Cars beeping horns on lanes

happyhack

happyhack

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My Uncle does this to "warn drivers coming from the opposite direction" that he is there. He then says that if he gets no response he accelerates!!!

I had a row with him asking what about Horses, Cyclists and Walkers?

He just shrugged and said he'd deal with that if he came to it!
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I was FUMING!!!! My Dad went mental at him and said what if he was on a lane I was riding on and came roaring up on top of me and I came flying off? He just laughed and said dont be so dramatic!!
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I just said that if a horse can spook at nothing on a open field and have me off then it can damn well have me off on a road when some dickhead driver comes flying up towards me!!
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I agree with beeping when going through country lanes but acelerating through lanes with blind bends when there's no responce is very very dangerous! An accident waiting to happen
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See that is the whole reason I have never understood this beeping thing....................................JUST SLOW DOWN!!!!!
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The people who beep in the lanes are people who do not know or understand the country, idiots who assume the roads are only for cars, and it drives me NUTS!
 
Of course you need to beep?!

The lanes where mine's kept have a few sharp blind bends and at the end of the day not every driver is going to go slowly and sensibly are they (boy racers etc). It's not worth the risk not to beep.
 
and considering my dad and his brother and sisters grew up in a house in the middle of nowhere just off a country lane, I think its disgusting.
 
The correct use of the horn is to warn unseen uncoming traffic of your presence, so beeping before a bend is actually good practice. But of course you should also only be going at a speed you can stop from if necessary. For most lanes that is well below 30mph, despite the 60 limit. I would agree that beeping horns could well frighten horses, but so could a pheasant flying up suddenly, and hopefully you and the horse would hear earlier beeps as the car progressed down the lane, so it would all come of less of a surprise.
 
I agree the practice of beeping, and then speeding up if there is no response is dangerous and reckless. However, I do think beeping does have a place if you are driving round bendy narrow lanes, as long as you still drive at a sensible pace. Beeping can warn that dozy idiot that might be zooming around the corner towards you that there is something coming and they might actually have the sense to slow down a bit!
 
What is the point in beeping? if 2 cars are heading towards each other on a sharp bend on a narrow road a bloomin beep isnt going to help anyone, they will probably have hit each other before they get a chance to beep.
I agree beeping before going round a bend is totally ignorant behaviour.
What if they person in the other car is deaf they wont hear you any way never mind the fact it could end up causing an accident if its a horses rider round the bend.
 
Have considered installing a horn on the pone in order to beep back!

We have lots and lots of blind bends on a single track road and TBH we only get the occasional beeper and yes they are normally travelling too fast and will assume that if no reply the way is clear. Though hopefully they only have to do this once, discover me in my hi vis and not do it again.

most who no the route do not beep, they know there are 3 livery yards and loads of other horses in the area and that it is a main (or only) hacking route.
 
A couple of beeps does help if done on the approach of a sharp bend especially if you're going slowly say at 5/10ph towards it, I'd of had a couple of head on collisions by now if it wasn't for the fact the other car knew I was there and was able to break.

You yourself might be going slowly but the other car might not be which is unfortunately the case sometimes. I'd feel extremely unsafe going through the lanes in my area without beeping before blind bends.
 
As a bus driver, I have to drive through many narrow bendy lanes on my country routes. Not at any point on my PCV (and my car) training was I told to beep before approaching a corner. I just SLOW DOWN and lean forward to try and see as far ahead as posssible! I drive through one village in particular that has 3 blind bends within one mile and always come across walkers, horse riders and cyclists! If I flew around them at national spped limit in a double decker with my hand on the horn I'm sure I would be reported pretty pronto!
 
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My Uncle does this to "warn drivers coming from the opposite direction" that he is there. He then says that if he gets no response he accelerates!!!


Most drivers wouldn't hear if they've got the radio on n e way!! This annoys me so much is it so hard to SLOW DOWN!!!
 
As a bus driver you are higher than most cars, thus have the advantage of better vision. It is the norm to beep on approaching a sharp bend on a narrow road, but keeping to a slow speed.
 
We have a really rubbish mini bridge thing (my descriptions are fabulous arent they!) near us and when approaching that EVERYBODY beeps since there isnt enough room for two cars and its such a nasty bit of winding road you dont want to reverse back down it and have someone smack you in the back.

I agree with beeping regardless of how slow you are going
 
That is very dangerous, anyone could be round the corner, including another driver with their music on full blast for example, put a sign up on one of the bends saying 'no beeping slow down' hopfully he wont think its you and take some notice.
 
I too think there are some places & roads where its prudent to beep to warn others you are there, I just don't agree with the accelerating bit!

There was something on the radio today that suggested 60mph country roads should all be 50mph - I just laughed at how ridiculous a blanket coverage of 50mph would be. The worse country lanes its only safe to travel around corners at a crawl, there are plenty of other national speed limit ones where its safe to travel at 40mph but not really above... the govermnet seem to have forgotton that the national speed limit is a MAXIMUM. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for looking at individual roads and calling them 30,40,50 whatever if they need it, but not a blanked reduction of 10mph - I just think its going to encourage people to think 50 is ok in places where its not.

Ooh sorry I'm ranted off track a bit. Have you thought about asking the council to put up caution horse signs?
 
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What is the point in beeping?

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There's a good chance that if there is a horse round the bend, you will spook it. A rider sitting on their arse in the middle of the road is a much easier target!!! Additionally horse will hopefully be legging it, so won't dent the car (rider will just act as a speed hump).
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What was I thinking, yep beeping is a fab idea.........................I wonder why it hasn't been written into the highway code yet???
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Can you imagine living in a cottage on a country lane and worse still on a blind bend. On a busy day of beepers .....value of cottage drops to zero and the brain goes awol. Also who would have right of way if two drivers beeped at the same time? Oer umm crash! Road blocked. Road rage by horsey and rider.
 
One of my pet hates! Where we live we have single lane roads with hedgerows on either side and very poor visibility for miles, biut loads of walkers, cyclists and riders, so the only sensible speed is around 20mph (legal speed limit 60mph). The 'beepers' all seem to think that beeping allows them to go fast and you can hear them tearing round the bends going 'beep', 'bee', beep', 'beep again'...as I said drives me mad
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Best practice....
The horn is a device installed upon your vehicle for a purpose!! It's there to warn other road users of your presence, not to signal to the cretin that just pulled out in front of you..

Advanced Driver consideration...

Ideally you should consider sounding your horn on approach to any hazard. This does not mean of course that you actually have to use it each time, just consider it. Generally speaking, the best time to sound your horn is after you have already adjusted your position and speed for the hazard. At this point the horn serves as a warning instrument when you have already minimised the risk (you still have other options available to you if necessary). This is preferable to sounding your horn and hoping the other driver reacts correctly. If they don't, you may not have enough time or space to stop. Sometimes children, the elderly or those with a hearing disability may not hear you at all.

You should adjust the length of the horn note to suit the particular circumstances at the time. As a general rule, the closer you are to the hazard, the shorter the note to be used because you don't want to startle someone. On the other hand, if you are well back from the hazard or if there is less chance of the horn being heard because of background noise or at higher speeds, a longer note could be considered. In situations where you are not able to see other road users such on approach to blind bends or hump back bridges, a longer horn note may be appropriate.

Either way, the overall principle is that the other road user should have time to hear the horn, recognise the risk and have time to react.

... Do I?...Yes when I think it's required and of a useful purpose... the question is... should I come round a blind bend slowly with a horn beep to alert you I'm coming....
or should I leave the two tone siren sounding and scare the life out of everyone for a mile around me??

It's there for a purpose...used wisely in the countryside...it can be a lifesaver!
 
my friend lives in a little hamlet and there is a very nasty blind bend before her house, I always give a little beep before going round the corner (slowly i must add) as its also a single track lane. It means that hopefully if there is anyone riding down there they will know i'm coming round the corner. There have been several accidents on this corner so in some circumstances i think its ok.
 
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