The most stressful car horns – mind your beeps in queues!!

I thought it was just me that got frustrated by drivers honking their horns. My mother would often say 'Well that's just the height of rudeness!' when she'd hear some impatient driver beeping their horn behind the car. Research conducted for AXA UK of 2,000 adults has found that 41% of drivers feel stressed when others use their horn.

Over half (54%) think people use their car horns inappropriately, and those surveyed felt the following were the main reasons for this:

- Other drivers are too impatient (59%)
- Lack of respect (48%)

43% of drivers say they have been a victim of road rage - the most common of these being a honk of the horn or hand gesture. While half of drivers admitted to using their car horn in an aggressive manner while driving. Becoming aggressive also increases the likelihood of getting involved in an accident which could cost you much more than letting someone drive past you, as it will incur car reparation and car insurance claim which could affect the NCD (No claims discount).

The Fiat Punto's car horn has the beep that causes most stress to motorists, according to findings from AXA UK survey. The least stressful car horn was the Vauxhall Zafira. To find out more click here.

TV adventurer, travel writer, actor and experienced driver, Charley Boorman has been brought on board on this campaign in the UK. Charley comments:
'I've driven on roads all over the world and have seen some of the best and worst driving you can imagine [...]one thing that drives me mad is inconsiderate motorists using their horn whenever they feel like it.; the horn id there for one reason - safety - not to make people's commute more stressful than they need to be.'

So if you haven't read the rules of the road in a while, then it is worth noting that you should never sound your horn between 11.30pm and 7am, except in an emergency and never use the horn if you are close to animals.