Which is the correct thing to do. An immediate accident would be if a car was reversing out of a blind drive way, and another was approaching, and you're seeing the whole thing about to happen, but it isn't clear either of the two other drivers are. That's when you honk.
If you can mitigate an accident by simply stopping, then don't honk. It's generally only for things you can see is about to happen, that the others probably haven't seen, or is aware of. Whether or not the accident will involve yourself is secondary.
The word "jay" is old American slang for "idiot", and the term was promoted by the car companies to push the blame for accidents onto pedestrians.
Perhaps they shouldn't be there, but their safety around tons of fast-moving metal is the only important thing at that point.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-...
"Watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way"
There are distinctions to be made, when it comes to 'Right(s) of way' but your bizarre and daredevil interpretation of what constitutes a legal route for pedestrians and the call to ignore common-sense road security, would only be considered by those who have a death wish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_way
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-of-way_(transportation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_way_in_England_and_W...
Countryside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countryside_and_Rights_of_Way_...
Your open-ended statement implies that legging it across a road is fine, as long as it isn't a motorway. This is not a safe guidance for the uninitiated.
It reflects the reality that, while cars should get out of the way of pedestrians, a car can't stop as easily as a human, so you can put yourself in danger by darting out into a street
Maybe we should call it "jaydriving" when a driver acts entitled and doesn't slow down.
Having said this, there are an awful lot of very angry, selfish people on the roads as indicated by the "dash cam" videos on YouTube (where mostly it seems that the driver has submitted a video of a "appalling driving" but actually demonstrates their own inability to control their hot-headed exceedingly short temper in any rational sane manner, thereby indicting themselves rather than the "appalling" other driver).
The cammer didn't even begin slowing down until their car's forward collision warning went off, and then tries to claim that the one in front of them "stopped like a bitch".
This driver learned nothing from the incident, and will continue to drive poorly.
Insane.
People will honk just because they are stuck in traffic, and once one car starts honking, at least a few others will join them.
In my street in particular, this happens at least weekly at 7am and in front of a hospital, and if I walk up to them to tell them to stop because it's useless and disturbs everyone, they get even more angry obviously.
The main culprit is the staggering amount of scooters, that usually ignore all rules and zip through any opening they can find. You'll be saving lives by honking in every situation, people kind of count on it. I'm not surprised this behavior translates into an increase in meaningless honking at red traffic signs.
I've been to Mumbai (and Delhi and a few other cities for that matter), and it is not for the safety.
Take Ho Chi Minh City for example. There are more scooters there than people, and honking is not much of a problem as in Mumbai. Scooter riders know how to make their way and they are super precise when pedestrians cross. Pedestrians don't wait for scooters to stop. You just cross the road, and scooters will go around you. In India, there is the reverse mentality that roads belong to vehicles and pedestrians just have to take care of themselves.
I live in India, and a lot of times it is for safety. It's not always about people crossing the road. There are people walking on the road, shoulder-to-shoulder, four deep; there are scooters driving side by side as their drivers are having a conversation; there are car and scooter drivers talking on their cellphones edging along slowly, not stopping, not driving at the normal speed of traffic; there are people getting out of parking, backing into traffic, seemingly oblivious to you as they drive backwards into you while you're stopped or braking hard; there are cattle; there are dogs. 9 times out of 10 it is for safety.
The Mumbai traffic light honking is about people honking at vehicles stopped in front of them to start driving when there's still a few seconds left on the red light. That's what the cops are trying to prevent.
Everyone has an excuse, but two wrongs don't make a right. Drivers are not justified to create noise pollution because pedestrians or other drivers are indulging in inconsiderate behavior.
I've lived on both sides of the world and frankly, it all comes down to how the individual regards himself and his social obligations. S. Asia is notorious for it's poor regard of public spaces. These are foundational cultural concepts that I don't see changing any time soon.
Without a sense of personal responsibility the individual is powerless to act. The excuses you provide make the problem perpetually someone else's fault. The comment above spoke to the "entitlement of drivers" and this is the key to the whole issue.
In the west, I've seen known gangsters stop their limo to personally remove a single piece of litter from the street. These are people who explicitly live outside of the bounds of the law. This person could have made his chauffeur or assistant retrieve the trash, yet he took such pride in his neighborhood that he had to do it personally. The contrast is obvious.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3968587/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_from_noise
My "excuses" as you've put them are situations that occur everyday on Indian roads where honking is an alternative to colliding with and running over people and animals. Noise pollution is the lesser evil.
I would never indulge in causing that kind of situation to arise. That's the limit of what I can do. If faced with that situation my greater responsibility is to avoid a collision.
It's probably hard to understand what I'm talking about if one has never experienced traffic like this themselves.
This actually describes India as much as Ho Chi Minh City.
But apart from honking, although I wouldn't call the roads "safe" for pedestrians, cars indeed don't really compete with pedestrians, everyone just tries to get along however they can.
Because of how everyone drives, honking is a necessity. It's how you know where other drivers/riders are without needing to see them, and when there's traffic all around, you can't only use your eyes.
I actually feel safer riding a motorbike in developing countries than I do in Australia, because at least drivers are aware and expecting me in somewhere like Vietnam.
Do you believe that these behaviors are necessary and excusable because of the lack of development or that these countries are less developed because of these attitudes?
Which option is a proactive philosophy which promotes change?
But that's a long term solution, which will require a lot of time and funding. A short term solution that does not involve a massive infrastructure overhaul is difficult. Perhaps a clever reflow AI could mitigate some of the problems in the near future. This is something that does need attention, because the air pollution in cities facing this problem is terrible.
Not sure how much culture plays into it - over here it's cars that own cities (not to the extent they do in the US, though).
It’s taught this way in the US as well, although it’s pretty often used to express anger.
> the "get out of my way" entitlement of drivers is very apparent.
Here the universities have the “car is a guest in the pedestrian’s space “ feeling but a lot of cities don’t (which was pretty dangerously confusing to me after a few years of college.)
But of course, 'I say, I am just here, let's not hit each other' does quite naturally decay into 'Oi, I'm just here, you nearly bloody hit me you prick'.
As a pedestrian, I feel more comfortable assuming drivers' "get out of my way" mentality, because I cannot assume I was seen.
I imagine that at least some accidents happen in the shared windings of responsibilities between drivers and pedestrians that can grow into full-blown confusion - and accidents, where I'd rather prefer a simple, pessimistic solution for myself as a pedestrian.
Swap 'people jaywalking' with 'people trying to cross a road.'
Jaywalking is a ludicrous concept and even more ludicrous as something to make a legal issue.
As if those 5 seconds of waiting would ruin your whole day. In most cases it isn't even 5 seconds and honking nets you nothing besides animosity.
Given that, I wouldn't want to drive anything in India that is larger than a rickshaw. But those have very likely horns too if they want to survive. A busy road in India just looks like complete chaos.
Don't generalize. Usually, you have some seconds until the driver behind you will honk. I normally count "21 - 22 - 23", then I honk if there hasn't been any reaction (restarting the engine, pressing the brake pedal, etc.). But your mileage my vary.
Green -> Yellow (go if you're still at a speed that stopping would be dangerous) -> Red -> Red & Yellow (get ready) -> Green
One thing that might be semi related to this is the entitlement of drivers. My view of Sweden is that most people accept that cities "belong" to pedestrians first hand, and cars need to be careful. In other parts of the world, the "get out of my way" entitlement of drivers is very apparent and I don't think it's very helpful.