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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)

#281

Post by kube-system »

wcunning wrote: post #276
oxfeed65261 wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the opposite problem more often (Bay Area): cars with always-on daytime running lights that don’t turn on their headlights (and the corresponding taillights) at night. I flash my lights at them but this rarely seems to help.

This is a huge problem here in Michigan, too. Many cars come with automatic headlights, but many do not, particularly of a certain age, and the LED DRLs seem to be bright enough that people do not realize that they don't have their full lights on. I find this particularly infuriating in ugly snowstorms and the part of the year where the sun sets before 5:00pm... sigh

My theory is that these cars have multiple drivers.

Driver A is used to vehicles with manual headlights and always turns their lights off when they get out.

Driver B is used to "everything is automatic" and touches nothing when they get in.

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

#282

Post by kelseyfrog »

dvirsky wrote: post #245
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 Israel, flashing the warning lights or hazard lights or whatever they're called when driving, means "hey car behind me, you're on high beams and blinding me, please stop". Since moving to the US I haven't found an effective way to signal people about this, they certainly don't understand this signal. Flashing high beams quickly is either a warning about police ahead, or "turn on your damn lights" (there is also a…

Repositioning your review mirror to reflect their headlights directly back into the driver's eyes is not a solution (tested empirically).

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

#283

Post by kube-system »

hadlock wrote: post #266
genewitch wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how a car with detectors that dim mirrors can't also turn your high beams off when they detect another car in front of you. Easily 5/8ths or more of every vehicle I pass at night has their high beams on, and in areas without fog lines it gets old in a hurry - and dangerous.

This technology exists in Europe, it's not allowed in the US due to very specific wording about headlight laws here, but very recently regulations were changed to allow for it. Not sure if it was in the infrastructure bill that already passed, or the follow-up one they're currently trying to pass. Most BMW (and probably Mercedes, Audi etc) with adaptive LED lights built after ~2017 have the hardware for this for use…

Auto high-beams is absolutely allowed in the US and common on new cars. I've had a couple cars with this feature.

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

#284

Post by johannes1234321 »

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.

Swiss busses even have a special horn playing a piece (three tones) of Rossini's, Wilhelm Tell Opera Overture https://youtu.be/wMWEQdxMhdA

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

#285

Post by dzhiurgis »

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…

Friend from Canada (who cycled from Vilnius to Warsaw) would give short honks to cyclists as some sort of appreciation or something. I thought it’s kinda annoying for cyclists!

Here in NZ will honk (or even call police) if you drive middle of the road - visibility behind corners isn’t great and tourists often confuse where they should drive. Whereas it’s fairly common to drive in the middle in Lithuania - sometimes it has better road surface.

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

#286

Post by hermitdev »

genewitch wrote: post #254
sjg007 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people these days drive with their LED high beams on all the time.

I don't understand how a car with detectors that dim mirrors can't also turn your high beams off when they detect another car in front of you. Easily 5/8ths or more of every vehicle I pass at night has their high beams on, and in areas without fog lines it gets old in a hurry - and dangerous.

> I don't understand how a car with detectors that dim mirrors can't also turn your high beams off when they detect another car in front of you.

Some can, though I have no idea on how common it is. My 2013 Dodge can do this. Unfortunately, it's also pretty terrible at it, resulting in a lot of on, off, on again, not quite flashing. e.g., a slight bend in the road, it doesn't seen anyone if front, turns high beams on, only for the road to bend back and all of a sudden your brights are shining in someone's face as the road bends back again. Sometimes, I've seen even changing lanes be enough for it to turn brights back on again. It also doesn't seem to give as much consideration when following someone as leaves them on way too close for me.

I live in an urban enough area with plenty of street lighting anyway, so I tend to use the auto high beam feature almost never (it can be toggled with a position of the turn signal lever). I do, however, use the auto-on lights in general, though. Nice to just not have to worry about turning lights on (or off).

I've also been pulled over before for flashing my brights at a police officer. It was entirely unintentional, though. I was a relatively new and young driver (17 or 18 yrs old at the time) and I was driving an older vehicle that still had a foot operated switch for the high beams that tended to stick.

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

#287

Post by kube-system »

TylerE wrote: post #261
dvirsky wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Israel, flashing the warning lights or hazard lights or whatever they're called when driving, means "hey car behind me, you're on high beams and blinding me, please stop". Since moving to the US I haven't found an effective way to signal people about this, they certainly don't understand this signal. Flashing high beams quickly is either a warning about police ahead, or "turn on your damn lights" (there is also a…

> Since moving to the US I haven't found an effective way to signal people about this, they certainly don't understand this signal. Between lifted pickup trucks and shoddy, poorly-aligned aftermarket HID lights, it's probably that a high percentage of them AREN'T using brights, even if it feels like it.

Or even poorly aligned OEM lights. Most US states don't have vehicle inspections, and the ones that do usually aren't checking headlight alignment.

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

#288

Post by clort »

hadlock wrote: post #266
genewitch wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how a car with detectors that dim mirrors can't also turn your high beams off when they detect another car in front of you. Easily 5/8ths or more of every vehicle I pass at night has their high beams on, and in areas without fog lines it gets old in a hurry - and dangerous.

This technology exists in Europe, it's not allowed in the US due to very specific wording about headlight laws here, but very recently regulations were changed to allow for it. Not sure if it was in the infrastructure bill that already passed, or the follow-up one they're currently trying to pass. Most BMW (and probably Mercedes, Audi etc) with adaptive LED lights built after ~2017 have the hardware for this for use…

This technology is not great on a windy[1] european road though. I rented a car recently and noticed that it was auto-dipping but the problem is it dips once it has detected the oncoming vehicle. That is fractionally too late as the driver has already been dazzled. Manually, I would dip the headlights just before the car came into view because I could see the headlights looming.

[1] a road with lots of turns, not one where the wind is blowing

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

#289

Post by [deleted] »

kube-system wrote: post #279
oxfeed65261 wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the opposite problem more often (Bay Area): cars with always-on daytime running lights that don’t turn on their headlights (and the corresponding taillights) at night. I flash my lights at them but this rarely seems to help.

Cars have too many features. And I don't mean this in a, "I'm a luddite and wish cars were simple" type of way. I seriously think the number of controls on a vehicle (and burden of the owners manual) is so great that it is causing safety issues. My car has more controls for the lights alone than my first vehicle had for everything. Literally. "Automatic" features like headlights were supposed to make us safer, but I…

[deleted]

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

#290

Post by rimliu »

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…

Also in Lithuania: it is forbidden to use hong in urban areas unless it is to prevent an accident.
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