“Okay, so you are waiting for the traffic-lights to turn green, let me wait till it turns green so that I honk the shit out of your brain.”
“Okay, there is a passage left right behind you, let me repeatedly blow my horn to come a few inches closer to you, I have a bike, so it’s my right.”
“Who are you, a damn pedestrian? Leave the goddamn footpath and zebra crossing, else I will have to honk forever. Don’t you see, I have a bike?”
“Okay, the vehicle next to me is an ambulance. Forget it, I pay the road-tax and I am getting late, let me overtake it by blowing horn.”
These are a few variants of what we encounter everyday on Indian roads, and that’s why we are like:
Yes you got it right, I am talking about traffic situations in India and excessive usage of horn. Exposure to sudden loud noise can affect our ear-drums to some extent, sometimes even worse.
What is the need of the hour:
- Prolonged horns should be penalized unless there is a real need.
- Use of pressure horns should also be penalized if blown near schools, offices or, hospitals.
- Driving license is the key. Once an Indian gets it, he feels himself as the king of road. The Driving license issuance should be strictly handled in every single city.
- Honking needs a special strict law, may be a section in traffic laws. It’s a normal scene when you see as soon as the signal turned green, everybody automatically starts honking, even after knowing that every single fellow is in hurry and no one will stop in that condition. Book such errant drivers and set examples starting from metro cities and then in others.
- In Michigan, you can’t use a horn unless there is an emergency. Much of a criminal offense, indeed it is.
- Some blow horn for the sake of pleasure, or to get attention of other drivers on the road. If found guilty, they should not only be penalized but their licenses should be withheld.
- If the laws can’t be strict, the enforcement should be much stricter. This should never be confused with the do the deed, pay a few rupees to the traffic cop and leave.
All in all, every Indian driver should at least learn basic etiquette of traffic. If everybody starts following it, there is no denial of the fact that we will not contribute to excessive noise pollution in our country.
So, from next time onwards, “Horn , NOT Ok, Please!”
