When Cars Go Driverless, What Happens To the Honking? 267
blastboy writes "The potential upside to getting rid of drivers: 'Today car horns are still a leading source of noise pollution in urban centers. India's honking problem is so severe that the response to it—from both activists and government officials—mirrors the response to an actual epidemic. Officials in Peru, meanwhile, began treating honking like a serious crime in 2009, threatening to confiscate the cars of people who honk when they shouldn't.'"
I imagine it will stay (Score:5, Insightful)
I imagine that driverless cars will honk quite frequently, just to be on the safe side. They will be able to communicate silently to other car 2.0s but the old style drivers and the pedestrians will need warnings that there is a car that they might not be aware of.
Re: (Score:2)
Electric cars could eliminate noise pollution. What did our bright lawmaker mavens did? Legislate it so electric cars must play artificial noise, because someone might be jaywalking with a nose in their smartphone.
So I'd expect 50 years of the equivalent of having a person walk before the car waving a red flag before we can enjoy the benefits of new technologies.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Still, the car ought to be able to tell that someone is there, standing or walking toward the street.
After all, the noise was demanded because there were drivers in silent electric cars, and the cars had no smarts to tell them about their surroundings.
Driver-less cars will have cameras and radars and should be able to make noise only when appropriate. Of course, appropriate means everywhere on a busy city street, so a huge racket thrown up by otherwise quiet cars.
It would be cheaper to offer free pocket ca
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Electric cars could eliminate noise pollution. What did our bright lawmaker mavens did? Legislate it so electric cars must play artificial noise, because someone might be jaywalking with a nose in their smartphone.
Or they might be blind, and really have no way to know that a silent car is approaching them. Or they might just be used to the idea that they can hear cars approaching, having never encountered a "ninja Prius" before.
The noise doesn't have to be loud, it only needs to be projected in front of the car, not everywhere, and it only has to operate when the car is going slow enough that its road noise isn't inaudible. This particular noise isn't going to bother anyone any more than the traditional engine nois
Re: (Score:2)
When the car is going slow enough that road noise isn't easily audible (bearing in mind that many blind people rely so much more heavily on their other senses that they can and often do notice sounds or vibrations that most other people could not), stopping distance is short enough that the driver can reasonably be responsible for avoiding an accident, even if the other person did not see him or his car.
Should we also force electric wheelchairs or scooters for disabled or elderly people to make more nois
Electric cars aren't silent (Score:3)
You know what's really funny? Modern IC cars are so quiet that they did a study - for most conventional vehicles, not hybrids or EVs, road noise is the dominant factor. IE tire noise on the road, gravel crunching, all that. The EVs and hybrids they tested were identical on a Db level.
As speeds increase it simply shifts to wind noise - the engine being loud enough to be a signficant factor is actually the exception and generally indicates an ill-maintained defective vehicle.
Anyways, a driverless car can p
Re: (Score:2)
Well, electric cars are silent under 30kph or so. Above that, the dominant noise cars make is road noise caused by the tires rolling on asphalt.
Though, it's not even necessarily people paying attention - in a parking lot, the sound of starting engines usually indicates a car is coming out (you cou
Re: (Score:2)
I do not fear that regulations will force cars to be louder than necessary, at least not for long.
Reason: People will get used to and appreciate quiet cars. Politicians will do so as well. And even if cars are forced to produce some noise - which I don't think will last for a long time - a more or less even humming is far more tolerable (at least to me) than the ugly whining of engines revving up and dow
Mandatory car sounds not so bad? (Score:2)
> a more or less even humming is far more tolerable
Yeah, but it has no *style*. How about Hollywood-esque hovercar sounds? Or for the retro-inclined the sounds of a team of long-legged horses running on soft ground (because nobody wants to listen to a team of horses galloping down a cobblestone street). We could have a whole *palette* of soundscapes to play with as phttp://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/01/31/2331231/when-cars-go-driverless-what-happens-to-the-honking#eople got accustomed to the idea.
Re: (Score:2)
I actually hadn't thought of it, but now that you mention it, I still don't think it matters in terms of noise prevention.
Most vehicles are bought (I think/guess/believe) without giving a second thought (iaw shit) about the noise they cause.
They're bought because of price / space / availability / whatever. If that behaviour stays the same and cars overall get more quiet, there will be less noise. That's cool with me.
People who buy Harleys will co
Motorcycle nitpick (Score:2)
People who buy Harleys will continue to do so.
Just a nitpick but Harleys are actually fairly quiet stock. It's the aftermarket pipes that remove the muffler system that make them loud.
Re: (Score:2)
Good, natural selection at work. Don't play on the road, idiot.
Re: (Score:2)
My grandfather was left blind for reasons that were not related to his genetics, so natural selection is hardly at play, and even if it were, the fact is that the blind have just as much reason to want to know where cars are as you do. If I'm in a parking garage, I oftentimes hear cars before I see them, and the way that some of those drivers careen around corners, it oftentimes falls to me to keep myself safe from them, since they aren't looking out for me. And if I'm crossing the street at a crosswalk, ca
Re: (Score:2)
In this case, you don't need a honking horn, just, e.g., an audible engine-like rumble when cars are approaching intersections. I assume (hope) you don't lean on the horn every time you see a pedestrian at the corner. And, if a blind person is crossing, you should never have a need to honk --- you should have brought your car to a stop at the intersection and given pedestrians their right of way (not be caught unawares blasting through a stopsign). Self-driving cars will probably, on average, do a lot bette
Re: (Score:3)
Why the fuck are they walking in the road?
I feel like this is the start of a bad joke, but the honest answer is "because they want to get to the other side". Blind people need to cross streets too, in case that thought hadn't occurred to you, and knowing if there is a car sitting at the corner that may be about to make a turn across the crosswalk they're using is something they may interested in knowing. Or they may want to know if a car is nearing them in a parking lot. There are plenty of reasons for a blind person to want to know where cars are
india asks for honks! (Score:2)
wtf, every truck in india has a huge sign that says please honk. it's considered rude NOT to honk in india. not being sarcastic. honking is viewed positively there.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe that explains why drivers in California (with way too many sound insulated Lexuses and BMWs) seem COMPLETELY unable to comprehend that you need to pull over for an emergency vehicle...
Re: (Score:2)
I imagine that driverless cars will honk quite frequently, just to be on the safe side. They will be able to communicate silently to other car 2.0s but the old style drivers and the pedestrians will need warnings that there is a car that they might not be aware of.
Liability worries will probably make that the norm.
Who will dare sell a car that does not give the same warning that a conscientious driver might?
There will be people diving in front of driverless cars attempting to empty the deep pockets of the manufacturers.
Re: (Score:2)
There will be people diving in front of driverless cars attempting to empty the deep pockets of the manufacturers.
People already dive in front of regular cars, just try driving around any major city. People care more about answering that text message than they do about looking for traffic.
Re: (Score:2)
There will be people diving in front of driverless cars attempting to empty the deep pockets of the manufacturers.
People already dive in front of regular cars, just try driving around any major city. People care more about answering that text message than they do about looking for traffic.
The driverless car will likely have stored video to show what really happened.
Re: (Score:2)
The driverless car will likely have stored video to show what really happened.
Let's start thinking up names for the TV show:
America's Dumbest Pedestrians.
Road Kill - When man and machine come together!!!.
Re: (Score:2)
There will be people diving in front of driverless cars attempting to empty the deep pockets of the manufacturers.
I don't think that's going to work too well -- the car will have a complete record of its sensor inputs at the time of the incident, from which it should be pretty obvious what actually happened.
(Not that that won't stop a few opportunists from trying, of course -- it will be interesting to see how a self-driving car handles deliberately dangerous behavior)
Re: (Score:2)
In the US, at least, very few people actually honk as a measure of courtesy or to "warn" pedestrians. It's mostly to (rightfully) tell drivers not paying attention at a light to get off their phones/daydreams/whatever and GO or (wrongfully) in fits of road rage that often tends to end badly. Neither generally has much to do with safety.
There's an App For That (Score:2)
There is no need to honk. Ever. (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Aways yeld to idiots and jackasses.
2. Maneuver to avoid accidents, honking does not help much.
Very seldom, if someone fell asleep at the traffick light, I give it a very short blip.
If all horns were uninstalled tomorrow we would not loose much. Now let's discuss sirens and light pollution.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
As an idiot and jackass, please let me be the first to thank you for your constant yielding.
Re: (Score:2)
... to stay on topic, I can also honk and be flipped a bird in exchange -- a mutual understandin
Re: (Score:2)
There is no need to honk. Ever.
Very seldom, if someone fell asleep at the traffick light, I give it a very short blip.
Awesome. So you are an asshole. That thing is not there to wake people up, but to avoid accidents.
.
Re: (Score:2)
Very seldom, if someone fell asleep at the traffick light, I give it a very short blip.
Awesome. So you are an asshole. That thing is not there to wake people up, but to avoid accidents.
Right! That's why I never honk to wake up somebody in front of me at a traffic light. I just ram them. It's the polite thing to do!
Re: (Score:2)
Sure there is... how else would you propose we signal, when the car just in front of us is driving at 10 miles per hour on a 30 mph road, when a pedestrian is taking too long to finish their crossing, a car in front of us is slowing down or taking too long to complete their right turn, or the car in front of us is stopped and signalling left in the middle of the road, spending forever at the stop sign, failing to take a right turn on red, stopping at a yellow light, failing to accelerate immediately
Re: (Score:2)
I would propose that you calm down and think that perhaps the person in front of your car is moving slower than you would like for a good reason.
Although it's always possible that they are purposely trying to make you late for your appointment, it's also possible that they need to think a moment more to avoid making a dangerous mistake. Or that slow moving pedestrian might be experiencing a bit of pain from the bullet that lodged in his leg back in the war and it might be slowing him down a little.
Most tim
Re: (Score:2)
Sure there is... how else would you propose we signal, when the car just in front of us is driving at 10 miles per hour on a 30 mph road, when a pedestrian is taking too long to finish their crossing, a car in front of us is slowing down or taking too long to complete their right turn, or the car in front of us is stopped and signalling left in the middle of the road, spending forever at the stop sign, failing to take a right turn on red, stopping at a yellow light, failing to accelerate immediately after the light turned green, etc, etc.
In your driverless car, you won't even notice, you'll be too busy playing Angry Birds to see your surroundings.
When driverless cars are commonplace, a GPS outage will leave millions of drivers stranded away from home because they will no longer know how to get home on their own, not even if they are within walking distance. GPS is bad enough, but at least they generally know which roads they take, but when driverless cars are the norm, drivers won't pay attention at all to where they are going.
Re: (Score:2)
When driverless cars are commonplace, a GPS outage will leave millions of drivers stranded away from home because they will no longer know how to get home on their own
Wait.... GPS outage? If humans can find their way around without GPS; I see no reason a driverless car shouldn't be able to.
Hell... they can have a huge map database in the car.
All the car needs to do is use its last known position plus data from sensors and dead-reckoning based navigation to identify its current position.
Certainly,
Re: (Score:2)
When driverless cars are commonplace, a GPS outage will leave millions of drivers stranded away from home because they will no longer know how to get home on their own
Wait.... GPS outage? If humans can find their way around without GPS; I see no reason a driverless car shouldn't be able to.
That's the problem - people are becoming reliant on GPS and can't find their way around without GPS. One of my coworkers has lived here for almost a year and can't find his way to a restaurant 3 miles away (that he's been to a dozen times) without GPS.
Hell... they can have a huge map database in the car.
All the car needs to do is use its last known position plus data from sensors and dead-reckoning based navigation to identify its current position.
Most Inertial sensors are only good for a short time before they become too inaccurate to use. Manufacturers could have the car use pattern mapping to match its surroundings with onboard maps, but when GPS available "all the time", why bother implementing some
Re: (Score:3)
There's not all that much honking in NYC since Adolf Giuliani had all the honkers arrested and sent to the South Bronx. But if I had a car accident every time I've honked my horn when someone was moving their car into the space my car occupied, I'd be pretty upset.
it will return to it's original purpose (Score:4, Interesting)
the purpose of the car horn was not to express anger at other drivers but to warn of an emergency. there will still be people dangerously stepping into the street and the cars will honk to warn them that they may get hit. that's not to say it will warn them only when they will be hit but rather when the probability of being hit drastically increases. pedestrians are highly unpredictable and the cars have been programmed to act accordingly. also, if someone in a manually driven car might be in the process of causing an collision (e.g. turning into an occupied lane) the car will honk.
the real question is if people will give other people the finger in traffic.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And by making fewer mistakes, driverless cars would elicit less honking from other drivers, except when they drive at or below the speed limit, which will be all the time. So it's hard to say what the overall result would be in the USA, at least until humans are banned, for safety concerns, from operating motor vehicles on public roads.
No horns? (Score:2)
Re:No horns? (Score:5, Informative)
In my experience cows are rarely impressed by car horns.
And moose ignore them completely. You sit there till the moose decides to wander off to do whatever it is that moose do when they're not blocking traffic.
I'm not gonna ask. A moose's business is its own.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not gonna ask. A moose's business is its own.
Amen to that!
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know about moose or cows, but the deer I've encountered seem to respond more to an engine rev than to a horn. I guess it sounds more like a predator?
Re:No horns? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Ok, let's assume in this wondrous future, you are being driven (can't exactly call it driving if you're not in control) on some country roads and you encounter a very large bull standing in the middle of the road.
This is why you should always, always bring firearms, flares, and some device to scare away bulls with you, when driving on country roads: especially in driverless cars --- never be without them.
When you encounter the bull, you load your gun with a blank.... fire off the warning. This will su
Re: (Score:2)
You're imagining a car with no user inputs at all? No steering wheel, no manual override, not even any way to program a new route?
Also, this car won't be smart enough to factor in the amount of gas remaining in the tank when making its routing calculations?
I'm guessing that wouldn't be the most popular model.
Edge case: tumbleweeds (Score:2)
As in the kind that are about 5 ft in diameter and bouncing across the road at about 30 mph.
I do hope they have that case in the computer. I'd hate to get a panic-stop reaction or go into the ditch as the computer franticly tries to avoid the "obstruction."
Why are horns still only top volume? (Score:2)
I really wish I had the ability to make a more subdued honk sometimes, for alerting a pedestrian, or whatever. It seems like an obvious enhancement, and yet AFAIK such a thing has never been standard or even available, except maybe as an aftermarket item.
Re: (Score:2)
I really wish I had the ability to make a more subdued honk sometimes, for alerting a pedestrian, or whatever. It seems like an obvious enhancement, and yet AFAIK such a thing has never been standard or even available, except maybe as an aftermarket item.
FWIW the Chevy Volt comes with just that [youtube.com].
Re: (Score:3)
Copied from the Citroën DS - it had the regular horn for in-town use, and a wake-the-dead horn for highway use.
And yes, if you accidentally hit the highway mega-horn when a little old lady was crossing the street in front of you, it was embarrasing.... not that I'd know that myself, of course, just heard rumours.
It is a tad surprising how many swear words a 90 year old lady actually knows.
Re: (Score:2)
Because young people are still only top volume.
Got pasted by one the other day. I was leaning on the horn, but he didn't hear it, because his music was cranked. Backed right into me assuming I wasn't there, never even looked.
Next time try while you're in a car.
Having been in Lima, Peru recently... (Score:2)
Dumbest headline question ever (Score:5, Insightful)
When Cars Go Driverless, What Happens To the Honking?
It Will Stop.
Next?
They can have ... (Score:2)
Won't someone think of the trees? (Score:2)
For every driverless car honk a tree falls silently in a forest...
I'm filing a patent application (Score:2)
For a robotic, self-extending middle-finger. Gonna make a ton of money on this.
Regional problem (Score:2)
I live in Minneapolis and it is extremely rare to hear cars honking, rare enough that when a car does honk, everyone turns their head to see what all the commotion is about.
The bus drivers like to lay into the horn once in a while, but buses always have right of way so that's acceptable.
Honking is different overseas (Score:5, Informative)
In America, honking your car horn is an expression of anger. It is calling the other driver out that he is doing something unsafe or stupid. If someone doesn't move when a light turns green, you have to "bip" your horn by tapping lightly. A full-on honk might make the other driver get out and try to kick your ass.
Overseas, it's different. Honking the horn just says, "I'm here." It's an auditory announcement of where you are. This is very important, as other drivers frequently don't watch where they're going. When you pass, you need to honk the horn so the other driver doesn't suddenly decide to change lanes into your car. I ride an electric moped, and my electric piezo horn is my most important safety device other than the brakes. It announces my presence so people don't hit me. Taxis honk when they pass me - it doesn't mean they're mad, it just means "I'm here."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm curious why you think this is the case? There are driverless cars right now. They cost millions of dollars, but I've seen a few things drop in price in the technology department in my few decades.
Re: (Score:2)
We'll have driverless trucks first. At first required to only operate at night in clear weather but eventually the machines will develop a dependable track record of safety.
Re: (Score:2)
Say the people standing to make a lot of money from them (and their fanboys), yes. The problem is that reality tracking technology and heuristics are not even close to making a safe autonomous street robot. The clues are all about us in the non-critical technologies we have already, like voice recognition. It's been 20 years, and it still can't tell what someone's saying when the person has a cold, or even get it 99% correct in ideal conditions. it's slow too. Face recognition is getting slowly better,
Re: (Score:2)
Human train engineers make mistakes all the time. Just recently we've had two "going around the corner too fast" fatal incidents. Those are two accidents that would not have happened with a robot at the wheel. Now, you might be correct and the robots might be less able to react to "random" events - but then how rare are random events compared with engineers dozing off, spacing out, or showing up impaired? In any case, most systems still stick a guy up there, even if he doesn't drive the train under normal c
Re: (Score:2)
Human train engineers make mistakes all the time. Just recently we've had two "going around the corner too fast" fatal incidents. Those are two accidents that would not have happened with a robot at the wheel. Now, you might be correct and the robots might be less able to react to "random" events - but then how rare are random events compared with engineers dozing off, spacing out, or showing up impaired? In any case, most systems still stick a guy up there, even if he doesn't drive the train under normal circumstances... so that probably covers both cases. So sure, you still pay a driver, but you gain safety and you gain the ability to run trains closer together.. capacity.
I don't understand why we don't have driverless trains (aside from a few airport trains) today. It seems like such a simple problem - no need to steer (aside from negotiating track switches), well defined stop/go/speed signals that could easily be followed by an automated engineer, and far superior vision to detect obstacles on the tracks. Is there some other skill needed that only a human can provide?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not really. Complete automation usually happens when people are expensive. Compared to the rest of the train, its operators aren't that expensive. Besides, modern train protection systems like LZB in Germany actually allow for automatic operation. It is seldom used in that capacity because it is not available on all the railroads, just on some lines that allow speeds higher than (in case of Germany) 160 kph. Autopilot is used on these tracks, though.
Re: (Score:2)
"I don't understand why we don't have driverless trains"
For one, unionized train personnel has a lot of power by the threat of striking. I once talked to an engineer doing railway systems design. He told me that they have to tread very carefully when introducing any technology that might appear to take away the autonomy of the driver.
Another thing is that a train driver is supposed to be able to deal with hardware malfunctioning, maybe even getting out to move a stuck switch.
Driverless vehicles (Score:2)
You mention trains, because they're 'much simpler to predict'. There is some truth to this, same with drone aircraft - fewer obstacles to worry about, orders of magnitude less clutter.
Thing is, an AI train system still has to worry about things next to the rails, because they might intersect with the train by the time the train gets there. There's still 'random events in an open terrain' to worry about, it's just that the possible AI responses are much more limited - increase throttle, decrease throttle,
Re: (Score:2)
We already do, it's called the Navitron Autodrive system, but the trucker's union doesn't want the public to know about it.
Driverless cars are already here (Score:2)
You are absolutely right. Those Google cars currently tooling around the country are purely imaginary. As are that other company's that can drive F-1 cars around Nürburgring in the pouring rain with professional-grade lap times(IIRC). The technology is already pretty much there, one more order-of-magnitude improvement and it will be pretty unquestionably superior to human drivers in all but the most contrived of corner-cases. After that the question is just cost and public acceptance.
Cost can reaso
Re: (Score:3)
We will not have "driverless cars". Ever.
"That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced."
--Scientific American, January 2, 1909
Re: (Score:2)
We will not have "driverless cars". Ever.
"A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere."
--The New York Times, January 13, 1920
Re: (Score:2)
I agree on the general principle of "just because fancy tech happened before doesn't mean every wishful idea will be achieved" (e.g. faster-than-light travel) --- but self-driving cars aren't an exotic future possibility outside the present domain of human knowledge. They're working prototypes cruising around today, and doing a pretty good job of it. At this point, there's a big burden of proof to establish why they won't become common, rather than whether they might be possible in theory.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
So, the horseless carriage was never invented, because the motor is the horse? Rather, "driver" has, in common meaning, indicated the person controlling the car; and, if you see a car coming down the street towards you without a person at the wheel, you think "holy shit, that car has no driver!" (just like someone might have thought "holy shit, that carriage has no horse!").
Re: (Score:2)
Self-driving cars without a human operator will likely exist. Perhaps only in the form of public transport or replacing taxis.
Re: (Score:2)
Who said all cars would be driverless? More likely, drivered cars will go the way of the horse-ful carriage: a specialty item for enthusiasts off the major highways. And, why do you assume there's anything that will limit driverless cars to the 0.01%? In mass-production mode, there's nothing overly expensive needed for a driverless car --- a few cameras and scanners (which are mainly pricey now due to low production, rather than fundamental materials/manufacturing barriers), plus some clever software (which
Re: (Score:2)
In mass-production mode, there's nothing overly expensive needed for a driverless car
Indeed. Once self driving cars become pervasive, they should be cheaper than today's cars: The accident rate is predicted to fall by at least a factor of ten, allowing acceptable safety levels with lighter material and smaller engines. Insurance rates will also be far lower.
Insurance rates for driverless cars (Score:2)
Insurance rates will also be far lower.
This reminded me: Who will buy the insurance? For example, in the UK apparently the actuary tables are messed up enough when it comes to young teens that it's often cheaper to buy a new car where the manufacturer covers the first X years of insurance than it is to buy an equivalent used car and insure it.
It might not work in the regulatory framework of the USA as it currently stands, but if you drop insurance costs to roughly 1/10th of what they are now, combined with no more variable driver records, I co
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's been weeks, if not months since I've heard any car honking
Go to any parking lot; wait for someone to lock or unlock their car. Honk.
Driverless cars will still need to be locked, so they will presumably still honk on a regular basis.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
My driving instructor used to lean across to blow the horn and wave when he saw one of his former students. I noticed that a high proportion of his former students seemed to be pedestrians.
We both used to confuse "left" and "right" too, which sometimes worked out fine.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
They said driverless not hornless. Those in the car are free to honk their asses off. :)
Simple solution: Put a horn meter in every car, and charge a 10 cent tax each time they honk it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Driverless Cars (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Driverless Cars (Score:5, Funny)
Well the obvious solution here, especially given that I'm less offended by a 'beep' than a 'HOOOOONNNNNKKK", is to charge $.10 per second.
Re:Driverless Cars (Score:5, Funny)
But then manufacturers will offer Free Nights and Weekend Honking, and contracts for 1000 honks per month (minimum 2 yr contract). Eventually, we'll get some good prepaid honks, but they won't always be as up to date as contract horns.
Re:Driverless Cars (Score:5, Funny)
After 5 years, some provider will offer unlimited honking as part of their standard contract at lower than competitor's prices, but you'r car will only operate on limited access roadways and your horn will be bufered through the network with random failures to deliver horn notifications in a timely manner and occasionall complete loss of horn notifications. Subscribers will point at the low prices as evidence of better than expected service, impressively inovative and the customer service representatives will be rated higher than any of the competition.
A Button For Humans To Press (Score:3)
We give babies toys that make a noise when you press different buttons, and adults we are little different and still enjoy pressing the button that makes a noise.
Re:A Button For Humans To Press (Score:5, Interesting)
May I suggest you visit India some time, and experience the noise for yourself? The drivers there are completely undisciplined. People honk because everyone else honks. They honk to announce they're tailgating, they honk to announce they are moving left or right (calling it changing lanes would imply they cared about lanes), they honk to announce they're about to enter an intersection, and they honk if someone cuts them off; as it's the only way anyone drives, the honking is almost continuous. When I got back, the silence on Minnesota streets was remarkable. It was almost three weeks before I heard an actual horn honk in traffic.
People aren't compelled to push the button just because it's in front of them. People push it because they don't know any better.
Re: (Score:2)
Are their cars powered by sound?
Re: (Score:2)
Driverless cars are never going to happen in India