Too soon to toot?
The traffic light has just turned green but the car in front hasn’t moved. You wait a couple of seconds then… beep. You give your horn a little tap to get the driver’s attention. Was it too soon to toot? Let us know by voting in the poll.
Are you too quick to toot?
What the rules say
RAA Senior Manager of Safety and Infrastructure Charles Mountain says sounding your horn too soon, like in this instance, might be considered an offence.
If you thought your horn sounded good at the time, how about a $228 fine and $105 Victims of Crime Levy? This is how much you can be penalised for improper use of your horn.
The Australian Road Rules defines a vehicle’s horn as a safety device which must only be used to alert other road users of danger. For instance, if the vehicle in front starts rolling back towards you at the lights. That said, if the driver in front isn’t aware that the light has turned green then a quick toot to alert them can be helpful to avoid you and anyone behind you missing the green signal.
While tooting to get your fellow motorists’ attention sounds helpful, you could potentially risk the safety of other road users. “Not only can you receive a fine for beeping a slower driver, but you may also distract other motorists and cause a crash,” Charles says.
What you should do
Lightly tapping your horn to alert them isn’t the same as aggressively holding your hand down to deliberately intimidate other drivers. That said, beeping someone because they’re not moving as fast as you’d like isn’t reason to get too horn happy.
There are a few other scenarios where you can’t use your horn – who knew beeping bye to a mate was against the rules? We’ve outlined a few instances where beeping other road users is acceptable here.
Final word
“Give fellow drivers grace,” Charles says. “It’s important to remember we’re sharing the road and there’s no room for impatience behind the wheel.”
Paying attention at signals so that you move off safely when the light or arrow turns green helps to not only reduce delays and frustration but avoids the need for a reminder toot from the driver behind!