jstn:
I’m so sick of honking. Over the last couple years I’ve more or less adapted to the myriad insanities this city throws at you day in and day out, and in some cases learned to love them (even a packed rush hour subway is a cultural adventure). Honking is not one of these things, and it drives me absolutely crazy.
Section 24-221(a) of the city code bans a “claxon” from being sounded “except as a sound signal of imminent danger,” according to this article in the Sun, which also mentions that a scant 580 tickets were written for claxon-sounding in 2006.
Despite the $350 fine, drivers in New York sound their claxon at literally every possible chance. Sailing through an empty intersection? Great opportunity to throw a couple honks in there, just to establish your dominance. Stuck behind 20 other cars on a side street? Even though everyone else is honking (and the reason for the delay is an old lady crossing the street), go ahead and feel free to make your contribution to the maelström of cacophony. Why not? It’s not like you’re going to get a ticket, and the only thing keeping those cars from moving in front of you is a lack of motivation, right?
As I was awoken this early this morning by a particularly furious bout of claxon, I had to wonder how many other people could hear it, much less were being rudely stirred. A single honker in the Lower East Side early in the morning could potentially rouse hundreds of peaceful human beings. Has a single driver in New York ever considered that? We may never know, because right behind them was an idiot honking to remind them their light had been green for 0.2 seconds.
no place like new york! i miss it. but only sometimes :)
