Horns allowed or forbidden?
What you need to know as a driver
Created: 05/04/2022, 16:15
If you press the horn too much, you can get in trouble.
Because by no means every situation justifies the warning signal.
© Christin Klose/dpa-tmn
Horn concerts can be annoying and also harmful to health in the long run.
Not everything that is normal in everyday traffic is allowed.
Too much noise can be harmful to health in the long run - and this includes the horn concert in traffic.
The Auto Club Europa (ACE) explains
when horns are allowed
and when drivers should avoid them.
According to ACE, a horn can reach 105 decibels at a distance of seven meters.
That's about as loud as going to the discotheque.
According to ACE, anyone who is exposed to this level of noise over a long period of time can damage their hearing and experience physical stress.
According to the World Health Organization and the Federal Environment Agency, the target value is 65 decibels during the day, which corresponds to normal traffic noise.
It shouldn't be louder than 55 decibels at night.
Honking only in emergencies – when is there a fine?
In order not to increase the level unnecessarily, according to ACE, drivers should reduce their honking to a minimum.
In principle, honking the horn is forbidden in
built-up areas – unless there is a “legitimate risk” that could result in an accident.
This also applies outside of built-up areas.
There is also the exception here that overtaking can justify honking.
The situation is different with a sleepy green phase.
The car driver is happily informed of his mishap with a horn signal.
According to ACE, however, this is not justified.
The same applies to the use of a headlight flasher, which also constitutes an administrative offense of five euros. Instead, the driver should be made aware by waving.
Because if you bother other people in this way, the five can quickly become ten euros.
Constant honking can be expensive
A horn concert can also have other consequences: if someone feels bothered by it, they have the opportunity to file a complaint.
If the situation continues to escalate, there could be coercion, according to the Auto Club Europa.
This is when the horn triggers a dangerous situation and an insurmountable fear in the other road user.
Anyone who gets a ticket for honking
their horns too often
can be summoned to a medical-psychological examination (MPU).
And what about celebrations?
Wedding or victory of the football club - in motorcades the horn is almost part of it.
But even that is, strictly speaking, noise pollution, with police officers usually turning a blind eye.
Nevertheless, drivers should not overdo it.
By the way: Even if a horn doesn't seem particularly sonorous.
It is not allowed to play another melody as a warning signal.
According to ACE, the tone must be an "acoustic signal with a constant fundamental frequency".
Here you can find out what fines speed offenders and illegal parkers have to expect.
dpa/ahu