Car Horns for the Demanding Standards of Mumbai Drivers

Honking is a way of life for drivers in any city in India, with the exception of a couple of them. This is acceptable as the only way to make through the traffic bottlenecks (illegal encroachments on the streets in form of pushcarts, places of worship, etc) and means of communicating with the slow vehicle ahead of you, to change lanes or move faster.

Every driver we travelled with on our trip through India told the same, tired yet painfully true joke; "You need three things to drive in India. Good Horn. Good Brakes. Good Luck."

I can't overstate how much I despised the driving habits of the majority of Indians I witnessed. All over the country the horn is used in lieu of: mirrors, turn indicators, headlights, stop lights and - most often - common sense.

I could not even begin to count the number of taxis we were in where the driver blew his horn repeatedly (and continuously) for no damn reason whatsoever, as if failing to do so would cause the engine to cease working.

Don't know if Audi is tryult doing this but could understand why they might. In Srinigar Kashmir it is even worse. When I tell you they honk non-stop you will still not understand the concept. They really do honk constantly - think of a helicopters rotors batting the air from the moment they pull from the curb side. We once caught a taxi to the airport from the center of town. Not a single toot from our driver all the way. We were delighted and stunned. Just when we were about to make a point of thanking the driver, he apologised for the lack of tooting because his horn was broken.

Aprils fools?

When we get driving licenses here, the only thing they test for is if we can honk nice and proper.

while it makes kind of sense it is most likely still an aprils fools

I've only ever been a passenger in Mumbai and India in general (motor rickshaw, taxi, private cars), but the reason for the honking appears to be to magic a path through solid traffic.

It's an experience to be sitting behind the driver in a tuk-tuk going at 30mph straight at a wall of cars 12 feet away when he honks continually, doesn't touch his brakes, and slips though gaps in traffic speeding at 90 degrees without coming any closer then a couple of inches to any of them.

I've been to Bangladesh and its the same thing. When kids play with toy cars, instead of "Vroom Vroom" they say "Beep Beep." My mom and I couldn't stop laughing.

Not just Mumbai, but throughout India. The honking never lets up. It takes the place of stoplights, rules of the road, etc.

On the backs of trucks and buses you will see signs that say, "Honk Please!"

(1) is exactly what I was about to say as well. It isn't for expressing displeasure or for making a dire warning. It is for helping others know where you are in tight quarters.

I lived there for 3 years and yes I agree - driving there requires all your senses, but primarily hearing (I've seen one-eyed motorcyclists!). Honking is a type of sonar in Mumbai, where you announce your presence and location with it.