I would love to know why a car horn needs to honk when a person locks their doors using a “key-chain” remote. Are people unable to see their lights flash instead? Only a blind person would need an auditory confirmation of the doors being locked, and I only know 2 or 3 blind drivers. (this is excluding all those drivers who appear to be blind, however) All this unnecessary honking is irritating, especially when you are walking past a car that some idiot feels compelled to lock with his remote right at that moment. Just ask any elderly person. I have seen old ladies with walkers suffer near cardiac arrest at those inopportune moments. Perhaps people who enjoy honking their horns with key-chain remotes, while walking many yards away,like to pretend they are Batman, who murmers “shields” in one of the films. The Batmobile mindfully obeys by wrapping itself in armor. Can’t we simply require the car manufacturers to either do away with this altogether, or at least set the remotes to flash the lights by default. Please !
It’s great for absent minded people who park in large parking lots in the DAYTIME. There are many of those. Do I approve? Of course not. You are supposed to mark your location before you rush into that department store or airline departure lounge.
This phenomenum is very old: years ago, someone penned a rhyme:
Most any golfer, poor or rich
Would never count the cost.
Could he but buy a golfball which
Would bark when it was lost!
We live in a gadget loaded world. In most Asian countries many people talk costantly on their cell phones in the movie theaters. We sufffered through one movie there, and rented movies from then on.
I Love Honking By Remote Locks. I Tell My Daughter That The Car Is “Kit”, Not The Batmobile.
This might come as a surprise to you, but not all of us live in urban areas where noise and population create problems. I live in an area where nobody is going to get jacked out of shape by a person locking their car. (Most people around here don’t lock their car or their house and many leave the keys in their car ! Oh my !)
I think this minor annoyance of your’s is a factor of where you live and perhaps the stress you are under there.
That’s all we need is one more “one-size-fits-all” law !
CSA
I purposely set the security system on my car to flash the lights only. No horn. I find it very annoying to hear these horns all the time, and I refuse to add to the din.
I did the same. Thanks for your post.
Last thing I want is another law. Simply setting the lights to flash at the factory, then dealers inform the car buyers that they can change to a horn blast by a simple do-it-yourself procedure.
How you feel about this depends on your IQ…For many people, it’s a status symbol…
The vast majority I see using the remote “honk” key system is when they are walking away from their car headed into a store or whatever their destination. Sure, using it as a locating device is handy but I don’t see the “honk” mechanism used in this case nearly, even close to the extent it is used to lock the vehicle. If this were the main benefit and use of feature than the majority of my neighbors must suffer from severe dementia as they cannot seem to find their cars parked in their very own driveway. lol
I can’t tell you how many times I am walking through a parking lot and just when I am a few feet from a car when someone, either walking towards their car or walking away from it, decides to lock or unlock it using the “HONK” mechanism. Everyone knows how loud a car horn is especially when you are just a few feet away. Every time it happens I jump out of my skin. It’s the same when a wayward pedestrian without the right of way steps out into the path of an oncoming car and the shock upon hearing a horn blare. Except in the case of a parked car this startle and shock is totally unfound and unnecessary. In many cases I feel the keyholder is doing it for kicks or many times for attention. It seems, especially with the younger generation and immature adults, the nicer the car the higher instance of this unnecessary calling attention to their “ride”. Perhaps if more of these “HONK” happy car owners find their precious possession with a keystroke down the side they may be less prone to unnecessarily startle the passerby. On several occasions when I’ve been out walking my dog after sunset, no later than 10p.m., some paranoid homeowner has felt the need to remotely lock and in most cases, unlock then lock their vehicle sitting in their driveway just as I pass by. I’m not on their property. It’s not in the middle of the night. I’m not wearing black clothing and a skull cap. Quite the contrary, I always wear light colored clothing and carry a flashlight in addition to the LED light attached to my dog’s leash. I can handle it but I don’t appreciate them unnecessarly scaring my pup. If this does not stop these “HONKHAPPY” car owners might find that these features designed to make their cars more secure may discover it does the exact opposite. It makes the cars a target by those that are sick of being unnecessarily startled by this ridiculus feature. Just sayin…
In most cases there is a default option to lock and unlock a vehicle without the blare of the horn. Correct me if I’m wrong but many only cause the horn to blow if you push the lock button again after having already locked the car. The horn mechanism is a default mechanism after a car has already been locked. It is designed to be used in cases of emergency when some dimwit can’t remember where they parked or can’t remember if they just locked their car or not.
On some of the cars I’ve had the default position is with the horn honking, I’ve had to actually read that darn old owners manual to figure out how to lock the doors without honking the horn.
My current car will only honk if I push the lock button a second time after the doors are already locked; I originally thought this indicated that the security system was armed but have since found that the only security system I have is that no one else really would want to steal my car.
The reason that it honks on that second push is so that you know that you really locked the car and don’t have to walk back to it or turn to see the lights flash.
As much as the OP is complaining about this feature, someone else would complain if it were eliminated.
Deneye
If this is the biggest problem in your life, then your quality of life is significantly better than the quality of life of most of the people on the planet.
Please try to look on the bright side, and to put things into their proper perspective.
In the long run, you will be both happier and healthier if you do that.
“dealers inform the car buyers that they can change to a horn blast by a simple do-it-yourself procedure.”
That’s what the owner’s manual is for. If you want to “require” something, how about “requiring” car buyers to read their manual?
I too have been startled by this, and I agree that it’s a royal PITA. But I’m against adding even more laws and regulations. We have enough already.
Yup, it is the “Batman” complex.
In reality, some people simply like an audible confirmation that their car has locked and their security system engaged rather than a visual one. Or at least that’s what the marketing guys on the design team believe.
I wanted to point the same thing out but ran out of incentive. My FORD has somewhat of an attenuated “lock confirmation toot”.
I Agree With VDC D And Oldschool. As I’ve Already Said, "I think this minor annoyance of your’s is a factor of where you live and perhaps the stress you are under there."
I guess some folks need help once in a while in order to see things in the proper perspective. They get hung up on little things of little significance. Maybe now that Deneye has gotten this off his / her chest, things will start looking up.
It’s scary to think people like HeartMyJeep are stirred almost to a frenzy by this. They must be near the tipping point, already. Do I detect advocating violence over a brief horn honk ? HeartMyJeep says, "It makes the cars a target by those that are sick of being unnecessarily startled by this ridiculus feature. Just sayin…
Perhaps if more of these “HONK” happy car owners find their precious possession with a keystroke down the side they may be less prone to unnecessarily startle the passerby.
It’s hard to believe, but these people are out there. I’d bet horn honks aren’t the only issues that they feel are causing their unhappiness. I can only hope that for their sanity the situation that is troubling them is temporary and they will be able to look back and have a good laugh.
CSA
Perhaps HeartMyJeep and Deneye can form a support group for themselves where they can sit around for hours and discuss this topic that is clearly very important to them.
Or, alternatively, they could just get on with the business of their lives and accept the reality that there will always be annoyances that crop up in daily living.
HearMyJeep, Please Keep In Mind That There Are Other “Nut Jobs” Out There And If You Damage One’s Car, You Could Feel A Tire Iron Or Meet Mr. Smith And Mr. Wesson. It’s Best To Just “Let It Go”.
We’re talking about an occasional brief horn honk.
CSA
I’m really not stressed about it. Just think there is too much noise in daily life. It’s up there on the list of stress inducers, whoever publishes those. (noise, I mean)
I thought I was being funny, and maybe a bit clever with my “rant”. Guess not.
I’m not losing sleep over the issue - unlike Tim Robbins in the 2008 movie "noise"
VDC driver jumps to the conclusion that people like HeartMyJeep and myself, among others, should “just get on with the business of our lives”, as if we dwell on this subject all day & night. Nope. ONLY when some jerk chooses to toot his or her horn without regard to time of night,people walking by,etc. It’s about common courtesy.