Drives-U-Crazy: Illegal to Honk?

by Keith Morgan on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015

Drives-U-Crazy-Logo (1)Port Coquitlam reader Glenn Elliott comments, “In New York, it is against the law to honk unless you are ‘warning of impending danger.'”

Let’s do the same here for improved safety, instead of honking at drivers for their mistakes!

What drives-u-crazy?

Contact: keith [dot] morgan [at] drivewaybc [dot] ca

One thought on “Drives-U-Crazy: Illegal to Honk?”

    Kevin says:
    March 9, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    Seriously?
    ANYone on the east side (of the Rockies!) knows that a horn is for communicating lol! Generally, yes, it is to be used for “impending danger” as in “if you continue to change lanes without signalling, you will eventually cause an accident” – that is impending danger. Or, “if you cut more people off like that, you will get hurt” – likely because someone won’t see you in time and will hit your car…
    A looooooong horn is considered angry and likely signals immediate danger. A short toot is just friendly. As in, continuation of certain practices is dangerous/discourteous/illegal, or, possibly, just a thank you for courtesy shown. I personally make it my priority to wave my thanks if a courtesy is shown (or toot very, very lightly if waving is not safe, yet I never see it here.
    Yes, I did grow up in Toronto, and d’you know what? I have NEVER seen as many discourteous, unlawful and angry drivers as I have since I moved to BC 8 years ago – and I’m not just talking about people who don’t like my driving ;). It seems they all want to become the latest vigilante – I suppose that is because of the good ol’ Wild West?
    I have never seen so many people roll through stop signs – despite cars on the main road heading towards them, change lanes without signalling, sit in the left lane, turn into the wrong lane i.e. turning into the right lane as they are making a left turn, turn right from the middle of the road – as opposed to pulling right first, pulling into the left lane as someone comes up on the left – even though nobody is in front of the car originally in the right lane, pulling into the left lane as soon as the car passing passes them and returns to the right “travelling” lane – again, there is no one travelling on the right lane apart from the person who just passed (note: when someone passes you, they are going faster than you are, and if they pull over in front of you, the distance will only continue to increase…)

    Now, I don’t have access to social media, or I would start an “Improve Traffic” movement – knowledge = power. Knowledge also means less honking – without outlawing it. How about you make the movement public (drivewaycanada.ca does seem to have that in mind, just not sure how many people it reaches) and I’ll work with you on some ideas that would increase average traffic speeds and especially increase traffic safety? Idea 1. Use timers at all pedestrian crosswalks (this gives the pedestrian valuable info as well as traffic that may be approaching the intersection IF, and only if, the light changes when the timer hits zero). 2. All intersections should have the timer activated without pedestrian interaction – this means that the light change will ALWAYS be predictable. This is extremely important from a safety perspective, as it gives drivers approaching the light additional notice of a red light about to occur. In Abbotsford, the side streets seem to have the right of way, and due to heavy foliage, you often don’t see that a car has pulled up to the light on the side street. The light then changes immediately, resulting in heavy brake action. 3. Decrease foliage near any intersection due to above concern, cars turning without stopping, and also remove trees and shrubs around city lighting – take a drive around St Moritz Way in Abbotsford to see why the City wastes money every year using the street lights to help grow the trees – because they certainly don’t light up the sidewalk in many cases lol! 4. Improve road markings. Now this requires help from city planners, so we need someone with influence! Roads that are 4 lanes wide should be marked with 4 lanes, not just one yellow strip down the middle. Simple. Then, you MUST move to the right or left to turn, thus freeing up the roadway, as well as making your intentions clearer. 5. A road 4 lanes wide on the exit side of the intersection but only 2 entering should have the through lane marked so it MUST travel into the left lane, thus leaving the right lane free for people turning right – Especially at T-intersections where roughly 90% of cars turn right, such as the intersection at McMillan and Marshall in Abbotsford. However, at this particular intersection, I think there’re actually 3 lanes on the east side – perhaps it should be 4, with a dedicated right turn (onto McMillan).
    6. Tailgating! HOW does this get fixed? Ever traveled Highway 1 or 99? I truly cannot get used to how close drivers are to each other on these highways – and how often the brakes are applied heavily. Toronto drivers definitely hold records for small gaps at high speeds, yet I don’t recall the “lock-ups” happening, where you literally have to pull onto the verge to avoid being rear-ended.

    Anyway. My rant over, what do you suggest for generally improving traffic conditions in the Lower Mainland?
    Because it’s only through communication and collaboration that it will happen, as far as I can tell.
    Looking forward to your response!
    Kevin

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