Forum: If you’re unhappy and you know it, sound the horn
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I was not surprised to read that only three in five people find Singapore’s roads safe, and that three-quarters blame impatience for most traffic hazards (Only 3 in 5 people find S’pore roads safe; three-quarters blame impatience for most traffic hazards, May 30).
If there were ever a universal symbol for impatience on Singapore’s roads, it would not be the speeding car or the abrupt lane change. It would be the car horn.
To some drivers, the horn seems less a warning device and more a multi-purpose tool capable of clearing traffic jams, expressing outrage and educating other road users.
Stuck in a traffic jam? Honk. Vehicle three cars ahead hesitated for 0.7 second? Definitely honk. Pedestrians on their phones at zebra crossings? Honk, just in case.
One can only admire the faith these motorists place in their horns. They seem convinced that sound waves can part traffic like the Red Sea, accelerate the vehicle ahead, and perhaps even alter traffic light sequences.
Particularly impressive are the drivers who begin honking the instant a traffic light turns green. Their reflexes are so finely tuned that one wonders whether they are responding to the light or simply operating on instinct.
Of course, the unfortunate reality is that excessive horn use achieves little beyond raising blood pressure and startling everyone within a 50m radius. Traffic congestion remains unmoved. Traffic light sequences remain unchanged.
The survey blamed impatience as a major contributor to unsafe roads. Perhaps the incessant use of horns is not merely a symptom of impatience but its soundtrack.
If we truly want safer and more pleasant roads, we might consider a radical experiment: using our horns less and our patience more. While neither will get us to our destination faster, only one of them is likely to improve the journey for everyone.
Lim Yew Ling
