The other day I was walking through downtown Boston, and a large group of people in an organized protest passed by. They had police escorts alongside them, so it was clearly authorized by somebody. For one turn of a light, traffic was blocked in all directions as they marched through the intersection. People in cars all over the place were honking their horns like crazy. I just don’t get it. What does that accomplish, other then to irritate the hell out of everyone else around them? In cities where there are tons of pedestrians on the street, it’s an incredibly selfish and inconsiderate thing to do (just like using umbrellas).
Cars have horns for safety reasons. Like if you’re on the highway and somebody cuts into your lane without looking, then you honk so they don’t hit you. They’re not designed as a tool to express your anger and frustration. Which is why it should cost $1 every time you honk your horn. If you did it to avoid an accident you wouldn’t even care about the buck, but if you were just being a jerk, you probably would lay off. I haven’t really thought through the implementation of this yet, but I imagine it would be something like when Sly Stallone gets fined for swearing in Demolition Man.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puM1eT15NYw[/youtube]
To read more of my blog “37 seconds of sports and other stuff i care about” follow me on twitter @LucidSportsFan, “like” my fan page on facebook, or just go to lucidsportsfan.com.
About Mark Vandeusen