Honking

I've written a few blogs about the insane traffic conditions here in the Philippines, but I've never written anything about car horns. Car horns are an interesting topic. The horn itself isn't that interesting but the meaning behind the honk is worth looking at.

Honking in Canada seems to be connected with aggression. People that honk tend to be annoyed, or worse, suffering from road rage. If you get honked at in Canada you tend to immediately go on the defensive. You start wondering why you're being honked at. If you can't figure out why the honk happened you automatically assume the honker is an asshole. There's no debate here, the honker is an asshole.

If horns could talk, here's what they would be saying in both Canada and the Philippines:

CANADA: "You asshole. You cut me off. You're driving too slow and I hate you. I HATE YOU."

See, it's all about aggression.

Now let's look at the Philippines:

PHILIPPINES: "Excuse me friend, how are you? I can't help but notice that you're driving a touch too close to me. If you don't mind, and if it isn't any trouble, please move slightly to the left. Thank you Sir, have a wonderful day and God bless."

If you were to do a study of traffic conditions in the world and pick a place where road rage should be happening it's here in the Philippines. People don't follow the lanes. People swerve their cars constantly. People run red lights. People tailgate. People cut you off. People block traffic entirely by doing a U-Turn. People drive slowly while texting on the phone. Busses and jeepneys stop in the middle of the road to left people off which causes huge traffic jams. All these things are incredibly annoying. It annoys me just thinking about it. But here's the funny thing: road rage doesn't exist here. Not at all. Why is that?

I think it's all about the mindset. Filipinos use the car horn as an extended form of communication. It's like a 'hello'. They honk even when it's not necessary to honk. They could be the only car on the road in the middle of the night and they would still honk. The horns add a happy vibe to your driving experience

Canadians only honk when it's absolutely necessary to honk. Someone cuts you off and you're angry. You place you hand on the horn but don't apply the pressure at first. You start debating if you're 100% correct for honking at this person. You need to be correct. If there's any doubt here, either from you or the receiver of the honk then you may, most likely, be classified as an asshole. Who wants to be an asshole?

I think Canadians need to adopt the Filipino style of honking. Sure it adds unbearable noise pollution to your morning commute but at least everyone on the road is your friend. Personally I prefer a world where I have hundreds of friends on the road rather than that one annoying asshole.