India Road Motto: Blow Horn

During my 2009 trip to India , i guess i agree to the comment that if we want to find some mottoes for India, Blow Horn would certainly be one. Not only is this motto plastered on the back of most trucks, every other vehicle driver practices it religiously. Basically it appears a way of saying, I'm behind you (or passing you) and I want you to move over or just know I'm here. There's no malice.  People tend to blow horns at the drop of a hat: night, day, wherever and whenever. A vehicle horn may be  a warning that I am millimetres away from being mowed down as I attempt to cross an obstacle courses which passes itself off as a road.

 A traveller even noted in her blog her observation of india road rules. Although she has not actually driven a car in India,  After careful consideration, she  come up with the following guidelines for correct horn usage a la India style.

• Beep if you see a horse.
• Beep if you see a cow.
• Beep if you see a camel.
• Beep if you see an elephant.
• Beep if you see a pig.
• Beep if you see another car.
• Beep if you see a truck.
• Beep if you see a motorcycle.
• Beep if you see a toy car (technically these are known as autos—they are green and small and have three wheels, use CNG, and are everywhere).
• Beep if you are about the merge.
• Beep if you are illegally going through a red light.
• Beep if you are not going to stop at the stop sign.
• Beep if you are changing lanes.
• Beep if you don’t believe in lanes.
• Beep if you are about to get hit.
• Beep if you think you are about to get hit.
• Beep if you think the guy next to you is thinking of hitting you.
• Beep if you are about to hit someone.
• Beep if you are thinking about doing something that would hit someone.
• Beep if you are about to hit something.
• Beep if you are about thinking about doing something that would hit something.
• Beep if you see an accident.
• Beep if a car is stopped in front of you (in this case continue beeping until the person moves regardless of if they can do anything about it).
• Beep if you haven’t hit your horn at any point in the past 30 seconds.
• A single beep cannot count towards two of the above at once. For example if you see both another car that is about to hit you and a cow, you should beep three full times (once for the car, once for the cow, once for almost being hit)

“Blow Horn” is painted on just about every truck in India, and for good reason. The vehicle horn has a definite purpose. Please keep in mind that while these general mandates are not followed by everyone and are not legally binding—they are the norm (and only slightly exaggerated- perhaps).The horn is a multi-purpose tool for all occasions. It can take the place of:

• headlights (two short taps)
• orange side indicators (tap a few times as other vehicles part)
• brake (hold down until in the clear)
• rear- and side-view mirrors (tap sporadically until required manoeuvre executed)
• Western-style emergency horn as above (hold down with gusto for ten seconds, yelling of expletives optional)

Upon my return here in the Philippines, the first thing i did was to visit an ear doctor to check if i still have my hearing senses intact and without perforated eardrums.