffic police would stop pressure horn users and fine them. It is illegal to use pressure horns in city limits.
Isn't there something similar in Bangalore Traffic Rules/Guidlines(official)?
I'm getting cursed by majority of the people
I just can't tolerate the noise made by these modded rickshaws, motorbikes, loud speakers used by temples and at functions, and yes of courseby reckless honking. since long time i dont use the horn unless its absolutely necessary. This happened just yesterday so thought of sharing it here.
Had been to bannerghatta along with my family. finished viewing the zoo and it was time to head back home, so went to the car parking lot, and took out the car. was still inside the parking lot, there were many people walking, and as usual i didn't honk but got the car to dead slow, and in no time, a man on his manly pulsar, came so fast perpendicular to my car(he coudn't see my, as there were so many other cars parked blocking his view, untill he came very near to my car) and was startled and he applied the brakes, couldn't control and fell down infront of my car. and guess what, he started abusing me saying i should have to honked!!! excuse me... i was telling him, i was almost standing still waiting for the people to clear off, tyring to take a left turn, and this man came driving so fast and fell down and now he's blaming me. just couldnt do anything other than pitying on him.
just after that, came out of the parking lot and was about to hit the bannerghatta road, again a very young man, without a care in the world, hopped infront of the car, looking in the other direction. again since i was going very slowly i could just hit the barakes and stop. and believe me, so many people there saw what happened, but most of them(at least those who spoke) blamed me for not honking!
and coming further down, i entered into the petrol bunk, got it filled and wanted to get the tyre pressure checked. there was no one to do the job, so thought i'll do it myself, there was one bike standing just infront the machine, and i don't know, he was not filling the air, but just standing and was maybe talking to the lady sitting behind him, i went and stopped behind him, didn't honk, he took about a minute to notice me and said sorry!!!! oh, for all the curses i get daily, this was an exception.
best wishes
g
Guru
Dont use the honk either
Works just fine for me. Guess its more of a "habit" that can be formed
Suhas