Mumbai city has introduced noise meters at important traffic junctions to penalise horn blowers and other Indian cities are mulling on installing such noise meters.
Many road users, who rarely use their vehicle horn, will be inconvenienced by this electronic deterrent but overall it will serve a good cause.
We all have observed the perpetual noise on our streets generated by those, who constantly have their hands on the horn button, many times for no reason at all, unless it has been a compulsive habit and congenital disease to produce unnecessary noise.
The cacophony on our Indian roads can be unbearable at times. Sometimes one can get confused as to why the person around you is honking and you conclude it is a pathological problem.
This honking habit is mainly a result of our impatience and apparent arrogance towards fellow road users and it can be very offending at times.
I for one almost never, use the horn any time. In the event of absolute necessity I have observed that your brain cells detect when there is a real danger like would be collision for instance, and one’s hands instantly hit the horn to alert or to avoid the danger.
At other times, the horn is an absolute nuisance in the vehicle. Our Indian road users are so undisciplined where one has to bear up with rash driving, blinding head lights, pedestrians, cattle and animals crossing roads everywhere due to lack of any restrictions and then one has to bear up with this constant honking all the time by vehicle users.
In advanced countries, the roads are so silent, sounds of horns are totally absent and honking can be considered as an insult by other road users. We have all become aware of the damage we do to our Mother Earth by garbage and other tangible pollution.
Noise pollution is one other area where we need to have a control over. One such noise we can reduce is the vehicle horns, which creates chaos on our streets.
In Goa, of late, we have many traffic junctions with signals where similar noise detectors need to be installed. This could to some extent tame the habitual noise polluters. But how do you discipline the people in other areas other than the traffic junctions, will have to be worked on by bringing in awareness and educating people on the ill effects of all sorts of noise pollution.
