# Is getting beeped at in the West a huge insult? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 24, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193 "2012-07-24T01:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/81 "2012-07-25T04:21:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If you think a car horn is an insult, you should stay out of New York City. It’s considered nice if all they do is honk. India or China, were it’s; conversation, warning, polite courtesy, informative passing information, announcement to passengers or the most common application, just for the fuck of it. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/82 "2012-07-25T05:56:59Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > If you lived in L.A., you wouldn’t make a habit of jaywalking. The traffic cops actively ticket for that. > > The cops in San Diego (and in the Bay Area), however, don’t. Huge difference from SoCal to SF! When I first moved, I kept getting left on the curb as my friends (and EVERYone else) just pranced across willy-nilly between cars. Meanwhile, I was glancing at the cop on the corner, sure he was about to write everyone tickets. Nope, too laid back a town, I guess. And too laid back to do much honking either… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/83 "2012-07-25T06:14:38Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > “Spain’s Got Talent” sounds a lot more interesting than the American version… :dubious: Well, my car’s a Toyota and it’s not Merkin, so apparently and per **dropzone** ’s studies of horn-i-ness it’s already got a pussy horn. But I want one that meows. I’ll take a raincheck on the Hello Kitty pics. ---
**Author:** ![kp\_72110](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e68b1a/32.png) [@kp\_72110](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kp_72110)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/84 "2012-07-25T11:02:06Z")
So if I honk at a hot chick and she takes it as an insult even though I meant it as a compliment, does it make a sound? Rhetorically speaking of course. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/85 "2012-07-25T11:38:29Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > So if I honk at a hot chick and she takes it as an insult even though I meant it as a compliment, does it make a sound? Rhetorically speaking of course. I want my next car to have a rhetorical horn. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/86 "2012-07-25T12:02:55Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > The west is a funny place. We honk at people, but frown on stoning women to death for committing adultery by letting themselves get raped. Kind of a tossup actually. Yeah, but in the US we have lunatics who shoot up movie theaters and universities; we let corporations pick our presidents; some of our states have third world level health indicators; we jail more people than any place other than Russia and China; and we are really, really fat. So that’s a tossup too. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/87 "2012-07-25T12:17:16Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I have a fantasy of seeker missiles mounted on my car, and one of my targets would be people who honk the _second_ a light turns green. As in before you could even move foot from brake to gas. That I find insulting. Hell yeah. Just happened to me yesterday. Some olddouchebaglady in a minivan started honking at me the moment the light turned green. Usually I’m pretty fast out of the gate when I’m the first at a light as I drive a sporting car…but the old douchey failed to realize that we were making a left on green without an arrow, and that there was a car going straight through the intersection coming the other way…and that, you know…I had to yield before turning. I guess she thought I was supposed to quickly bang a lefty in front of the car. I’m all pointing at the car coming across the intersection as she’s laying on her horn as if to say “DO YOU NOT SEE THIS CAR YOU FUCKING IDIOT!?!?!” ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/88 "2012-07-25T12:22:40Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Whatever you do, don’t have sex with your grandmother. Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I’m-My-Own-Grandpa! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/89 "2012-07-25T12:36:19Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > I want my next car to have a rhetorical horn. I’d like an ironic horn. _beep_ “WTF? Oh, you mean that ironically. Never mind.” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/90 "2012-07-25T13:37:50Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Hell yeah. Just happened to me yesterday. Some olddouchebaglady in a minivan started honking at me the moment the light turned green. Usually I’m pretty fast out of the gate when I’m the first at a light as I drive a sporting car…but the old douchey failed to realize that we were making a left on green without an arrow, and that there was a car going straight through the intersection coming the other way…and that, you know…I had to yield before turning. I guess she thought I was supposed to quickly bang a lefty in front of the car. > > I’m all pointing at the car coming across the intersection as she’s laying on her horn as if to say “DO YOU NOT SEE THIS CAR YOU FUCKING IDIOT!?!?!” There are two possibilities here. I’ve experienced such a douchebag too, and they are very deserving of exploding in a huge ball of flame, Hollywood-style. I’ve also been the second car. The first car pulls to the light and does NOT signal, so I do not pull around into the right lane. By the time the light turns, there is a line of cars on the right so I can’t get around and that is when the car in front decides to signal. Boy, that’s really helpful…here, I’ve got a missile just for you (driver of non-signaling car)! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/91 "2012-07-25T13:44:28Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > There are two possibilities here. I’ve experienced such a douchebag too, and they are very deserving of exploding in a huge ball of flame, Hollywood-style. > > I’ve also been the second car. The first car pulls to the light and does NOT signal, so I do not pull around into the right lane. By the time the light turns, there is a line of cars on the right so I can’t get around and that is when the car in front decides to signal. Boy, that’s really helpful…here, I’ve got a missile just for you (driver of non-signaling car)! That second scenario sucks too. But no, yesterday we both had our indicators on, signaling for a left turn. I’m really not sure why she was honking at me. She had to see the first car in line coming the other way through the intersection was going straight, and that I had to yield my left turn to it. Sure, I could have just mashed the gas and turned left in front of the car, but I hate people that pull that maneuver too. Its a dick move. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/92 "2012-07-25T16:09:11Z")
America, what a country! In America, you cross the street. In my country, street crosses you! ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/93 "2012-07-25T16:11:45Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > America, what a country! In America, you cross the street. In my country, street crosses you! Which is America, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/94 "2012-07-25T17:15:45Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > - > [@](#): > > When a passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first. If he still obstacles your passage tootle with vigor. I remember reading that in Reader’s Digest yonks ago. Thanks for the blast from the past. On a different note, I’ve toyed with the idea of a secondary horn that sounds like screeching brakes. For assholes who get honked at so much that they don’t even hear the horns any more. It would probably be illeagal, although I’m not sure which law it would be breakiing. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/95 "2012-07-25T17:26:19Z")
If you want to see (and hear) something really rude either go to the Hornblasters website or look them up on Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/96 "2012-07-25T20:41:11Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, my car’s a Toyota and it’s not Merkin, so apparently and per **dropzone** ’s studies of horn-i-ness it’s already got a pussy horn. But I want one that meows. Jeeze, even THAT would be more butch than the horns they put in Toyotas. As for the OP, one of the great things about being in the USA is that you can legally kill anybody who sounds his horn at you, unless he’s a cop. Small Print: I am not a lawyer, nor all that masculine, so any advice I give regarding the law or car horns should be disregarded entirely. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/97 "2012-07-26T02:31:05Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > That’s why, if you’re the driver, you better roll back and forth over them a couple of times, to be sure they can’t ID you. How do I roll on my insurance company? With a credit card? > [@madmonk28](#): > > we jail more people than any place other than Russia and China [Highest per capita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate). ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/98 "2012-07-26T15:05:03Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Where is the OP from? If I didn’t know, I’d say they were American based on the above reaction. > > Car horns are inherently loud and obnoxious, so it’s hard for a driver not to come off sounding like a jerk whenever they use it. I almost never used my horn in the USA, instead I would just slow down a bit (if there was somebody I suspected hadn’t seen me coming) and wait for them to finish crossing the street or whatever else they were doing in the road. > > Anyone who is offended by horn honking must never go to Vietnam, where you will get beeped-at _when you are on the sidewalk_ and a motorbike needs to get by. There was someone, not sure where, that wanted there to be consequences for honking your horn. Something inconvenient but not impacting your decision to use the horn if it is really needed. Something like your stereo/radio would lose power for 10 minutes. Silly, but I liked it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/99 "2012-07-26T15:09:33Z")
It’s been awhile since I was in Mexico City, but I recall that for such a large metropolis, there was surprisingly little horn honking. I was told it’s because the drivers are usually armed and generally quick to start blasting their rods. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193/100 "2012-07-26T15:30:32Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I want a pussy horn that meows. You want to look into getting one of [these](http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/Pussy_wagon). Oh, also, the OP is a goddam moron. Anyone hugely insulting him is probably in the right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-beeped-at-in-the-west-a-huge-insult/629193.md?page=6)