The light had just turned green. Not a second had passed. The guy behind me was already blaring his horn. He was furious I hadn’t jumped the red when it was on the cusp of green. Any excuse to vent his pent-up frustration via automobile horn.
This was not an isolated incident. Canadians love to honk their horns. In recovery-speak we are horn-dependent. We are a nation of honkers. We stand on guard to honk. It makes sense, given there are so many Canadian geese flying around honking. Honking is not restricted to urban environments. You find it in Canadian suburbs and on the rural roads. Forget the fact that horns are intended to be used to warn others of potential accidents and not to be a substitute for screaming profanities at anyone who displeases you.
A 2018 survey by Kanetix, an insurance comparison platform, found “almost half of Canadians (48 per cent), whether on foot, bike or behind the wheel, have been startled by a car horn blast to the point of feeling agitated, unsafe or even potentially getting into an accident.”
Honking is so Canadian that it’s part of our political discourse.
Most serious protesters around the world burn and destroy.
Canadian protesters honk.
That’s what the “Freedom Convoy” folks did for six weeks in 2022, when they parked their giant big rigs by the Peace Tower and occupied Parliament Hill. They honked their outrage. The “Convoyers” believed the best way to fight a federal government that was, as they saw it, trampling the rights of everyday Canadians was to honk incessantly and make the lives of everyday Canadians residing in downtown Ottawa unbearable.
It was like protesting someone who has a deep hatred of chickens by killing, plucking and barbecuing dozens of chickens in front of them.
Only a Canadian would come up with mass honking as a means of protest. It’s aggressive but not aggressive in an aggressive way. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected to hear the appeal of Susan Porter, who wanted to have honking declared free speech. She had been ticketed for honking outside a congressman’s office. According to CNN, 41 states have laws limiting the use of a car horn. Maine forbids “unnecessary” honking. Oregon prohibits anything worse than giving “reasonable warning.”
As on many issues, America is a nation divided about honking. In New York City, Chicago and Boston they are inveterate honkers. In much of the rest of the country, they aren’t. Whenever I am in the southern United States, I am surprised by how little honking I hear. On my last trip in Virginia and North Carolina, I did not hear or see a single honk in anger.
There are no formal studies on why drivers in these regions don’t use the horn to vent anger, but I discovered a few theories on Redditt. “Typically, reserve your horn for really needing to get someone’s attention; they’re merging and don’t see you, looking down at their phone and either wandering lanes or not paying attention to a stoplight ... Otherwise, most southerners will take it as a middle finger if it comes out of nowhere.” The post continues to suggest that there is also a risk the other driver will pull out a firearm.
It’s not just in the South, you don’t hear much in California. One poster from Los Angeles wrote, “In L.A., honking usually means ‘(Expletive) you (Expletive),’ which the person being honked at does not agree with. This can and will probably get you shot.”
In Canada, we don’t think there is a chance we’ll be shot for honking our horn. Consequently, we honk at the slightest provocation. In fact, no provocation is needed. Just exist and you get honked at.
Canadian drivers will honk at:
- Bicyclists for being in the bike lane
- Pedestrians for walking
- Delivery drivers for delivering
- Drivers who do not run red lights because that stops the driver honking from getting to run the red light
- People for being alive
The next few years may bring new developments in Canadian honking culture. It would not be surprising to see the Quebec provincial government pass legislation requiring all automobiles owned in Quebec to have uniquely French-sounding horns that are distinct from horns in the rest of Canada.
But why blame Canadians when even self-driving cars love to honk? A month ago, Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco began waking up residents by honking at 4 a.m. in a robotaxi parking lot. CBS reported “Waymo attributed the disruptive honking to a feature designed to avoid collisions.” Waymo tried to resolve the problem but there were a few setbacks. One resident who lives beside the parking lot set up a live stream. The robotaxis have now stopped honking pointlessly.
I wish we could say the same about Canadian drivers.