New Yorkers Number 1 Quality Of Life Complaint Is Noise PUBLICATION: Daily News DATE: December 29, 1997 SECTION: News; Pg. 7 BYLINE: Alex Michelini DATELINE: New York City, New York ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Tony Giordano, anti-noise activist; Arline Bronzaft, noise expert; Maurice Miller, audiological consultant; Cari Furiel, George Washington High School student; Charles Cole, resident; Elba Fuguen, resident; Gifford Miller, Manhattan City Councilman; Robert Martinez, resident; Carol Wilkins, resident; Angelo Rosario, staff member, Brooklyn's Lutheran Medical Center; The Daily News reports that New York City is doing little to reduce noise pollution even though noise is New Yorkers' No.1 quality of life issue. A Daily News investigation has found that the Police Department issues an average of just four noise summonses each day compared with 4,100 for moving violations even though noise is New Yorkers' No. 1 quality-of-life complaint. The department, which is supposed to enforce newly enacted, stiffer noise -violation penalties, doesn't even have enough sound-level meters for every precinct. And cops ignore some of the most ear- pounding sounds like garbage trucks. Nothing in the spectrum of complaints to the city's toll-free, 24-hour Quality of Life Hotline, created by the Giuliani administration in September 1996, comes close to beefs about noise. They outnumber those about graffiti and panhandling by more than 100 to 1. The article describes how in order to find out how serious the noise problem is, The News visited nearly 20 locations based on police noise reports and complaints compiled by community boards and anti- noise groups to record decibel levels with a hand-held sound-level meter. The News' team, including anti-noise activist Tony Giordano, a teacher who is also president of Sunset Park Restoration, found that the din at many of the sites exceeded the legal limits. City law mandates fines for "unreasonable" noise and sounds that exceed "allowable levels." Broadly defined, "unreasonable" noise is any sound that offends "a reasonable person of normal sensitivities." Some provisions of the code, however, set specific decibel limits for violations: above 45 decibels for air conditioners and 95 decibels for jackhammers, for example. According to the article, Anne Bronzaft, a city noise expert and a member of the mayor's Council on the Environment, says noise levels have reached a point where they are robbing citizens of good mental and physical health. From September 1996 to last October, police received 6,894 noise complaints and that doesn't include hundreds more related to noise that showed up under the categories of "animals" (barking dogs and other noisy animals), "car alarm" and "construction" (the roar of jackhammers and trucks). The report goes on to explain how the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights and Inwood tops the noise complaint list, followed by the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, including University Heights, Morris Heights and parts of Fordham. Leading Brooklyn is the 75th Precinct East New York, New Lots and Starrett City; the 114th in Queens, covering Astoria and Long Island City, and the 120th Precinct in Staten Island, covering the northern third of the borough. The article goes on to explain how noise is more than a nuisance. Experts say continual unprotected exposure to sound levels of more than 85 decibels roughly equivalent to a lawn mower or truck traffic can damage hearing. The city Health Department's chief audiological consultant, New York University Prof. Maurice Miller, said the lack of enforcement has put New Yorkers at risk. "We have to give violations of noise regulations very high priority, because if they're on the books and not enforced, they're meaningless," Miller said. Noise is blamed for a third of the 33 million cases nationwide of significant hearing loss. According to the article, in the city's noisiest neighborhood in Washington Heights- Inwood, Cari Furiel, a George Washington High School senior, could barely sleep because of street construction at W. 190th St. and Wadsworth Ave. that hit 107.2 decibels. That's noisier than standing over a chainsaw. "We couldn't sleep at night, sometimes I sleep in the classroom," Furiel said. Retired Brooklyn shirt salesman Charles Cole, who endures the cacophony created by horn-honking cabs on Clinton St. and Atlantic Ave., uses earplugs to keep his sanity amid decibel levels that reach 109 when mixed in with a screeching fire engine. "Cabs on the way to [Manhattan] all night long, they keep going and going, and God forbid they don't move when the light changes, they all honk," he said. The No. 7 elevated train, on Roosevelt Ave. near 53rd St. in Queens, thundered to 108 decibels. No wonder it gives fits to Elba Fuguen, a manicurist-pedicurist at the Papillion beauty salon under the tracks. "I get headaches," she said. "Every two minutes I have to stop. I can't concentrate. When I'm on the phone and the train passes by, the customer on the line gets upset and they hang up. So I lose customers." The report says City Councilman Gifford Miller (R-Manhattan), who wrote the bill for stiffer noise penalties, urged cops to be more aggressive in nailing violators. "We have to make it a higher priority," he said. The Daily News found that fewer than half of the Police Department's 50 sound-measuring meters are assigned to precincts. The rest are kept in special units or borough commands. Deputy Police Commissioner for Operations Edward Norris, who oversees quality-of-life enforcement, said it's not necessary to add meters or have one in each precinct because some violations do not require meters. He also said it's easy for patrol cops to obtain a meter when they really need one. "I mean, these are not life-threatening situations," he said. "This is a noise complaint." Norris said enforcing the horn-honking prohibition is "very, very difficult, but it's not impossible" because cops target areas such as the Queensboro Bridge entrances, Canal St., the Holland Tunnel area and the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge. What the NYPD won't do is tag sanitation trucks or other city vehicles. "It just doesn't sound like a police issue," Norris said. He said most noise complaints are not "within the purview of the police" and would be better handled by the city Department of Environmental Protection. DEP chief of staff Charles Sturcken said his agency has reduced the number of noisy bars and other "persistent violators." But, he conceded, the agency reacts to complaints. It does not act independently to locate and ticket offenders. The article describes how that doesn't help Robert Martinez, who says noise shakes his house alongside the Gowanus Expressway at 56th St. and Third Ave. in Brooklyn, where The News' sound reader hit 106.1 decibels as cars and trucks rumbled past. "You hear it all night," said Martinez, a bodega worker. "The noise is very loud, especially when there's construction work." At the Ravenswood Houses in Long Island City, Queens, Carol Wilkins' mornings are filled with the sounds of a city sanitation truck picking up recycling bins at 93.5 decibels. "The noise is so loud that I can hear it from my window, even if I'm not at the window," she said. "The first time I heard it, it shocked me. I said, 'What on earth is that?'" And the din outside Brooklyn's Lutheran Medical Center, which reached up to 100.3 decibels, "unnerves" departing patients, said hospital staffer Angelo Rosario. "There's a lot of traffic here and some of the [patients and visitors] get irritated. It unnerves them," he said. The article explains excessive noise can be dangerous to your health. Experts say that prolonged exposure to noise can elevate blood pressure, diminish the ability to concentrate and to learn, affect the cardiovascular system, interfere with sleep and worsen emotional problems. Not to mention just plain old get on your nerves. Excessive noise exposure is a leading cause of hearing loss for 28 million Americans, said Elizabeth Davis, audiologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. "We see a lot of people that have hearing loss with no other association other than living in a noisy city," she said. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires a hearing test for workers exposed to an average of 85 decibels or more of noise during an eight-hour work shift. According to the article the most effective hearing protection devices are earplugs that fit into the outer ear canal and earmuffs that fit over the entire outer ear, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology. They can reduce noise 15 to 30 decibels. Listening to music or the radio with headphones can be harmful, said Maurice Miller, audiology professor at New York University and consultant to the city Health Department. To reduce the risk, set the volume control at 4 on the scale of 1 to 10. "Anything higher and you're in danger of hearing loss," Miller said. The report examines just how loud decibels are: 0 decibels: Faintest sound heard by human ear. 30 decibels: Sound equivalent to a whisper or a quiet library. 45 decibels: This is the desirable noise level for a living room or a private office. 60 decibels: Normal conversation, sewing machine, typewriter. 90 decibels: Equivalent to a lawnmower, shop tools or truck traffic. More than 8 hours of exposure per day is dangerous. 100 decibels: Chainsaw, pneumatic drill or a snow mobile. More than 2 hours of exposure per day is dangerous. 115 decibels: A loud rock concert, sandblasting, car horn, 15 minutes per day is the maximum exposure. 140 decibels: Gun muzzle blast, jet engine. This noise causes pain and even brief exposure injures unprotected ears. Source: American Academy of Otolaryngology, representing ear, nose and throat doctors. NYC Steps Up Anti-Noise Effort with Restrictions for Cabbies PUBLICATION: Daily News (New York, NY) DATE: April 30, 1998 SECTION: News; Pg. 5 BYLINE: Frank Lombardi DATELINE: New York City, New York ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Keith Muller, member of the League of Hard of Hearing The Daily News reports New York City is increasing its efforts to limit noise by restricting cab drivers from honking their horns unnecessarily. According to the article, the Giuliani administration is telling noisy taxi drivers: Blow your horn unnecessarily and risk blowing your tip. The Taxi and Limousine Commission will add indiscriminate horn honking to the list of a passenger's bill of rights now posted inside all cabs, officials announced yesterday. Passengers will be instructed to withhold tips if their driver honks the cab's horn for other than an emergency use, such as warning another car, pedestrian, or even an animal, of imminent danger. Taxi drivers who create excessive noise also risk a traffic fine, said TLC Commissioner Diane McGrath-McKechnie. The new anti- noise effort was announced as Mayor Giuliani declared yesterday Noise Awareness Day in the city. Keith Muller of the League of Hard of Hearing presented the mayor with a baseball hat equipped with ear plugs. Proposed New York State Assembly Bill 3796 BILL NUMBER: 3796 INTRODUCED BY: Assemblyman Peter Grannis, 65th District Contact Mr. Grannis: Room 712, Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 Mr. Grannis' office phone: (518) 455-5676 Contact Gifford Miller's office, New York City Council: (212) 788-6873 INTRODUCED BY ASSEMBLYMAN GRANNIS, READ ONCE AND REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, FEBRUARY 6, 1997. REFERRED TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 1999 FOR A "HOME RULE MESSAGE." ________________________________________ TITLE OF BILL AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing the imposition of monetary penalties upon a registered owner of a motor vehicle engaged in excessive horn honking. ________________________________________ PURPOSE OF BILL To authorize any city with a population of one million or more to adopt and amend a local law or ordinance imposing fines on the owner of a vehicle for failure to comply with any local law prohibiting unnecessary horn honking. The summonses will be issued to the owner of the vehicle rather than to the driver and need not be served personally. Exceptions are made when the vehicle is clearly not under the responsibility and control of the owner (stolen vehicle, rented or leased vehicle). ________________________________________ SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding section 1106 to do as follows: •        Empower any city with a population of one million or more to enact a local law or ordinance imposing fines on the owner of a vehicle for failure to comply with any provision of local law regarding excessive horn honking; •        In any city adopting a local law to do this, the registrant of the vehicle shall be responsible if such vehicle was used or operated with the permission of the owner; •        A schedule of fines and penalties shall be set forth in local law except in any city which has authorized the adjudication by an environmental control board; •        Specifies the requirements for preparation and delivery of notices and information that a notice must contain; •        Provides for exceptions when the vehicle is reported as stoles or when the registrant is a lessor; •        If the owner of the vehicle was not the operator at the time of the violation, the owner may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator. ________________________________________ JUSTIFICATION: Excessive noise from horn honking is a problem throughout New York City, particularly in areas adjacent to bridges and tunnels. While the city has enacted local laws to to combat the use of excessive horn honking, it is necessary for police officers to pull over the vehicle in order to issue such violations. Issuing such tickets personally furthers problems by increasing traffic congestion, driver frustration, and subsequently results in more horn honking. Granting police officers the ability to issue tickets by license plate rather than by driver will strengthen enforcement of current horn honking laws without blocking traffic and increasing congestion. ________________________________________ BILL 3796: AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing the imposition of monetary penalties upon a registered owner of a motor vehicle engaged in excessive hornhonking. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1: The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 1106 to read as follows: §.1106 Owner liability for failure of operator to comply with any provision of local law regarding excessive noise occasioned by hornhonking. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each city with a population of one million or more is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend a local law or ordinance imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with any provision of local law regarding excessive noise occasioned by horn honking. (b) In any city which has adopted a local law or ordinance pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, the owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express or implied, in violation of any provision relating thereto and such violation is evidenced by information obtained by a police officer actively engaged in traffic control and under such circumstances where such officer elects to utilize the provision of this section in lieu of personal services of a summons upon an operator. (c) For purposes of this section, "owner" shall have the meaning provided in article two- B of this chapter. (d) An owner liable for a violation pursuant to a local law or ordinance adopted to this section shall be liable for monetary penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties to be set forth in such local law or ordinance, except that in a city which, by local law, has authorized the adjudication of such owner liability by an environmental control board, such schedule shall be promulgated by such board. (e) 1. A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. 2. A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such violation, the location where such violation took place, and the date and time of such violation. 3. The notice of liability shall contain information advising the person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liability and that a default judgement may be entered thereon. 4. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the city having jurisdiction where the violation occurred, or by any other entity authorized by the city to prepare and mail such notification of violation. (f) If an owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this section for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the police department as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to an allegation of liability for a violation that the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For the purpose of asserting the defense provided by this section it shall be sufficient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen vehicle be sent by first class mail to the traffic violations bureau, court having jurisdiction, parking violations bureau or environmental control board. (g) In a city where the adjudication of liability imposed upon owners pursuant to this section is by a traffic violations bureau, environmental control board or a court having jurisdiction, an owner who is a lessor pursuant to subdivision (e) of this section shall not be liable, provided that he or she sends to the traffic violations bureau, environmental control board or court having jurisdiction a copy of the rent, lease or other such contract document covering such vehicle on the date of the violation, with the name and address of the lessee clearly legible, within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from the bureau, board or court of the date and time of such violation, together with the other information contained in the original notice of liability. Failure to send such information within such thirty-seven day time period shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed by this section. Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this paragraph, the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this section, shall be subject to liability for the violation and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision (e) of this section (h) If the owner liable for a violation pursuant to this section was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, their owner may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator. (i) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a police officer employed by the city in which the charged violation occurred , or a facsimile thereof, based upon such officer's personal observations, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. (j) The provisions of this section shall be controlling insofar as they are inconsistent with any provisions of law relating to service of an appearance ticket upon a person for an alleged violation of law relating to the operation of a motor vehicle. Section 2: This act shall take effect immediately. ________________________________________

Michael Orlinski Send e-mail to orlinski@earthlink.net Speak about noise. The European Community declared a few months ago that noise pollution is THE biggest issue of the 21th century. PRESS RELEASE There is a epidemic in our society: people honking all the time for no good reason! Initially, the horn put on cars was to signal a danger and the law today says that using the horn is permitted only in case of emergency. (read the law -See (1) and your DMV booklet). It is illegal to use it in any other way. All the honking we hear is NOT to signal a danger but rather people who are impatient for example about the car ahead who's not moving fast enough (read 1/10 of a second) after the lights turned green. The situation has reached an intolerable point ! I'm not speaking about people honking on the freeway, if they do. I speak about honking in the city, in commercial streets, (when people are in library, bookstores, restaurants, retail shops) or even worse in residential streets, where there are only homes and apartments buildings. The noise invades the "home , sweet home" (what a joke !) It's an intrusion, it's an aggression, it's an invasion of our peace and tranquility which we have a right to enjoy. We live in a residential area, and it is very stressful as this is going on all the time. It comes to the point that we need to ban all car-horns. lnstead of having their hands on the horn, they should have their feet on the brakes. This is the real safety device ! In the meantime, the police should enforce the existing anti-honking laws. And there's things you can do on your own: When you're in your car and someone honks at you because you're going too slow, just STOP ! Do not listen to them, they are not the police. Obeying them will send the message that honking is working; you're going faster now. Don't do that ! Just stop ! They will honk even more but it will be out of frustration; seeing that it doesn't work . The message you're sending is that honking doesn't accomplish anything. In fact, it makes things worse ! You were going too slow to their taste ? now you're not moving at all ! If you're a pedestrian and you witness someone honking (certainly in a residential area but even in a busy street) you should yell a them and insult them, to make them know that it is unacceptable to have people adding more noise pollution to our already over- noisily society. Make them feel guilty. It is not only annoying but almost always has no effect on what the "honker" is upset about. Many times a person honk behind me to drive but there's people still crossing the street. What should I do ? drive over them ? It is unacceptable to have people adding more noise pollution to our already over- noisily society. Most horns today are 120 DcB. A jet is 130 DcB !! This is insane. Noise polluters on wheels !!! The horn has become a way of communicating your anger and impatience. Force manufacturer not to make it so loud. Since it is meant for a person or car which is only 2 or 3 feet away, why must it be so loud that you hear it 2 blocks away ? Make a law: not more than...Dcb. Immediate goal: Enforce the law about honking. Short term goal: Ban any horns that are more than a certain DcB (when you are at that point, experts will be called in to advise on what is reasonable). Long-term goal: Ban all car-horns. Please take contact at: CITIZENS AGAINST NOlSE (C.A.N.) P.O. BOX 16895 Beverly Hills, CA 90209 (310) 478-4734 orlinski@earthlink.net www.neighborhoodlink.com/org/nonoise Michael Orlinski (1) Vehicle code 27000 : "..but no horn shall emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound" 27001 a) The driver of a motor vehicle when reasonably neccesary to insure safe operation shall give audible warning with his horn. b) The horn shall not otherwise be used. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New York has a limit on the loudness of car-horns. Why can't L.A. have a similar law ? and if there is why isn't it enforced ? NEW YORK NOISE CODE: 24-239 Motor vehicle claxons. No person shall sell, offer for sale, operate or permit to be operated a claxon installed on any motor vehicle of a model year 1974 and thereafter which, when operated, creates a sound level beyond the parameter of 88 DcB plus or minus l0 dB(A) when measured at a distance of fifty feet from the center of the forward face of such motor vehicle; but this section shall not preclude the sale or use of a city-country horn in accordance with allowable sound levels promulgated by the commissioner. Our comments: 1) Today, most horns, especially those on SUV's are in the 120-130 DcB range. 2) Even 88 DcB is way too much. Not so long ago, in the 70's and 80's most horns were in the 65 DcB and it was good enough. We don't need any louder (and we are not saying that 65 DcB is acceptable but 88 Dcb and certainly 130 DcB is absolutely unacceptable, insane and we will simply not allowed it ). We will fight this by all means neccesary !! 24-240 Emergency signal devices. After June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-three, no person shall operate or permit to be operated an emergency signal device installed on an authorized emergency vehicle which when operated creates a sound level in excess of 90 dB(A) when measured at a distance of fifty feet from the center of the forward face of such vehicle.

Cab horns raise lawmaker's ire Annapolis aldermen have heard enough, push to fine drivers beeping to alert fares Baltimore Sun By Nia-Malika Henderson Sun Reporter It all started with a honking cabdriver outside the apartment complex of an irritated Annapolis alderwoman. Words were exchanged, complaints were lodged, meetings were held, and now, the alderwoman is mounting a charge against an annoyance familiar to every city dweller. She is drafting a bill that would make taxicab drivers subject to fines for honking their horns to pick up passengers. "I'm looking at what we can do. I'm living in a community that has been besieged," says Alderwoman Julie Stankivic, who declined to discuss the bill's details. She plans to attend a hearing today with city officials and some of the offending drivers. Honking, beeping, denting, whatever you call it, is bothersome. At night, in the morning, in the afternoon. Unless you're a cabdriver. "To pass a law that says you can't honk your horn if you are picking someone up, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me," said Alfred LaGasse, executive vice president of the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association a national organization based in Kensington. "Actually, it makes no sense to me." He couldn't think of "a city in any place in the whole wide world" that attempted to ban honking, excessive or otherwise. Robert H. Eades, who owns Neet-n-Klean Taxi in Annapolis, does not understand why the city needs anti-honking legislation. "They've been trying to lean on us for a bunch of things," he said, not necessarily intending the pun. "I had an officer give me a ticket for honking my horn at 9 o'clock at night. I went, 'Dent, dent, dent" ... Are you telling me that I can only blow my horn one time or twice?" (Or three times in that case, in which Eades was cited for violating the city's noise ordinance.) This is why Stankivic is willing to take on Eades and the 200 cab operators in the city. "I hear beeping, lots of beeping, at all hours of the day and night," she said. "Someone beeped their horn over the weekend. And so I look outside and, typically, it's a cab. And I'll go outside and talk to the cabdriver." Do not honk your horn when you are coming to pick up a fare, she'll say. Didn't you get the memo from the city's transportation office? (There was a memo.) Use your cell phone. Call dispatch. Go up and ring the doorbell. From Dec. 30 to Feb. 3, Stankivic filed eight complaints against taxicabs operators who took the noisy route. There they were, in her neighborhood, beeping away on different days at 8:25 a.m. 8:45 a.m. 10:45 a.m., 1 p.m. 1:20 p.m., 2:25 p.m., 2:50 p.m. and 3:10 p.m. But in Mayor Ellen O. Moyer's neighborhood in Eastport, not once has she been disturbed by a horn. She has developed guidelines for horn-blowing cab operators. "I think it's reasonable to expect that a taxicab driver would let their fares know with a single horn that they are there, if it is anytime, any day and it amounts to one beep," Moyer said. "But I have no sense from anybody else that it is an issue. One person doesn't make it an issue citywide." To be fair, it is more than one. More than 25 people have called the city's Police Department over the past 18 months with similar cabbie complaints. And Stankivic said she has heard from seven or eight people. Alderman Sam Shropshire, a co-sponsor of the legislation, said he has fielded three phone calls from people in his condominium complex complaining about numerous instances of taxicabs beeping and blaring in the dead of night. "Julie and I are aware that it is a problem in our neighborhoods, and we'd like to be able to solve the problem," he said. "If anybody is concerned about the legislation, then I can't understand why." The bill is expected to come up for review as early as March 12. nia.henderson@baltsun.com Published Feb. 15, 2007, The Baltimore Sun

OBSERVATION OF DRIVER EXPRESSION OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR Iveta JELEŇOVÁ Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Public Administration, P. J. Šafárik University P. O. Box C-2, 041 32 Košice, Slovak Republic E-mail: jelenova@fvs.upjs.sk Abstract: The present study examined the relationship between drivers' age and gender, vehicle status and traffic density and aggressive driving behavior. We analyze the results of observations conducted at four intersections during a total of 24 hours. We observed three types of behavior: short horn honking, long horn honking, inappropriate and sudden lane changes and cutting in front of other drivers. Gender differences in occurrence of observed types of aggressive behavior were not noticed. Younger drivers appeared to have a greater tendency toward aggressive driving behavior than older ones. Vehicle status is associated with frequency of observed aggressive acts. An analysis of the relation between the number of vehicles on the road and aggressive driver behavior did not show any evident increase in aggressive behavior with increased traffic congestion. Key words: aggression, driver behavior, horn honking, gender differences, status of vehicle

Honk If You Love Noise Pollution Many people have made the horn into their frustration mouthpiece. This must stop, for the health of our ears and our sanity. By Novella Carpenter Of the many emails I've received regarding this three-part series on noise pollution and cars, not one person has mentioned horns and honking. They dis car alarms, car stereos and loud motorcycles, but alas, not honking. Indeed my friends at Noise Free America, a group devoted to fighting noise pollution, don't even list honking as one of their primary campaigns. Evidently, I'm the only one with a horn hang-up. The way to deal with this, my therapist recommends, is to look to the past. Horns were among the first accessories for the automobile. Looking through a book of Model T catalogs, I noticed that a variety of horns were offered alongside motometers and leaf spring oilers. For instance, accessory number 61R5726 is heralded as a "reliable positive horn with a three-tone chime." Only $2.75! Back in the old days, horns were often connected to the exhaust system to generate their noise. There were also bulb horns--think clown car--and even a few electric horns which required their own battery to work. Today horns are powered by the car's battery. When the hand hits the horn, a vibration is sent out which is then amplified to make that bleating car horn noise that I loathe so much. A car horn is 110 decibels, the same amount of sound as a leaf blower or a disco. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 110 decibels is loud enough to damage hearing if exposed for a minute and a half or longer. Of course, nobody honks for this long, but consider a traffic jam in midtown Manhattan, and you're got a bunch of toasted cilia in no time flat. Unnecessary honking also creates a sense of pandemonium, and sudden noises make people feel stressed out. Not only is honking bad for your health, it also might be illegal. Most states have some vehicle and traffic laws that require (1) that every motor vehicle has a horn and (2) that this horn should only be used in the case of an emergency, to signal danger, and (3) that it shouldn't be loud or harsh. Illinois state law regarding horns, for example, reads, "The driver of a motor vehicle shall, when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation, give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway." The idea behind the law being that if you use a horn in nondangerous circumstances, it loses its power as a warning device. Many people have made the horn into their frustration mouthpiece. It exudes the powerful feelings they are experiencing. This must stop, for the health of our ears and our sanity. Just in time for Christmas, here is my Honking Rule Book: Don't honk if you can brake. If you must tell someone about your displeasure at getting cut off, I find that flashing my headlights at them is a much better way to do this. Don't honk as you go through a red light; stop instead. What are you--a kamikaze pilot? Only honk if your brakes are failing or you're skidding on ice through an intersection. Never ever, never use the horn as a doorbell. Not only is that loud and annoying, it is rude to the person you are picking up. Use your cell phone and call them, or haul your ass out of the car to knock. Don't honk to say hello or goodbye. Use the hand, baby, use the hand and wave. If you honk the nanosecond you see the light turn green, you need to learn how to relax. Give the car in front of you at least four seconds before giving a short toot to wake him/her up. Never honk at a bicyclist. This can startle them, and it's insulting. The only time a car horn should be directed toward bicyclists is if they are children on bikes and are in danger. There is never any reason in the world to lie on a horn, unless you are being murdered. Next week, a noise almost everyone hates: boom cars! Email me at novellacarpenter@yahoo.com.