What did you think about the Lagos horn free day? Just before we get caught up with the euphoria of the potential of Lagos being the “Quietest State in Nigeria”, it may be more important if we understand the logic behind the sudden rush to making Lagos achieve this Status.
After enjoying the brief moment of insane quietness I experienced in Ikeja yesterday, I got home and started to ponder. With less than six months to the general elections, what is real motive of this horn free day? Is this just about reducing noise pollution or are there some deep political chess games behind this move?
I quickly grabbed a pen and paper to see if I could come up with the permutations the politicians had seen. Certainly, these politicians must have defined a connection between low noise pollution and victory at the polls.
Eureka! I got it. The plan is to reduce the sounds of vehicle horns in order to make way for the soon to be installed public speakers that will assist the APC to campaign more effectively.
I wasn’t convinced with that narrative, so I gave it another try.
Possibly, the most plausible reason is that since most public schools are on major streets, the Government needs us to stop horning meaninglessly. This would allow the children to focus more, after all, the recent WAEC results isn’t something that the Lagos State Government is very proud of. Another boring fallacy!
I took a deep breath and unconvincingly concluded that this may not be one of the deft political maneuvers that we are used to. Maybe it’s really another innovative and well thought out idea of Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF).
Something then struck me. If car manufacturers did not want us to use horns, they wouldn’t have put them there in the first place.
Oh yes, I agree, they didn’t put them there for it to be abused, but again, they also didn’t think that traffic situations in some countries would be so unpleasant.
Only if the Federal Government of Nigeria had properly maintained the roads, there would have been no need for this terrible traffic conditions. But then, the Federal Government also feels that Lagos State Government should be faster in its road expansion projects and alternative transportation systems. Maybe if this were in place, traffic will flow more easily, and there will be no need for a horn free day.
Getting out of this blame game for both Governments is simple. Just blame it on the people!
For the vehicle owner, why should he stop pressing the horn? After all, it is free. Just start your car and press, press, press as much as you want to.
I have no doubt that if vehicles had been designed in a way that for each sound of the horn, the vehicle will gulp 5 additional liters of petrol, then all the noise from vehicle horns will stop. But as long as the pressing of the horn comes at zero cost, I do not know how the Lagos State Government wants to compel people to stop blasting their horns.
Let’s take a look at some of the cities that had experienced some of the problems that BRF is facing in Lagos today.
In 1912, a number of cities in America, among them Chicago, St Louis, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Seattle and Dallas had laws forbidding the excessive use of horns. The Final Outcome – Unsuccessful.
A law enacted in Paris during the 1920s made it illegal to use a horn after midnight. In 1954, the ban was extended to daytime driving as well. The Final Outcome – Unsuccessful.
During the 1950s, New York’s committee for a quiet city decided that the city’s highest priority should be to eliminate unnecessary horn-honking. The committee organized publicity campaigns similar to the BRF led campaigns. During this time the police issued warning to offending drivers. The Final Outcome – Unsuccessful.
In 1973, the city took a new turn in its battle for quietness. It planned to regulate the decibel output of newly manufactured horns. The Final Outcome – Unsuccessful.
A friend also attempted to prove to me that because some drivers use the indiscriminate pressing of horns as a stress relief, a ban on this activity will likely lead to an increase in domestic violence and abuse against women.
To confirm this, I decided to check the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) to determine if there really had been an investigation that automobile horns can be used to overcome frustration.
In fact, horn-honking turns out to be one of the more studied aspects of driving behavior. In 1968, two psychologists, Anthony N. Doob, University of Toronto and Alan E.Gross, University of Wisconsin, ran an experiment to study the various factors that inhibited and encouraged the expression of frustration in driving situations.
Participants in the experiment were asked to drive cars to a particular intersection, wait for the light to turn green, and then sit at the intersection for 15 seconds or until the car behind them began to honk.
Three different types of cars were used in the experiment: a shiny new Chrysler Imperial, a rusty old Ford station wagon, and a grimy Rambler.
The study found that people were less likely to honk at the “high-status” Chrysler Imperial than at the older, less impressive cars.
84 percent of drivers stuck behind the older cars honked.
Of the people forced to wait behind the Chrysler, only half honked once and less than 20% did so a second time.
The same study also found that men were quicker to blow their horns than women.
Women, as it turns out, are not only less inclined to honk than men, but also more likely to be honked at.
A 1971 study, performed by Kay K.Deaux, Purdue University found that the sex of the driver to be the most important influence on the honking behavior. Only 52 percent of the male experimental drivers were honked at compared to 71 percent of the females.
In another variation of the Doob and Gross experiment, Robert A. Baron, Purdue University, attempted to measure the effects of uncomfortably warm temperatures and a range of other stimuli on aggressive honking.
On an unpleasant warm day, drivers were quicker to honk at the experimental vehicle.
If we are to learn and draw inferences from these multiple studies it shows that
(1)Men are to blame for almost all of the crazy horning in Lagos.
(2)Those that drive rickety cars in Lagos are the major cause of all the multiple horn blasts
(3)The hot weather in Lagos even makes drivers more willing to blast their horns
(4)Men also inequitably blast their horns more against female drivers
It would be interesting, if it were possible; to know what effect the entire removal of horns would have on accident statistics.
Despite all the odds against the #hornfreeday in Lagos, I hope it is successful.
JIDE OGUNSANWO
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