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The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

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Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#191

Post by datameta »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #138
Xevi wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Here in Lithuania, flashing your warning lights (the four orange ones on the corners of the car) means thanks, for example if you let someone merge from one of the very short onramps. I've never seen this in Germany, where onramps are however much longer. In Sweden it's common to do this by using your blinkers. You blink once in each direction. So first left, then right. Or the other way around.

In the USA, I at some point picked up flashing headlights as "thanks", I don't know how common it is, I don't see it that often (anymore?), but USA drivers may be unlikely to give thanks on the road. :| (Flashing headlights is also "i see you trying to merge in front of me and i'll give you space." Which I also occasionally do but don't see that often).

The only way I've seen flashing high-beams used is on the highway to signal from behind "you're going too slow for my liking" or from a distance away "watch out I'm serpentining through traffic 15-20mph faster than the next fastest car"

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#192

Post by tomxor »

sdfjkl wrote: post #85

Different cultures have different unwritten behaviours on roads. In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :) In much of Europe oncoming cars flash their lights to wa…

> In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster).

I do this in the UK for the narrow lanes where there is only room enough for one car, because my Grandad used to do it, and because it makes a lot of sense... although the "take up the whole road" part is kind of unavoidable, which is the whole reason to beep ur horn. There are just a huge number of country lanes here that are so narrow only one small vehicle will fit, and when you get to a blind corner you have to go slow enough to be able to quickly stop... a couple taps of the horn help to warn other drivers that something is coming regardless of your actions, and just reduce the chances of a collision.

To be fair I rarely hear other drivers do this any more, so it might be more of an old fashioned thing.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#193

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

sdfjkl wrote: post #85

Different cultures have different unwritten behaviours on roads. In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :) In much of Europe oncoming cars flash their lights to wa…

>If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :)

And self driving cars too, if they wish to reach full autonomy everywhere. But since currently they can barely keep themselves from crashing into obvious obstacles on the highway without human intervention, I think their prime-time is further into the distant future than pioneers like Elon would like to admit as I can't imagine they'd be able to handle the roads in Italy/Paris by themselves without an accident any time soon.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#194

Post by pdpi »

sdfjkl wrote: post #85

Different cultures have different unwritten behaviours on roads. In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :) In much of Europe oncoming cars flash their lights to wa…

Signalling your presence for safety is pretty much the only legitimate use for a car horn, so that makes sense. Of course, the part where they take up the whole width of the road kind of then causes a bunch of added risk...

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#195

Post by Daneel_ »

aosaigh wrote: post #154
rozab wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen people flashing their hazards to say thank you in London, but never in Scotland. I suppose non-verbal, everyday communication like this can still remain very localised since the usual vectors for cultural transmission (social media, television, film, etc.) don't include such mundane things.

Interesting, I live in Glasgow and commonly see people do this (and do it myself)

Trucks and some cars use their hazards as thanks here in Australia too (two blinks).

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#196

Post by Daneel_ »

vollmond wrote: post #159
sdfjkl wrote: post #85

Different cultures have different unwritten behaviours on roads. In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :) In much of Europe oncoming cars flash their lights to wa…

I always hear/read about the speed trap warning. In motorcycle circles, IIRC tapping the top of your helmet is that same warning. I haven't ever actually seen either of those in practice, though. Motorcyclists do usually wave at each other, or sometimes point at the road with a foot or two fingers, just as a greeting. The one I do see (in the USA anyway) is flashing your high beams to let a semi truck know they have…

There's two common motorcyclist signals for police: Either tapping the top of the helmet, or pointing up at the sky while moving your arm in a circle (to mime spinning police lights).

Other motorcyclist signs are sticking the left leg out to say thanks, holding your hand out and rapidly opening/closing it to say "you've left your indicator on", and pointing at dangerous spots on the ground like potholes, gravel, or other unseen hazards.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#197

Post by JackFr »

sdfjkl wrote: post #85

Different cultures have different unwritten behaviours on roads. In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :) In much of Europe oncoming cars flash their lights to wa…

In France they seem to use the horn, frantic (and frankly very rude) hand gestures and occasionally screeching tires to let you know that you did NOT in fact have the right of way entering the traffic circle.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#198

Post by monkpit »

chris_st wrote: post #168
ben_w wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems very plausible, along the same lines as western tourists getting a tattoo which says “輕信游客” and thinking it’s a profound quote.

Tried taking a picture of this, and using iOS 15's "Live Text" to recognize the characters and translate them. It translates this phrase as "Lightly believe tourists". Anyone care to comment on whether that's an accurate translation, and "lightly believe" is an idiom meaning "gullible"?

FYI: You can highlight text and use “translate” for a much simpler workflow on iOS.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#199

Post by unicornfinder »

thrwyoilarticle wrote: post #77
rhn_mk1 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Car horns seem to be calibrated to be heard by someone wrapped in a car, and are too loud for unprotected listening. Bicycle bells are closer to that range. No wonder the cyclist got freaked out.

The Ineos Grenadier 4x4 has a button specifically for this purpose (& because it's made by a cycling team & makes for good PR). I don't know how useable it really would be. I don't think I'd ever use my horn to let a cyclist know I'm there. It's hard to do a friendly, quick double-toot consistently and, as you said, it's just too loud. It's more likely to cause an accident than just waiting longer to overtake. Horns…

As a cyclist, I find it hard. I tend to avoid using the bell for the reason you've stated (i.e. it tends to just make them jump), but equally I've found not using it gets responses along the lines of "Use your f**ing bell".

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#200

Post by jacobolus »

1_player wrote: post #165
situationista wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always observed that in India honking the horn is not just about overtaking - it's an acoustic indicator of your position, making it possible for those in front of you to plot your presence without taking their eyes off the road in front (which usually requires their absolute and undivied attention). Additionally, as the article points out, many vehicles don't possess funtional rear-view mirrors, and are therefo…

> it's an acoustic indicator of your position, making it possible for those in front of you to plot your presence without taking their eyes off the road in front So you're saying Indian drivers have developed echo-location.

Echo-location is about using reflected sound to detect the position of silent barriers/objects in the vicinity. This is about detecting the position of sound sources, which is something nearly everyone does all the time.
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