'Jam or clear road, we just honk for our social status on the road'

LUCKNOW: Unnecessary honking is the biggest cause of noise pollution. But there exists no rule to differentiate between necessary and unnecessary honking.

People in Lucknow honk when the entire stretch is clear or when it's bumper-to-bumper traffic and there's no space for any vehicle to maneouvre.

Either way, that honking is unnecessary.

Road users, however, have varied reasons as to why they honk while driving. TOI caught up with few of them. And here's what they said:

"It's difficult driving on Lucknow roads. There's traffic coming from all sides. I honk to alert others and avoid bumping into someone else," said businessman

Sanjay Pahuja

.

There's no dearth of people who honk in reaction to others. There are also road-users like

Shalini Yadav

who said, "I honk when someone blocks my way on the road or when someone has parked the vehicle in a haphazard manner."

Honking affects all road-users alike. City residents, when asked why people honk, again had varied responses.

"It certainly has got something to do with people carrying their social status on roads. You see for yourself, the ones with bigger cars honk more as if to draw attention," said marine engineer

Pravendra Singh

.

"It's not acceptable for people driving bigger cars that a smaller one races ahead of them. They would honk till they get a clear path. If you are a regular driver, it's common behaviour of road-users that you can easily read," said government official Prashant Kumar Singh.

"You would also find chauffeur-driven cars honking more. Even when the vehicle is vacant, the driver would honk because he tries to imitate the aura of the official whose vehicle he is driving," said Singh.

The MV Act bans use of pressure horns and prescribes a fine of Rs 100 on use of horns for the first time and Rs 300 subsequently.

"Musical and various types of horns available in the market are also not allowed. Use of horns can cause discomfort to others on the road," said RTO (Enforcement), Lucknow, LK Mishra.

But there's no decibel limit defined to judge how noisier the horn should be to attract a fine or when a person should honk.

Government vehicles are the biggest defaulters when it comes to the use of pressure horns.

He had a simple answer when asked why one honks. "Mostly to seek a clear path for the official. At times, I don't even realise I am blowing the horn. I am habituated to it," he said.