^^
I’ve been in that situation before, and have witnessed it happen to others. I just witnessed again it this evening, in fact, as I was driving home from work. I was in a lane waiting for a left-turn green light, There may have been like 5 or 6 cars ahead of me. So I don’t know who honked, but I saw the light turn green and it seemed like just a second later someone honked their horn, and then I could see the first car in line go. But it just felt way too fast to be honking at someone. I mean, maybe the driver of the first car was just waiting to see if any cars might be coming through the intersection. Y’know, sometimes people speed up when they see a yellow light and end up going through after the light has turned red. That’s usually been the case when I’ve been honked at, I’m not sure if an oncoming car is going to stop or not, but the car behind can’t see that and think I’m just distracted, so they honk. And, admittedly, sometimes I have just been distracted, maybe I got lost in thought for a minute while the light was red. Still, the honking is annoying. I figure, at least give the person a few seconds to go, before you honk at them (if you must).

And some folks get really unreasonable about it. I remember once I was waiting to make a left turn on a street, but it wasn’t at a light or a Stop sign. So I have to turn on a street that’s going the opposite direction, so I’m waiting for cars to pass before I go. And someone waiting behind me honked. I was thinking “Excuse YOU. I’ll drive in front of oncoming traffic when, and ONLY when, I feel completely comfortable doing so” I guess the driver behind me thought I had a clear shot, but I wasn’t sure, so I waited. I’m not going to go just because the bloke behind me thinks I can make it. Because if HE’S wrong, them I’M the one that gets hurt and/or killed. No thank you!

That’s one thing I never do, even though it happens to me all the time, is that I never count on another driver slowing down when they see me coming. But people always cut in front of me or turn in front of me quickly, where I have to hit the brakes to slow down to avoid hitting them. But I only turn in front of oncoming cars if I’m positive that I’ll be able to cross them even if the car continues at it’s current speed. Because for all I know that person could be drunk or, I don’t know, maybe their brakes aren’t working properly, so I don’t take that chance.

Another type of honking that I hate is the one that comes after a mistake. Like maybe you did change lanes without looking properly and you’ve cut in front of someone who had to quickly hit the brakes. And then they honk at you. What’s the point of that? It’s one thing to honk if they see you getting into your lane, to alert you that they’re there, but once you’ve already gotten into the lane, it’s too late now. You’re already in front of them, and you’re both safe, so they’re honking purely out of anger, which is just lame.

I don’t like honking, so I almost never do it. Even when I am stuck behind someone who is paused at a Green light. Even if the street is clear and it looks like the driver in front of me is distracted, like talking to a passenger in their car, I’ll just wait until they go, which is usually not too long. Call me ultra-polite as a driver, but I’d rather not honk. I’ll tell you who I do want to honk at: slow drivers. Or not even “slow” drivers, but people who go the exact speed-limit, when you know that they could go fast. Like there will be two or three lanes, and everyone in the other lanes are speeding by and I’m stuck behind the old person in the pick up struck who’s cruising along, and you can see a huge gap between them and the car in front of them, and you just wanna scream “SPEED UP!”

I also want to honk at people that I see on their phones either talking or texting. I’ve said it before, and I’ve said it again, that is frakkin’ dangerous! Yet I still see people doing it all the time. It bugs the heck out of me.

Have a nice night.