Car Talk

In the 70's Ron Popeil invented Mr Microphone, a wireless transmitter shaped like a microphone that would play your voice over any FM receiver in your vicinity, such as the radio in your hi fi system, effectively turning it into an amp for your voice.  As the ubiquitous advertisement demonstrated, with this device, your car's radio set to FM could become a public address system, enhancing your own ability to be a public nuisance behind the wheel.  To a pubescent aspirant driver, the possibilities for enhancing the communication experience of driving seemed endless.  Imagine possessing the ability to let the other guy you were supposed to be watching out for know pre-emptively how you felt about him.  Of course any experienced driver can immediately spot the flaw in this line of thinking-- driving is the one socially interactive activity in which those who value their life can be grateful that communication is kept to the barest of minimums.

To this purpose, various methods and accessories have been devised to convey just the amount of information necessary for any interaction behind the wheel.  From the beginning, a convention of hand signals extended out the driver's rolled down window have been used to communicate one's intention to other drivers. As automobiles became more common, communication features were added to the design of cars militating against the need for drivers to risk their limbs for the cause of safety.  Turn signals on the front, rear, and now side mirrors of cars were added to convey one's intention to obstruct or impede the flow of traffic in order to exit the straightaway.*   Flashing "hazard" lights in the front and rear (aka "flashers") could be engaged to draw attention to a sudden need to reduce speed or to be temporarily stopped. Honking horns were added as an automotive way to express one's disapproval of the asses who forget to use turn signals or flashers.  

To these voluntary instruments of communication, a couple of automatic signals could be added.  First, whenever the driver steps on the brake pedal,  bright red brake lights at the rear of the car intensify as an automatic message to the driver of the following vehicle to apply their own brakes (thus initiating a chain of calls and responses that extends the length of the trail of cars behind the car that initiated the round of Telephone).† Second, placing the car in reverse engages a set of non-colored lights that unambiguously indicate to those approaching from behind the reverse direction of the car.   Trucks and some recent passenger car models accompany the lights with a sequence of warning tones or of short punctuated beeps of the horn.  The automatic nature of these brake and reverse gear signals might have an analog in human communication of such involuntary physical responses as a flushed color to signal embarrassment,  dilated pupils to indicate attraction or a yawn to convey, "You're boring me."  

Before the feature was added to passenger cars, some drivers supplied the reverse beeps on their own by means of staccato taps on the horn.  In short, the horn is the feature most commonly resorted to for voluntary communication, and reflective of this is the variety of messages that a horn can convey.  Along with the two already discussed, the sounding of a horn can mean:

• "I'm backing up!"
• "You're getting on my nerves!"
• Closely related to the above: "Move!" or "Get out of my way!"  (A shorter tap is a way of adding an unspoken "Please" to the request.)
• To forestall a collision: "I'm here!"
• As a designated driver on an outing, to avoid getting out of the car when pulling up to the curb to pick up a friend: "I've arrived!"  If  the friend takes too long to emerge: "Come on! Let's go!"
• When spotting a friend or acquaintance in the wild: "Hi! It's me!"

As to the last meaning, I don't know how common it is, but in my family there's a tradition of giving the horn 2 short blasts when driving away after a visit as a way of saying, "Goodbye!  Thanks for everything!"   As my daughter has observed, this makes a friendly toot of the horn the "Aloha" of the language of cars.  It should also be noted that some drivers use the horn as though it were a hyperspace button on a video game or a disintegration ray should they find themselves behind someone stopped  for perfectly legitimate reasons such as yielding the right of way to pedestrians.  The message seems to be "Be gone!"  Such rudeness is frequently met with a blast from the offended offender to the effect of "How do you like it!"  To all of the above, it can be added that a contextless honk of the horn can be interpreted as a general, "Hey! Pay attention!"

There is a quieter alternative to many of the horn's denotations, to wit: the flash of high beams.  While the sound of a horn can be varied to convey the emotion or urgency behind a message, there is not much you can do to add paralinguistic touches to the utterances of a high beam flash.  Nevertheless, a single flash can convey a fairly wide range of meanings.  Starting with the horn overlaps:

• "In case you didn't notice me, I'm here."
• "Coming through.  You're in the passing lane and I want to pass you"  (Rude, maybe, but better than a horn at high speeds that are probably exceeding the speed limit)
• "After you. I insist."
• "Permission to cut in front of me granted."
• "Your high beams are on."
• "You need to turn on your headlights."

Most drivers through experience know the range of meaning of a high beam flash though they might have to flip through the possible alternatives in their mind to arrive at the likelihood that the flash was directed at them and what their expected response should be.  When no context can be ascertained, making the flash of an oncoming car seem random, it's a good bet that the meaning is a camaraderly "Watch out!  Speed trap ahead!"

When it comes to automotive communication, context is everything.  And when one's meaning is in doubt, one can always resort to classic hand gestures to provide emphasis and clarification.

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* Turn signals have for years been designed to automatically turn off on making the turn.  When they don't,  they raise expectations, rather like a stray eyelash causing a person sitting in a bar to wink involuntarily at strangers.

† Brakes can also be tapped to convey two voluntary meanings:  1) I'm slowing down and you should too; and 2) You're following too close.  No matter how the latter is intended, it's hard not to receive it as an aggression