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

Re:The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous ... by hnlmorg on Monday November 29, 2021 @07:42AM (#29379142)

As someone who lives in the countryside and have multiple roads like you describe, I can comfortably say nobody honks the horn on blind corners nor narrow roads. Maybe it is like this on other English counties but I've not seen that to be the case when travelling either.

Official or correct usages aside, the more typical usage for horns in England are:

+ impatience. eg a car going to slow and the driver behind is a dick. Though more often you'll see drivers flash their full beams instead.

+ as a way of alerting another driver in an emergency. eg your pulling into a lane where another car exists because you didn't see that other car. This is basically what the GP was saying,

+ or a sign of unhappiness. eg if you cut someone up on the road, you'll likely get honked at. It's basically used as a gesture, like swearing at the other driver.

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Re:The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous ... by ericbarrett on Monday November 29, 2021 @09:29AM (#29380231)

Indeed, I've seen the horn-on-corners thing mentioned a few times in this thread and I think it's dangerous:

- If the road is hilly, there is a significant amount of rock and soil between you and an opposing car and the sound will be quite muted as it has to diffuse around the corner.

- If the other driver has their window up and/or their radio on then they won't hear it at all.

- People who are hard of hearing can and do still drive.

I used to live on top of a 4200'/1300m mountain, and occasionally people would do this and then think it was OK to cut the line. Please just don't, you're only disturbing the countryside and residents/hikers and giving yourself a false sense of security.

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Re:The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous ... by hnlmorg on Monday November 29, 2021 @09:47AM (#29380446)

It also runs on the assumption that the only people on the road are car drivers. But you might get tractors, cyclists, hikers / runners, horse riders etc. Even people just casually out for a walk with their family. And a lot of these types of roads might not have footpaths either.

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Re:The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous ... by mrsuprawsm on Monday November 29, 2021 @07:56AM (#29379256)

I have seen horns being commonly used on (extremely) rural Staffordshire roads at blind corners. It's definitely a thing.

The other usages you describe are indeed more typical, though.

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