[QatzelOk]

When a driver honks his horn, it always makes the same sound. And this sound is intentionally irritating, causing pain in some people, shock in others.

It is a mechanical way of saying - to the entire world - "F-You!"

F-You, world!

Typically, a motorist waiting at a green light will honk his horn if the first car in line doesn't move fast enough after the light turns green. The person in the vehicle, if his windows are closed, will hear a mildly annoying sound... if anything at all. If he's got the tunes cranked up, he will hear nothing.

But here's the rub: pedesterians and cyclists near the honking vehicle will receive a high-decible "F-You!" though these people are not the victims being targeted by the hate-driver. They all get punished by a painful sound that signifies hatred.

Hate-drivers don't care about this. They just feel good when they express hatred.

I think this makes car horns qualify as hate speech, and drivers who use their horns this way deserve to be locked up and re-educated until they learn to respect and care about their fellow man. Would you consider this an appropriate remedy for non-stop hate speech?

***



soundtrack

[Godstud]

Your ignorance on this topic is duly noted.

Horns are there to warn and alert people to danger, in the same way you might shout out, "Look out!". Of course, you are looking to condemn anything automotive in nature, and so slip into stupidity.

[MistyTiger]

I will usually use the horn to say, "Hey, I'm right here! Watch it, buddy!" I don't curse people out in traffic. I'm too focused on the road.

I do not start road rage.

One time some angry man confronted me in the university student parking lot. I was younger and I apologized but was nervous. I had only dashed out to get into the main road, but he took it personally. If I cut him off, it wasn't like I wanted to upset him. I was just in a hurry to get out of the neighborhood and it's hard to get out due to the fast cars. The guy realized I was young and scared so he didn't lecture me for long. Today, I find it ridiculous. I just wanted to get to class.

[Unthinking Majority]

There's enough drivers who are passive aggressive types who hide inside the safety of their vehicle being general a-holes and bullies when many of these same types wouldn't have the courage to be the same type of arse to someone face-to-face. I think how you drive and treat other drivers says a lot about you as a person.

Sometimes horns are necessary, even from a safety perspective. Calling horns hate-speech is ridiculous but giving someone a ticket for being a complete arse is fine by me.

[QatzelOk]

Sometimes horns are necessary, even from a safety perspective. ...

Yes, that's all they were ever designed for: to warn a child that you will kill him if he doesn't get off the road.

They were not designed for telling the entire world that you're locking your door, that you're opening your trunk, that you are checking to see if your car is locked, that an air current set off your car alarm.

Likewise, they weren't intended for telling other drivers to hurry up, that you hated their last manoeuvre, or that you don't like the way someone else is driving.

Yet they are constantly used for all the purposes above, and no drivers will admit to this, or to the hideous level of noise pollution that has resulted.

***

HATE SPEECH: public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation (= the fact of being gay, etc.):

***

So it's all about telling vulnerable groups (like pedestrians, cyclists, other people, bystanders, children, etc.) that you hate them. That you could kill them if you wanted to.

Cars kill far more people than any terrorist organization or race-based cult.

[Godstud]

So it's all about telling vulnerable groups (like pedestrians, cyclists, other people, bystanders, children, etc.) that you hate them. That you could kill them if you wanted to.

We have laws against this, and people driving cars are not trying to injure of kill people. No one hates these people. Implying that is the epitome of DUMB, and the most idiotic hyperbole I have seen in some time.

Cars kill far more people than any terrorist organization or race-based cult.

Context is important. Terrorists are TRYING to kill people. When people are killed by cars, it is the result of accidents.

Cars are a tool that a billion people use, daily. You also benefit greatly from cars being used as it makes your food cheap, and makes living in a city possible. The benefits far outweigh the risks.

[Unthinking Majority]

HATE SPEECH: public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation (= the fact of being gay, etc.):

***

So it's all about telling vulnerable groups (like pedestrians, cyclists, other people, bystanders, children, etc.) that you hate them. That you could kill them if you wanted to.

Cars kill far more people than any terrorist organization or race-based cult.

Yes Qatz, advocating racial genocide and honking horns at granny sitting at a green light too long should both be hate speech.

[Rancid]

@QatzelOk

Was this thread inspired by my post in TLTE?

I certainly used my horn to say FUUUUUCK YOU!!! To that woman that honked at me (She said fuck you! first!!!).

I hope she got fired from her job.

I certainly used my horn as hate speech. I hope her nice car broke down too.

[QatzelOk]

Was this thread inspired by my post in TLTE?

No. It was inspired by the ear pain that car horns cause me and billions of other humans and other animals.

I certainly used my horn to say FUUUUUCK YOU!!! To that woman that honked at me (She said fuck you! first!!!).
I hope she got fired from her job.
I certainly used my horn as hate speech. I hope her nice car broke down too.

Thank you for this confirmation that horns are primarily used to express hatred.

We have laws against this, and people driving cars are not trying to injure of kill people. No one hates these people. Implying that is the epitome of ***, and the most ***** hyperbole I have seen in some time.

I am happy to hear that Thailand has laws that make it illegal to use your horn to express hatred.

I only wish that other countries would follow Thailand's lead and make all non-emergency use of horns and other noise pollution illegal. Imagine if you were allowed to throw sewer water at other drivers and pedestrians and cyclists from your driver's side window - and just to express your dissatisfaction with being stuck in traffic.

[Robert Urbanek]

If people are holding up traffic because they are staring at their smartphones, they deserve to be hated.

[QatzelOk]

If people are holding up traffic because they are staring at their smartphones, they deserve to be hated.

If you express this hatred by honking your car horn, you are screaming "F-You!" to the innocent pedestrians and cyclists that are not protected by a car's sound insulation - like the driver you hate is.

So your hatred is touching lots of people who have done nothing at all to you.

Also, "holding up traffic" can be translated into "making cars go slower" - which actually saves lives and makes public space safer for children.

[Rancid]

@QatzelOk,

My question to you is will you partake in the arms race? Will you get one of those compressed air fog horns so you can honk back at cars?

[Pants-of-dog]

A friend of mine bought me one of those once for my bike. It may have been poor quality, but I found it too finicky and it is simply easier to yell at offending motorists.

The OP made me think about horns for a bit. Ignoring whether or not they are hate speech, they seem like one of those things invented for cars after they figured out people driving cars were killing lots of people.

Now, some people must have been like “these things are unsafe, perhaps not the best idea?”

But carmakers were all “I can charge extra for the horn”.

Even though horns are clearly not a very effective way of addressing the inherent dangers of automobiles.

[Potemkin]

We have laws against this, and people driving cars are not trying to injure of kill people. No one hates these people. Implying that is the epitome of DUMB, and the most idiotic hyperbole I have seen in some time.

Context is important. Terrorists are TRYING to kill people. When people are killed by cars, it is the result of accidents.

Cars are a tool that a billion people use, daily. You also benefit greatly from cars being used as it makes your food cheap, and makes living in a city possible. The benefits far outweigh the risks.

Yes, almost all people killed by cars are killed accidentally. But if you know that huge numbers of people are killed by cars every year, and you consciously decide to do nothing about it because you think the benefits make all those deaths “worth it”, then those people are no longer dying “accidentally”, are they?

[Godstud]

Yes, @Potemkin, they still are dying accidentally, as we are constantly enforcing traffic laws and making roads and cars safer.

I have a good truck horn on my motorcycle. It gets car driver's attention when I need to use it.

[Pants-of-dog]

A particular person dying is an accident.

But it is not an accident that so many people die each year. We know they will and we let people drive anyway. So we intentionally let millions die each year.

[Potemkin]

A particular person dying is an accident.

But it is not an accident that so many people die each year. We know they will and we let people drive anyway. So we intentionally let millions die each year.

“One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.” - Josef Stalin

[Godstud]

But it is not an accident that so many people die each year. We know they will and we let people drive anyway. So we intentionally let millions die each year.

We could ban have the household items we have if we thought in that sort of way. Should we get rid of stairs since so many people(over 1,300 in the USA) are injured on them, every year, or is your line of thought bordering on idiocy?

Bicycles should be banned, since there are many accidents involving them. Swimming should definitely be outlawed! over 5,000 people die every year from drowning!

[Rancid]

A fascinating (and sad thing) is how so many neighborhoods in America don't have sidewalks (or very few), and everyone is ok with that. We build our cities for cars first and foremost, not people.

[QatzelOk]

Yes, almost all people killed by cars are killed accidentally. But if you know that huge numbers of people are killed by cars every year, and you consciously decide to do nothing about it because you think the benefits make all those deaths “worth it”, then those people are no longer dying “accidentally”, are they?

Exactly.

Imagine feeding your children cocaine-laced cereal every morning, and one of them dies of an overdose. But the rest survive, so you continue to feed them this same mild poison since "the advantages far outweight the risks."

What a callous, cocaine-worshipping monster you would be.

Then you could say, 'But the cocaine dealers are working on making their product safer. I only lost one child this year, whereas ten years ago, we were losing one child per week in my cocaine-lacing-cereal neighborhood."