I’m stopped yesterday at a red light behind another car in a right turn only lane with his right blinker on. There is no “no turn on red” sign, so a right is perfectly legal. Traffic is light, and there are no cars coming, making a right turn entirely safe. But, the guy in front of me isn’t moving. I’m looking at him, and trying to see if he is looking at his cell phone or messing with the radio, or just zoned out and I can’t really tell anything.
Now, I know he doesn’t HAVE to turn right because the light is red, but it’s possible that he just lapsed out of attention and hasn’t noticed that we could all safely turn. So, I tap my horn just to sort of wake him up, and he immediately looks left and makes the right turn.
No. I don’t consider going right on red a requirement. If they aren’t comfortable proceeding then I am okay with that and will wait. I do consider going on a green, etc a requirement, so if it is clearly safe to proceed and they’re just not paying attention a quick tap of the horn to wake them up is appropriate.
One of those times when I wish cars came with more nuanced communication than a horn. It’s tough - at least on my car - to get that nice, polite-sounding little “beep!” without accidentally discharging a big ol’ “HOOONNNK!”
I wouldn’t. It won’t save you that much time and too many people consider a beep offensive when they’re not clearly wrong (but lay on it when they’re ignoring a green!).
I wouldn’t tap the horn, since I detest car horns in general and the only time I’ll deign to use the things is if it appears that the driver in front me of has genuinely forgotten that he was supposed to be driving and/or has fallen asleep.
That said, my own personal First Law of Driving is that driving is a mode of transportation; a way of getting from point A to point B. The entire point of the exercise is to transport; to locomote; to go. If, while operating a motor vehicle, you could safely and legally be going, and you are NOT going, you are altogether failing at driving, and are instead engaging in “sitting around like a useless lump,” an activity which can just as easily be completed in one’s own home without putting oneself in the way of people attempting to actually drive. Were I to author the Constitution of Driving, Article 1 would read, in its entirety, “Go.” The rest of the document would serve to delineate exceptions to this principle.
In that spirit, then, I endorse the use of the horn in the situation described by the OP. Fracking go already.
I can and did yesterday - similar situation, except we were in a “right lane MUST turn” situation. Dildo in front of me spent the red light talking on his cellphone, then drove (illegally) straight through the intersection when the light turned green, after blocking the line of people who wanted to make a legal right turn on red. I gave him a polite beep; if I had it to do over again, I think I’d give him a much longer blast - talk through THAT. (And it would be that much more excellent if I had my extra-loud horn installed by that time.)
Its ok to tap on the horn. Especially if its a right turn only lane.
I will admit that when I travel I am far more careful about right turns on red. I don’t know of any place that restricts the right turns the way NYC does, but you never know.
My other concern is red light cameras. We don’t really have them here (just a few intersections in Philadelphia that I rarely drive through). I am not sure how the “rolling right turn” thing works. If I stop at the line and then go straight through the light, is that ok? Who knows? So I stop and sit and hope that a local doesn’t roll up behind me.
So the douchebag you are honking at could be me. But I deserve it.
To prove what? That you’re a bigger douche than the honker? Nobody likes being honked at, but people like you who decide to take offense and exact childish “revenge” no matter the intention are quite frankly the worst menaces on the road.
Nope. It just isn’t worth it to take the chance of pissing off some psycho that would escalate what was a minor inconvenience. It’s taken a lot of effort, but I’m learning to not care so much about non-hazardous things other drivers do. There are so many bad drivers in this city that I’d be pissed off or annoyed constantly if I didn’t let the little things go. Not turning right on red is about as little as it gets.
To be clear, it was a “right turn MUST turn right” lane. I could see as well down the road as him that there were no cars coming in sight. Plus, the fact that he did sort of wake up and look (I saw his head actually turn left to look at uncoming traffic as soon as I honked. Previously he had been staring straight ahead) and turn sort of suggested that my guess that he had sort of dozed off was correct.
Is honking at someone really such an affront? I mean, I tapped the horn at someone a few months ago who was not turning left at a left green arrow who proceeded to make a U turn and give me the finger. We’ve all sort of zoned out before and missed that the light has changed. I don’t take it as an insult to my manhood if someone gives me a horn tap.
In the case where the sign says “Right turn must turn right,” yes, I’d have given a quick beep. We all daydream in traffic occasionally. I’m sure the other driver would have appreciated it. I’m willing to take the chance I’m not behind a murderous psycho whose wife pissed in his O.J. that morning.
Are you sure they could see what’s coming? I mentioned in another thread that my car is very low. If there’s a truck or an SUV around, I can’t see shit around them and I’m not going until I can see 100% clearly.
In the situation you describe, I don’t think you did anything wrong by giving a light horn tap, though I probably wouldn’t have.
And if I were the tappee, if there had not been a good reason why I hadn’t turned (e.g. I just zoned out for a minute), I would have been slightly embarrassed, while if there had been, I would have been slightly annoyed. But either way, no big deal.
But that brings up a question. What if the reason I’m not turning on red is because I’ve taken advantage of the red light to do something I shouldn’t be doing while the car’s in motion, like searching around for something I’ve dropped, or consulting a map—does this make me a douchebag?
Few things cheese me off as much as some over-caffeinated spaz leaning on the horn behind me because I’m not turning on red. Here are some reasons I might elect not to turn on red:
If there is a big behemoth SUV or truck sitting immediately to the left of my car then I can’t check for on-coming traffic. I am not pulling out unless I am positive it is safe. Maybe YOU can see that it’s safe, but I’m not you. This is probably my #1 reason for NOT making a legal right on red.
I have lousy depth perception. That can make it difficult to judge on-coming traffic. In order to remain safe, therefore, I wait for a much larger break in traffic than other people. I’m sorry if this annoys anyone, but I’m trying to avoid an accident. This is my #2 reason for not making a legal right on red.
I am unfamiliar with the neighborhood and am busy checking to see if it is even legal to turn on red, looking for signs, etc.
A short, quick beep is OK. However, if I elect to NOT proceed with a right on red after that just be patient. Honking further will almost certainly NOT change my mind, as the two most likely reasons I’m not turning are safety based.
I would give two light taps on the horn, exactly as at a green light. Moreover, if I were the guy in front, I would appreciate it. I come from one of the two cities in North America where right turn on red is banned (Montreal) and I do a moderate amount of driving in the other (NYC), so I often just don’t react.