Sound siren we hear every day, especially in streets where traffic jams are frequent. Then the drivers blow their horns mainly because they are impatient.
Taxi driver Aleksandar Bjeletić explained what caused the honking.
"When you're standing at a traffic light, two or three cars move slowly because it's their turn, they don't care if someone behind them will be able to pass. In Italy, in the same time interval, five times more vehicles pass than here at the traffic light. Because they're ready as if they're in a race, they simply speed up like they're on a lane, so that traffic can be completed as quickly as possible," says Bjeletić for RTS.
And is haste a sufficient reason?
Experts explain that there are indeed situations when the driver is obliged to use the siren, for example, when he notices a child or a cyclist on the side of the road.
"Also, the use of a warning sign is mandatory before entering an impenetrable and narrow curve and before arriving at a pass where it is unsafe to pass a vehicle. A driver who overtakes a vehicle in front of him is obliged to use an audible warning sign," said Mirko Koković from the Traffic Safety Agency.
According to the law on traffic safety, if the driver exaggerates the use of the siren, he can pay a fine of 5.000 dinars.
"We have a certain number of drivers for whom driving itself is a stressful event, and if one of the drivers in his vicinity overdoes it with an audible warning, it can cause a panic reaction in that driver, which can lead to some unpleasant situations," noted Koković.
Can a traffic sign silence sirens?
The traffic sign that prohibits sound signals has been placed in several locations in Belgrade, in the zones of health institutions, such as the University Children's Clinic and GAK Narodni Front.
If the Secretariat for Environmental Protection determines that the permitted noise level has been exceeded at a specific location and the measurement shows that a traffic sign prohibiting the use of the siren should be placed there, the Secretariat for Traffic shall place it.
By the way, traffic is the biggest source of municipal noise in Belgrade, first of all - the movement of vehicles, the sound of engines, and the siren is only part of it.
"The law says that the limits are 55 decibels, 65 decibels at night, mostly for all streets in Belgrade. There are some exceptions, but it is a general limit. This limit is not exceeded at all points, moreover, some 50 percent of the points that we control show an exceedance, 50 percent do not," says Milan Kontatrević, environmental protection engineer.
Drivers in India are notorious for honking their horns a lot, which is why the Mumbai police in 2020 implemented a trial system called a "penalty signal". Every time the sound of the car's horn exceeds 85 decibels, the traffic light is reset, meaning the red light is extended, which means much longer waits for those prone to honking.
Source: RTS
