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A sorry horn for cars (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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Occasionally when you’re driving, you’ll make a mistake and perhaps need to adjust and it can create some awkward situations. Like today, my dad ended up in the wrong lane to go straight instead of turn at a light. He had to cut in line to make sure we could go the right way. It’d be nice if we could communicate “sorry, I screwed up. Excuse me. I just need to slip in there.”

Right now all we have for inter car communication is the horn, which has kind of an aggressive implication to it. This is for trying to de-escalate potential road rage.

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[–] 92 points 1 day ago (5 children)

"A bad driver never misses their exit"

Sometimes you make a mistake and miss your exit or end up in the wrong lane. That's on you. Re-route, follow the lane you're in, take the next safe turn/exit/lane change to get back on track; you don't just cut in line, forcing others to correct for your own mistakes. That's a great way to create unsafe conditions, end up in accidents, and hurt people. It's not just about peoples ego/anger, it's genuinely dangerous.

Your father doesn't need a 'sorry' button, he needs to correct his poor driving behaviour and not endanger himself, you, or others on the road.

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  • [–] 4 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

    Driving involves a lot of soft decisions. Any action can be risky, even a regular lane change. But we still do lane changes all the time. Ultimately it's up to us to judge.

    Point is, I think there are cases where making a last minute lane change can be totally safe, eg if the cars in the other lane are already stopped.

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  • [–] 5 points 23 hours ago (1 child)

    What causes accidents are not the cars and conditions you see, but the ones you don't.

    Humans aren't machines, they make mistakes. And cars have a lot more blind spots than we realize.

    That's why we have rules. If we are predictable and follow the rules, even when we don't see anything that could stop us from taking a shortcut, then we're being considerably safer.

    Keep in mind that, on the road, it's not just your own safety you need to ensure. An accident can also harm other people, so the more reason to prevent them.

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  • [–] 0 points 21 hours ago* (1 child)

    But driving rules are not precise. For example, when doing a lane change, how much space should you have in the lane you are entering? It's entirely up to us to judge.

    So obviously don't drive on the wrong side of the road whenever you feel like it, but if you for example want to squeeze into a lane of stopped cars (while your lane is also stopped), I don't see the issue

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  • [–] -5 points 13 hours ago (1 child)

    How does your comment have so many upvotes when it doesn't address the actual topic about a new horn sound at all? It's just finger wagging.

    A good example of why humanity is doomed: people are shackled to their reflexive need to jerk off their egos at any and every opportunity they see rather than focus on thinking.

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  • [–] 9 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 child)

    Instead of addressing the horn sound itself, I've addressed the underlying need/desire for it.

    Addding a sorry button wouldn't make things safer or chill tempers, it'd just empower more people to make dangerous moves; playing it off as fine because 'I pressed the sorry button, people should be ok with me endangering them'

    The rules of the road exist for good reason. When people don't follow them, it effects more than just themselves and has cost many people their lives through no fault of their own.

    Be a better driver; don't make others pay for your poor planning and judgement.

    Even OP appears to agree with this, given their reply and upvote on my comment.

    A good example of why humanity is doomed: people are shackled to their reflexive need to jerk off their egos at any and every opportunity they see rather than focus on thinking.

    An interesting double-standard you have there.

    Implying I'm somehow a bad person for pointing out and discussing the consequences of these choices instead of just patting OP on the back and agreeing with their desire - without actually providing any meaningful counter argument to what I've said.

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  • [–] -3 points 11 hours ago*

    If the OP had only written "Horns should come equipped with different sounds to better communicate with other drivers", which is the overarching gist of what they were musing, the thread would be different. But they added the story which prompted the thought. Instead of considering the benefits, or even drawbacks, of the proposed suggestion- you fixated on the story itself, seeing a great opportunity to interject some moralizing and also indirectly boast to the rest of the readers about what a good driver you think you are. There's nothing to debated about what you wrote, everything you said is correct.

    But it's easy to admonish others opening up to explain a mistake by clubbing them with an imagined perfect scenario.

    Should all people be better drivers? Yes, of course. Is that realistic? No. And is it really related to the actual proposal the OP opined on? Very tentatively.

    Also, I certainly don't think you are a bad person. A very human person. Just like me. And all the upvoters who are now thinking "Yeah, OP's dad should be a better driver! And thinking that makes me feel better about myself" instead thinking about auditorial communication.

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