Indians are honking way too much

Since then the roads and horns have only become more chaotic. We have gotten stupider as a whole

MadinMumbai recently shared this with other BHPians.

Many years back, while driving on the chaotic ring road in Delhi, before the flyovers were built, my wife remarked "wouldn't it be great if honking on the horn came at a price? Like say, each time you honk, 5 litres of petrol vanish from your vehicle." In those days, when most cars didn't have air conditioning and our windows were rolled down, her idea seemed like a magic cure to India's traffic stupidity number one.

Since then the roads and horns have only become more chaotic. We have gotten stupider as a whole. Horns aren't even the most stupid thing about our driving anymore. But still, horns hurt. This morning at 6 o'clock, when the roads in Mumbai are empty, I heard a brand new Creta, driven by an obvious cretin, honk with a particularly loud horn, that seems to be a Creta special. I was running on the opposite side of the road and I doubt he was worried about me. We live in a world that's driven to distraction by mindless honking on the roads. It's so bad that studies are suggesting that large swaths of the population will have, if they don't already have it, hearing loss.

So, my question- what would you think about a petition to car/bike manufacturers to make horns an optional accessory in India? Maybe something like 10K additional for a horn in a new vehicle? Make it akin to a sin tax. We in India love sin taxes anyway. Why not one more? Government will be so happy.

Here's what BHPian salilpawar1 had to say on the matter:

Honking is just a symptom.

The root cause is the general apathy towards driving rules leading to:

• a constant fear of someone jumping a signal or coming out of a narrow lane from nowhere making nervous drivers to honk at any given instance
• driving becoming an act of survival of the fittest where people feel that they can bully their way through by honking or by just driving a bigger vehicle

The only long term solution is:

Enforcement of traffic rules for those who are already on the roads with heavy penalties (classic example is the strict adherence of speed limits and stop line post e-challans)

Traffic etiquette becoming an important part of schooling for kids (who will become future drivers)

Better infrastructure (road markings, timed traffic signals, scientifically designed intersections et al) to prevent congestion and dangerous situations in the first place

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