Car driver here: what does a couple short horn pushes mean?.. (aus)
Posted by bubskulll@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 40 comments
I was passing a couple truks on a pretty empty straight road and the front one gave a couple short honks as I was passing next to him.. is it “thanks for driving safe”, “something is wrong with your car”, “hehehe horn noises”, or all of the above / something else?
Imasluttycat@reddit
Next time you're in your car, check the light switch and see if it's on auto. A lot of people are driving with their lights off at night because the running lights are so bright they don't realize the actual headlights are off, as well as the taillights. I see it all the time
MrRiski@reddit
My Ford is worst of both worlds. When in the office position the actual headlights turn on when you pull the truck out of park. I've had other people drive my truck and turn the lights off instead of auto and I won't notice it for a day or 2 since the dash lights are always on. On top of that if you have th markers on it just looks like you actually have headlights on so when you get home for the night the markers stay on all damn night and kill your battery 😂
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
my car doesn’t have an auto option and it doesn’t have running lights only parking and on lmao.. they were definitely on and both working tho
Although I’ve only cleaned one headlight so maybe the other appeared darker like it’s failing or something.. it’s just a cloudy/yellow headlight tho so should have too much of an effect on brightness
juxt417@reddit
Did you have your brights on?
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
Nop
Mernack64@reddit
You don’t mention which side of the truck you passed on, in some trucks if you pass on the right side there is a radar system that warns the truck driver of your presence using lights and the horn.
Ich_mag_Kartoffeln@reddit
Which wouldn't make any sense in Australia, because passing on the right is the correct side here.
Wouldn't surprise me if a manufacturer was dumb enough to leave it setup that way though.
Mernack64@reddit
It seems that I made the mistake of assuming that this was on American roads. I did not see “(aus)” my apologies.
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
Oh maybe..?
TheBuddha777@reddit
Only time I do that is when I think an animal (usually a bird) is about to hit my truck.
Delicious_Peace_2526@reddit
Did you have your cruise control set? I’ve honked at a car that passed me because I had to pass him 3 times because he’d randomly slow down. Then when he’d notice trucks ahead, he’d speed up and pass.
10lugthuggin@reddit
I'm in the US but personally I do it to satisfy my road rage. It sounds like "hey how's it going, no worries man, I'll wait for you" but in my head it means "nice going, fuck knuckle"
ProfessionalKvetcher@reddit
My code is that one blast is road rage, two toots is hello. If there’s a kid arm pumping, they get five or six toots in a row.
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’m thinking hello.. it was midnight soo
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
I wasn’t next to him long, he wasn’t indicating, and I gave plenty of room so idk
Actually I have a dash cam maybe I’ll see if I can see anything that might’ve caused it
Sufficient_Tooth_949@reddit
Its hard to say short and frequent is a friendly warning and holding it down is them pissed off and cussing you out usually
MichealPearce@reddit
Didn't see it mentioned but I blow my horn to scare off deer.
DaHick@reddit
4 wheel driver here. American midwest. I have found if I toot mine they run out in front of me.
Bought a deer guard for the new-to-me car I just bought, as deer like my vehicles (I know I hit at least 4 in that darn ford exploder). Unfortunately, they sent me the wrong mounting brackets. and a crap installation guide.
misight@reddit
It means the light has turned green and you didn't notice because you're on your phone.
DaHick@reddit
I would have thought that would be one long airhorn blast till the idiot got off the phone. I would if I had an airhorn.
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
Don’t use my phone while driving and it wasn’t at a light
sandgroper81@reddit
Aussie driver here probably a g'day. how's it garn. Thanks for overtaking safely . But usually the only reason I toot is to warn of something wrong with car or warn of upcoming danger . Get a radio switch to channel 40 even a handheld . Could be a oversize load up ahead we know about it 10-15 KMs before you see it . Also any accidents , bushfires or reasons for backed up traffic.
DaHick@reddit
I am US. Just bought a radio for my new-to-me car. It was so incredibly darn useful in the late 90s and early 00s when I was traveling cross-country in the US. I could really see how it would almost be necessary in Australia.
Azzacura@reddit
Multiple small honks combined with flashing brights/hazards = something wrong with your car, or serial killer in your backseat.
If you were on an otherwise abandoned road and the trucker hasn't seen anyone in hours, it might be a happy honking like "oh my god I'm seeing another living person!". In that same vein, if the honks sounded like the beginning of a tune, you may have ruined the poor fellow's day by not honking the rest of the song.
Parking-Delivery@reddit
Beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep along with flashing lights means you are driving with a flat tire and it is smoking and you have been driving completely unaware for at least a few miles.
Azzacura@reddit
Or your exhaust has fallen off at the end and is dragging over the ground, causing sparks.
Seen that twice, honking did not stop the person driving.
To this day I still wonder if they ever found out why I was honking...
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
I pretty much just passed him so I don’t think there’d be enough time to notice something like that.. I check my tyres pretty regularly but I’ll double check lights and exhaust next time I drive
Azzacura@reddit
Some stuff I noticed on driving cars as they passed me, with a 40km/h difference in speed:
2x exhaust pipe hanging off and causing sparks by scraping on the ground
2x front bumper hanging on by a thread
Taillights/brakelights winking at me (something inside is barely making contact so it doesn't light up continuously, usually when going over bumps and potholes)
Trunk not closed or secured and bobbing open freely
Fuel cap hanging in the wind
Fuel cap open
Rear windshield wiper wiping the part of the car below the window
Rear bumper hanging on the ground
Flat tires
Wheel cap (not sure what it's called, the cheapo rim protector) about to take off into space
DaHick@reddit
It was quite a few years ago now. Put brand new tires on my 14k lb horse trailer. Right when I was passing a truck, the truck side tire blew.
O/O stopped when I did, and he was PISSED. I just held up my hands and said "I just bought these. I can show you the receipt from yesterday". He toned down and took back off. Turns out they sold me nylon belts instead of steel (I did not know that was possible at the time) to save me money.
Never nylon again. I apologize Mr. Driver whoever/wherever you are
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
My horn is broken rn lmao.. replaced the airbag and a week later it stopped working.. might just take it off and check the plugs
Azzacura@reddit
Ah there you have it, the truck honked at you to let you know your horn is broken! Just in case you weren't aware already, so friendly!
Prior-Ad-7329@reddit
Were you passing slow or hanging out on the side of the truck? Usually it means hurry up and get around me.
Tank52086@reddit
Usually means get off your phone
Kilesker@reddit
It's Morse for beep toot
Extra_Significance81@reddit
I give a couple of toots to a pretty lady driving by
bubskulll@reddit (OP)
My gf was in the passenger seat closest to the driver so it might’ve just been that lmao
Feisty-Season-5305@reddit
It means get tf out of my lane
0100100012635@reddit
Toot(sup) toot(bitch?)
Visible_Inevitable41@reddit
tootie mctootface?
Virel_360@reddit
If something was wrong with your car, I would’ve used my airhorn not my city horn. Whenever I’m driving down the road and somebody is coming on the the on-ramp and I see that they’re not speeding up or slowing down enough to where they’re gonna cause a problem I will honk my city horn one or two times to make sure they know I’m there and then they immediately hit the accelerator and get the fuck out out of harms way lol