>
How Australians could be fined up to $2,669 just for the beeping – and other bizarre traffic rules drivers should know
- Using a car horn for any purpose other than to warn others is against the law
- Drivers across Australia can face fines ranging from $50 to $2,669
- Motorists took the definition of ‘warn’ and said the horn could also mean ‘go’
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
Australian drivers can be fined for a simple, friendly beep.
Drivers across the country who use their horn for any purpose other than to warn others can be fined from $50 to $2,669, which includes a hello or goodbye horn.
Victoria Police asked drivers in a Facebook poll about the correct use of the horn on Friday.
The crime-fighting agency posed the question, “Can you sound the horn to call someone outside your vehicle?”
Using a car horn for any purpose other than to warn others is against the law (shown, STOCK image of a woman pressing the horn)
The answer? ‘No. A driver may only use his horn to warn others.
“If you use your horn or other warning device for any other purpose, you could be fined $161.”
By law, a vehicle’s horn may only be used to warn other drivers of your position, warn animals to move off the road, or be used as part of an anti-theft or alcohol interlock device.
Facebook users argued that the horn could be used to warn pedestrians, especially when backing up a driveway or alleyway.
Other users joked that the beeping of the horn had different meanings, from “get off the road and use the footpath” to “get off your phone and go” and even “I’m about to cross your footpath”.
Another user joked: “[use the horn] all the way down the street but only at 3am and only to say goodbye to your friends you just said goodbye to for 30 minutes,” wrote another user.
A third said: ‘The beeping horn could mean ‘I’m warning you if you’re not here in 10 seconds, I’m leaving’. That’s a warning isn’t it?’
State laws prohibit the use of a horn outside of warning motorists of impending danger on the road.
In NSW, using a horn or warning device ‘unnecessarily’ carries a $344 fine. In Queensland, the fine starts at $66 but caps 20 units of fine, meaning drivers can be charged up to $2,669 brought.
Drivers across the country who use their horn for any purpose other than to warn others can be fined from $50 to $2,669 (photo, police officer with radar gun)
Drivers in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory can be fined $193 for the violation.
In Western Australia, motorists face an ‘modified fine’ of 1 penal unit which is currently $50, while ‘using or permitting a horn unnecessarily’ costs Tasmanian drivers $126.
Motorists in the Northern Territory can face prison terms as ‘general penalties’ under the Traffic Regulations 2007, with a maximum of six months in prison and/or fines up to $2,600.
It comes after a giveaway quiz shared by the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland left Facebook users scratching their heads.
Aussie drivers were also surprised by a traffic quiz where Facebook users were asked to name the colored cars in the order they should be driving (pictured)
The photo showed the four-way intersection at Park Road and Rose Street in Kalinga, Brisbane, with different colored cars and directional arrows and asked, ‘What order are the vehicles driving through the intersection in?’
Most users agreed that the cars without a right-of-way instruction would be the first to cross the intersection.
However, users seemed confused about when the blue and yellow cars would continue.
“Orange and pink can move at the same time, after that my brain hurts from looking at the mix of all the colored lines,” noted one user.
The correct answer is that the blue car is the last to drive through the intersection.