Job Discussion Forums

[gerard]

I forgot to add a question of my own. OK. Why do bus drivers (out of town buses I mean) lay on the horn all of the time??? It's like they see a cyclist a mile ahead and then lay on the horn for 5 solid minutes. I can't sleep I can't read it really ruins the trip for me. I thought I read that beeping the horn was illegal in PRC---it damn well should be.

My other question is why do they get up so damn early??? If you make plans as in OK we'll do that tomorrow BANG the person is at your door at 7 a.am. Why is that??? Cant they sleep here???

[Roger]

Fun questions?

[Seth]

I've vowed never to take a long distance bus again. Every 5 minutes the horn blasts and the guy nearby is breathing his paomo garlic breath on you after vomiting at every rest stop. It's necessary to constantly blast the horn, though, nobody has a concept of road safety.
As far as waking up early, I've been told it's because they work or go to school for such long hours 6 days a week that they want to get in a very full day to do what they like.

[Paul G]

You could move to Guangzhou, honking of horns is prohibited there. And the times I have been there, there has been very little of it.

[Roger]

If the safety of native-English speaking teachers is concerned, the beeping or blasting of horns was a common practice until spring, 1996. Until that time, every road was so noisy you could not tell whether the honking came from this lorry or that bus.
It improved virtually overnight, owing to the magical power of CHinese rulers.
As Paul said, in Guangzhou it is prohibited, and so it is in Shenzhen. It also is in other cities, although some long-distnace bus drivers seem to ignore the rule.
We have now a little more "quality" in our lives, but also a little more uncertainty! What if a driver can't stop his vehicle in time? Honking is illegal - he might have to pay a fine (up to the discretion of a lonely policeman) or he could simply run you over! If he honks because can't slow down enough, he would run you over anyway, and still pay a fine!

[zacharybilton]

[Mr. English]

Honking of horns in Guangzhou is prohibited only in residential areas (since a few years ago), not everywhere, but the law is mostly ignored and unenforced; there is plenty of horn honking in Guangzhou.

[Markness]

[wangdaning]

As a cyclist, I love cutting off cars, especially if they are honkers. Nothing like a car honking at you just to slow down. I will pass you and get right in front of you, and you can honk all you want. Not a jerk like that always, but the end of a long day and some bell end acting like he owns the road. I can't keep sane and let that happen. I am licensed in my home country and could never imagine acting like that in a car.

[asiannationmc]

[kev20]

[Son of Bud Powell]

There are a lot of deaf elderly people in the ~2M cities I've lived in. Cab drivers drive down the street with the horn blaring as the old folks cross the street, but they seem not to be aware of the horn until the cab is very close to them.

I suspect that a similar dynamic is at play on the long-distance buses. The slow traffic and the people on bicycles (on highways!) are often elderly. Add to that the probability that many people are so inured to the honking that they no longer hear the horn. When I take a long-distance bus, I usually get a seat right behind the driver. I go right to sleep after the first ten minutes. I quit hearing the horn shortly after the first toll booth.

[3701 W.119th]

I understand why they do it, as a warning. It's chaos on the roads here, so the honkers are actually being responsible. Still... as a Brit, honking your horn seems really aggressive. I can't get over it.

I'm moving to the arse-end of nowhere next year. The main reason is the (lack of) traffic. I just can't take anymore of this.

I'm sitting in my apartment now, and there's just a constant blare of horns outside.