Motorists no longer use the car horn to warn of impending danger, its intended purpose. Rather, it is used to convey the shrill, and callow sentiments of frustration:
"Screw you!" (and less gentle variations of the sentiment),
"Get out of my way!",
"I am miserable, can't you see!?"
“Wake up!" (or the related, “Stop texting”!)
"Hey, look over here... I want to love you..."
"The light has been green for a nanosecond, you idiot!"... and others.
It is annoying, and exacerbated by the fact that late-model cars are nearly pin-drop quiet inside the cabin. Thus, their drivers are conveniently oblivious to the noise and pain that they cause to pedestrians on the outside of the car.
So I have a proposal:
Effective immediately, the Department of Transportation should modify all automobiles such that the car-horn brays inside the car, too. The music quiets, the movies stop running, the radio goes silent, the blue-tooth speakerphone pauses... and the fullness of the horn-blast blows inside the car, preferably close enough to the driver to blow back his hair.
Oh, sure, it should still blow outside of the car too (in the event that there is indeed danger afoot), but I proffer it would substantially reduce the duration and incidence of horns honking in the city.
Better still, it would be great to connect each horn-blast to the EZ-Pass. Every honk of the horn would cost a fee, say, a dollar for each 1-second of horn-blast. It would not take long for motorists to change their annoying habit upon receipt of the first invoice.
Neither of these policies would deter the driver from using the car horn as a warning, but it would sure cut down on the frivolous use.