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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that the purpose of a car horn is to draw the attention of other road users to one's presence

14 replies

gaelicsheep · 06/02/2010 23:53

... and therefore by beeping my horn at some idiot who was parked right across the nursery car park entrance while his DW was dropping off their PFB was not actually rude. Or does this person think that we should all instead be getting out of of our cars on a busy road and speaking to the other drivers in person?

OP posts:

displayuntilbestbefore · 06/02/2010 23:56

You are right, it is a handy way of letting someone know you are there (I had to use it yesterday to let the driver of a car know that if he carried on reversing he was going to go right into the side of me)

Hermya321 · 07/02/2010 00:01

No you're not being unreasonable, that is what the horn is there for, says so right in the Highway Code.

The thing is, people use the horn as a reprimand when they're angry with other road users and it has become the norm to think of a horn being beeped at us as a telling off.

To be quite frank I would have beeped my horn at the idiot you describe. By doing what he did he was holding up traffic and obviously caused a bit of a disruption. So no, I don't think you were rude at all, not in the slightest.

Original poster

gaelicsheep · 07/02/2010 00:09

Thank you! You're right Hermya, so many people use the horn wrongly that it's become the norm.

Having said that, on googling this I find that the Highway Code says the horn shouldn't be used when stationary. So p'raps I was in the wrong - although I'm pretty sure the HC says not to park across gateways as well..

OP posts:

displayuntilbestbefore · 07/02/2010 00:14

I wasn't moving when I parped my horn!
I was parked where I had been parked for about 10 mins, in a parking space, and a guy decided to reverse his car without properly looking at what was behind him - me and my car!

oldraver · 07/02/2010 00:14

Its perfectly fine. If idiots are doing idiotic things they need a reminder of 'yoohoo, there are other road uses you know'

Hermya321 · 07/02/2010 00:16

You're right it shouldn't be used when stationary unless you need to warn someone of an approaching hazard etc etc or to tell someone you are there.

Plus you were in your car which was on a road and you were driving it with the engine running. I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as stationary. Stationary is more like parked up with the engine off and handbrake on.

HC also does state that you shouldn't park where you would cause an obstruction to other road users ie lawful access to property and such.

I promise I'm not a geek, I'm going through the jolly process of theory tests at the moment so I'm eating and sleeping the thing at the moment.

Original poster

gaelicsheep · 07/02/2010 00:19

He made me really mad you know. He ignored me for ages, then marched out of my car and shouted at me "There's no need to toot! You should have got out and asked! No need to be so rude!". Then after my protests that he was, in fact, blocking the entrance he went back to his car, sat there for another two minutes while his DW sauntered back and got in, and only then moved. Cor I was boiling over by that point, I can tell you. I was still angry when I got to work!

OP posts:

Original poster

gaelicsheep · 07/02/2010 00:21

Marched of of his car even.

Thanks Hermya (and others). I feel much much better now, and I'm glad to have given you a case study upon which to test your knowledge. It sounds to me like you'll do just fine!

OP posts:

Hermya321 · 07/02/2010 00:24

No worries, glad to put this knowledge to some use.

I'm not surprised you were angry, I think you had every right to be.

hmc · 07/02/2010 00:35

It rather depends upon the manner of the 'tooting' - if it was just a brief, short "excuse me I am here" toot then you were perfectly within your rights, if however it was a long protracted wank fest of a horn blare (like my h does) then it is likely to attract chagrin, and understandably so.

Original poster

gaelicsheep · 07/02/2010 12:06

It was brief excuse me toot, followed by two more when he ignored the first one.

OP posts:

MsSparkle · 07/02/2010 12:13

I do a "toot" when the traffic lights have turned to green and the car infront is still sitting there not moving.

MrsChemist · 07/02/2010 12:16

My driving instructor used his to get the attention of someone he knew walking down the road. I should have reprimanded him

abbierhodes · 07/02/2010 18:35

If he did it again I'd sit with my hand on the horn until someone from the nursery came out and told him to shift!!
Bugger the highway code, he's clearly a knobhead.

Sitting there for longer after he realised he was in the way is classic control freak behaviour. I bet he wouldn't have got out of his car if you were a man. It's his wife you should feel sorry for.

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