Menace Of Excessive Honking In India

[roadrunner]

Most countries where I have been to, I realised something amiss while on the road even in heavy traffic. And that turned out to be people do not honk much by habit. And when they do, which is rare, it seemed like a last resort. It's equal to abusing someone on the road. The person who's being honked at looks like someone's slapped him tight. Even in the jammed roads of Bangkok I didn't find anyone honking, much to my surprise.

Every time I returned for about a week I thought I'd make amends and not honk as in our Indian way. I managed it for some time but lost it as time passed. Without honking it's dangerous to drive on Indian roads. If you don't honk the autowalla and other drivers think they have the right of way and suddenly they will swing in front of you. There's no civilised telepathy happening here. So, be civil, but honk you must on Indian roads, a little more than what you would if driving in a quieter country.

 

[Akash1886]

Friends,

NGT bans use of pressure horns in all vehicles in Delhi​

"Vehicles using pressure horns and two wheelers which have removed their silencers shall not be permitted to ply on the roads in the national capital," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said while issuing notice to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on the issue.

Link

Regards

Akash

 

[Prabhagar]

Friends,

NGT bans use of pressure horns in all vehicles in Delhi​

Regards

Akash

Hi Akash, Thanks for reviving this wonderful thread. I have been observing my honk patterns for past 6 months and noticed I honk the most when:
- overtaking , especially two wheelers so they don't swing in and get hurt by me (short 1-sec honks).
- cursing other cars when they cut me through traffic (long honks).

Off late I have been noticing two wheelers using a weird ambulance like horn to trick the driver ahead. Really pisses me off! .

 

[sushant_infotag]

And the biggest menace of all are the bullet riders who immediately after purchasing bullet do a complete makeover of the silencer. Even when they are not honking, the bike seems to be making high noise as if crackers are firing.

 

[nmm mithra]

Times of India on "No Honking Drive"

On a regular day, the noise level in some of our cities can go up to 4 times above the permissible limit. Incessant Honking, amongst other factors, make our soundscape a nightmare. People are showing symptoms of early hearing loss, stress, and anxiety.

On our 70 th Independence Day, The Times of India has declared freedom from honking. We are launching a "No Honking Drive" 15 th August Onwards. We urge you to join us in this initiative by taking the pledge to "Not Honk" unnecessarily, starting today.

The busy ITO stretch in Delhi, known for traffic snarls, registers an average of 74 decibels (dB) each day, highest in the city. It is about 10 decibels over the permissible limit for commercial areas. A study reported by TOI earlier had showed Mumbai emerging as the noisiest city in the country, followed by Lucknow and Hyderabad. Delhi ranked fourth on the list. Environmentalists believe things will only get worse in the capital if people don't pay heed, and the price to pay will be very high.

Ahead of TOI's No-Honking Drive on August 22, sensitization campaigns have begun in the city. One was held by NGO Manas Foundation for autorickshaw drivers at the Driver Training Institute in Burari this week. It began with a lecture on road safety and culminated with pamplets and stickers being distributed among the auto drivers.

They were told about the ill-effects of noise pollution on human behaviour and health. Hypertension, high stress levels, hearing loss and sleep disturbances are some of the major health issues related to noise pollution. Studies show commuters may end up having a 20dB hearing loss in urban cities due to constantly being subjected to loud noise.

Similar drives will be conducted in a week-long campaign from August 15 to August 22 with the cooperation of Delhi Traffic Police. This will include distribution of no-honking stickers and workshops for drivers across the city. Children and volunteers will display placards and slogans in the city to create awareness about the menace of honking. They will also hand over roses to road users. Close to a hundred schools are expected to be involved in this drive. RWAs are being encouraged to reduce noise on stretches close to residential colonies.
​

Source: Times of India.

For Further Reading: Times of India.
​

 

[Wander_SAFARI]

Its really interesting to understand from people why they Honk unnecessarily.
I recall a Video Game in which the cars in front would blow up if you honk at them making way for you. Are they thinking they too have such a power in there Car's Horn.

In my daily drive to office, I have to use the JVLR road. (Its a Arterial road in Mumbai connecting the Eastern and the Western Express Highways). This one passes through Powai. For about last one year the service road for a short stretch in Powai on this road was closed for the East Bound traffic. This was causing a huge jam in the evening peak hours with Bumper to Bumper traffic. Cars have to literally keep inching ahead till the bottleneck.

Now that you know that its gonna take time to cross over, I get excessive honks from the cars behind. Common sense says if there are cars all around me, there is no way I can get aside to give the car behind me way to go ahead. Still this simple sense in very uncommon.
And now I have also spotted some (supposedly) Smart people who will start flashing the Head lamps to ask for side.

I just keep driving at a slow pace in front of them, and once I get a chance to speed up a bit, I take off and brake mildly in front of these morons.

I know that someone might be in emergency, but that is a very rare case as most of these are the Yellow Boards and also some Highly Literate Degree holders. Can't use word Educated here.

Sometimes I feel like getting down and giving a piece of mind to such people.

 

[kkn13]

Its really interesting to understand from people why they Honk unnecessarily.
I recall a Video Game in which the cars in front would blow up if you honk at them making way for you. Are they thinking they too have such a power in there Car's Horn.

In my daily drive to office, I have to use the JVLR road. (Its a Arterial road in Mumbai connecting the Eastern and the Western Express Highways). This one passes through Powai. For about last one year the service road for a short stretch in Powai on this road was closed for the East Bound traffic. This was causing a huge jam in the evening peak hours with Bumper to Bumper traffic. Cars have to literally keep inching ahead till the bottleneck.

Now that you know that its gonna take time to cross over, I get excessive honks from the cars behind. Common sense says if there are cars all around me, there is no way I can get aside to give the car behind me way to go ahead. Still this simple sense in very uncommon.
And now I have also spotted some (supposedly) Smart people who will start flashing the Head lamps to ask for side.

I just keep driving at a slow pace in front of them, and once I get a chance to speed up a bit, I take off and brake mildly in front of these morons.

I know that someone might be in emergency, but that is a very rare case as most of these are the Yellow Boards and also some Highly Literate Degree holders. Can't use word Educated here.

Sometimes I feel like getting down and giving a piece of mind to such people.

Ive driven there 3-4 times last month
the bottleneck is where theres usually a loads of cops and naka badi right?
If not for the cops, it would probably be living hell
I wouldnt suggest giving such people attention, best to ignore frankly, loads of road rage occurs here regularly

Worst thing these days in traffic are these two wheelers without helmet, headlight. Instead they overtake from left , cut into my lane, have these stupid blue diwali style lights in front and red lights at the back and horns that are suited for larger cars.
Another menace are these stupid Ola, Uber drivers, always confused and looking at their gps without pulling over etc. Nearly always,they suddenly stop in the middle of the road for customers

Only time I really honk or flash lights is when someone in front drives like a moron and causes stress to me by nearly causing an accident, then I really give them a good flashing or honk. I know its probably not very mature so I only use it for extreme cases.

I have a good mind to install a dash camera just in case these days

 

[Wander_SAFARI]

The Bottle Neck was near Powai Plaza right from the Hiranandani Signal. Fortunately the work on the service lanes have been completed and they have been opened from last one week.

Agree that we need to ignore the Morons, but some of them go overboard. That is when I loose my mind and decide to trouble them.

Secondly I have a added advantage of Driving a Safari with a VIP number. (My cars number is Single digit 9) which must be making people think twice before getting into any altercation with me. Before anybody starts bashing, I don't use the display of the VIP number and a big car to get attention or evade toll etc and don't intend to use it anytime likewise. Rather I like to stick to the traffic rules as far as possible.