The Chainlink

Honking Drivers

I usually try to stay to the right of traffic so that drivers can pass, but sometimes I have to pass a stationary object. Am I missing something?

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Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on May 14, 2016 at 9:13pm

I always liked the classic aoogah horn. The best ones start with a short, low volume preamble, like an old guy clearing his throat, rising quickly in volume to a mellow aoogah. 

Chicks really dig it when they hear the sound of that thing emanating from my Lamborghini Diablo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlyXjAwIb-g

Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on May 21, 2016 at 8:07am

So yesterday, after several days of practice, I had the opportunity to sound off my aoogah impression as I approached a man walking his dog along a side trail just off Michigan Ave at 9th Street. I startled the dog, which startled the man, which left me feeling bad. When done properly, the aoogah is meant to get one's attention with a touch of humor, without causing fright, which can lead to anger. Unfortunately, my humor is not understood by dogs. I will have to work on my dog whistle.

Permalink Reply by Kris Hendry on April 14, 2014 at 10:56am

I asked a rare friendly CTA bus driver and he informed me that they are suppose to do a short beep when approaching bike riders.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on April 14, 2014 at 7:50pm
The bus honk is cool as if I couldn't hear the engine, 99% of cta drivers are cool plus that forward facing cam keeps them honest. The vehicle drivers that get me are on a one way side street clearly wide enough for 2 they have to honk as they speed by.
Permalink Reply by yai danche on April 14, 2014 at 10:52pm

the bus honk thing is on their bikes and buses share the road video.  i would link, but people can google it if they are truly interested.  and i have also noticed their tap is not as offensively loud as when cars do it.  maybe because bus drivers give the tap far in advance?  i'd like to give the benefit of the doubt that drivers are just letting you know they are behind you.  but sometimes they really don't care.  i pass by a church on my way to work and occasionally the hearse and funeral cars are double parked in the bike lane so i have to dip into the single direction car lane to go around.  some drivers will actually lean on the horn which is so disrespectful.  i'm just glad the mourners aren't in their cars to witness such ignorance!

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on May 11, 2016 at 2:07pm
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-86566998/

"Drivers : Don't Honk at Bike Riders 4-28-'16

Recent L.A. TImes article by Mariel Garza that I was going to use to start up a new discussion topic, but I did a search and found this past CL discussion so I thought I'd just add on to it.

beep-Beep-BEEP! What, why are you beeping at me?

The other day while cycling around in a rare pleasant spring day in Chicago I heard the resurgence of the sounds that I thought had greatly diminished in the past few years. - The excessive honking of vehicle horns directed at cyclists.

So my question is; now that it's springtime 2016 and we're all out in force;

am I imagining it, or are the angry driver horns coming back in full force towards cyclists?
Permalink Reply by V W on May 11, 2016 at 2:45pm
I got honked at this morning by a car behind me as i crossed an intersection. I was in a bike lane moving fast (not standing still) but not fast enough for Honky Mchonk who felt the need to lay on her horn to let me know I cost her a precious second of time in making her right turn.
Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on May 11, 2016 at 4:14pm

I think part of the problem is that car horns are difficult to control, volume-wise, at least in old beaters like mine.  It would be nice if they were velocity-sensitive, give a polite beep when tapped and a loud honk when hit hard or held.  I am not a horn-blower, but there are a few occasions when I do want to alert someone to something by giving a polite beep.  Often, it comes out way louder and more aggressive than I intended, leading to chagrin and pantomimed apologies on my part.  It would be very doable to create horns that vary in both volume and timbre depending on how they are triggered.  Maybe cars built after, say, the year 2000 already have this capability.      

Permalink Reply by Shirlee Berman on May 12, 2016 at 7:24pm

That's a great idea. Also, there's this: http://www.thankyouandsorry.com/installuse.html

Permalink Reply by Julie M. on May 12, 2016 at 9:33am

I think sometimes drivers just see a bike lane as the only spot a bike should be and are annoyed when we leave them for whatever reason.  I've been honked at a few times merging into traffic (and going the same speed as traffic) in order to queue up for a left turn at a 4 way stop.  A SUV honked at me yesterday on a narrow neighborhood road where he had no chance of safely passing me (after being behind me for less than a block).  It's obvious that some people's attitudes towards bikers still needs to change.  Better education on the rules of the road would help too.

Permalink Reply by David P. on May 12, 2016 at 11:33am

In Chicago in general there is a lot of d***head driving, a lot of aggression and, by US standards, a lot of horn use.

Julie's comment gets at what I suspect is behind a lot of the feelings that are implied by the honking - people see bike lanes and think that they exist as a place that bikes must stay in, whereas in reality they are a place where cars must stay out. So when people see people on bikes in not-bike-lanes and temperament and conditions are right for it, they honk.

The other day I was shopping at Stanley's and walked across Elston to position myelf to go north on Elston. There is a bike box there, not that most people in cars pay any attention to it. Mr. Self McImportance was parked in it in his WK Grand Cherokee gazing into his nerd dildo at the red light, wanting eventually to turn right. I positioned myself in front of him in what was left of the bike box to wait for the green. When the light turned green, or maybe when he looked up from Pocket Precious, he honked at me. I ignored him ruthlessly and went on my way as normal. Slowly.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Beemster on May 20, 2016 at 4:15pm

Most of the horns are short in duration and have alerted me of their presence or I may be drifting in front of them.

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