Why do drivers in Indiana blow their horns when a car in front makes a right turn? (Indianapolis: houses)

[BuzzCam]

Good morning!

My wife and I spent several days at a Thousand Trails Resort in the Southeastern Part of Indiana near Batesville a couple weeks ago. First let me state, you have a beautiful area. We are from Tennessee and always regarded Tennessee as being a very pretty place. Also, I noticed Indiana is much cleaner than areas we drive through around our hometown of Nashville. I think Nashville solved its landfill crisis by allowing people to toss their trash on the side of the road, or it seems like it. Indiana is very clean compared to our immediate area.

Now to my question. During our stay, twice, as my wife was driving, she put on her blinker to indicate she was turning right. One time a vehicle behind us blew its horn and the second time, on a different day, a vehicle behind the vehicle behind us blew its horn. Is this a tradition?

I told me wife this could of been of way of saying hi to us since we have Tennessee plates on our car. She said she thought it was due to impatience due to the fact we had to slow down to turn.

Other than that, we very much enjoyed our visit and plan on coming back often. The people we ran into at gas stations, stores and a Goodyear Tire Store (we had a blowout) in Batesville were very friendly and helpful.

We enjoyed our visit to stores in the Amish Community. We have an Amish Community near us in Kentucky where we bought two wooden chairs for our yard and the quality of workmanship is excellent as they were crafted by Amish people. My wife likes to buy baking goods from Amish General Stores as the quality is much better than what can be found in a supermarket plus the prices are very reasonable.

We also enjoyed visiting some of your covered bridges and took several photos. And we visited a neat town, the name escapes me, that had a canal through it where one could ride a canal boat. The boat and canal actually went though a covered bridge which built was over another stream.

Unfortunately, our stay was too short. But we plan on coming back sometime later this summer. Again, you have a beautiful area.

I am in the television industry and one thing I noticed about the Cincinnati stations during severe weather, which we had the last night there, they do not cover storms much. Our stations in Nashville will break into programming and have "wall-to-wall" coverage if a little sprinkle hits the area. As one of our newspapers said, our local TV stations can make a small sprinkle look like "The Perfect Storm". But, it did seem there was little or no coverage from Cincinnati TV Stations. Could it be the possibility our location was outside the Cincinnati primary coverage area? We were viewing the stations on Dish Network.

Again, thanks for having such a beautiful area which we from Nashville can escape to from time to time.

And, come visit Nashville!

[domergurl]

Sorry about the horn beepers. My guess is that you didn't turn quick enough for their tastes. Their problem I say. You did nothing wrong.

Did you go on the canal at Metamora? Just guessing. If you like Amish country, go up to Northeastern Indiana next time. If you want touristy Amish, go to Amish Acres in Nappanee. Take in Shipshewana too. Big flea market there.

Glad you like Indiana. I like it too. Come see Indiana's Nashville too.

[Is that rain]

I am quite sure that the reason you were honked at is because the driver behind your wife thought she was driving as if she thought she were the only one on the road.

[caution]

Another possibility

"deep south" states don't normally have large, well-paved shoulders on state roads, but "mid-west" states normally have them (where possible). it's common to use that shoulder as a lane when turning right to let others move on by

if memory serves, most roads in TN (and other states in the south, like GA, AL, MS, LA for sure) don't have those nice shoulder lanes most of the time

i first noticed the difference on my first trip to MO, IL and IN when I had to drive up to Indiana from LA. another state with those nice shoulder lanes, TX, if you don't move over and use the shoulder to let someone pass they get a little riled up - same with turning right

could that have been it?

anyway, having just been to SW IN twice for job interviews in May, you guys have some great state roads.... at least in comparison to all the places i've lived.... 'yall should be proud of 'em

nice drivers too - 'cept maybe on that loop around Indy - big city driving gets the best of everyone I think

[BuzzCam]

You are right about the roads having wide shoulders in Indiana. I recall one we traveled did have a wide shoulder my wife could of pulled over in before making the right turn. When we go on trips, we usually take her car which is an automatic and has air conditioning. I drive a stick so I am uncomfortable in I have this desire to slam on the brakes thinking I am pushing the clutch pedal in to shift gears when driving her car. At least the drivers behind us should be thankful, my wife actually used her blinkers We have a few roads in Nashville with wide shoulders which I use for right turn lanes.

I do like the drivers in Indiana or at least the part of the state we visited in because there was no tailgating. I got rear-ended several years ago by a tailgating driver here in Nashville TN so I am paranoid about some drivers following so closely I can't see their headlights in my rear view mirror. This is very common in Nashville. The worst is to be followed by a pick-up truck which has been jacked up so high off the road, I can see the vehicle behind him.

But, I want to come back later this summer for another visit, you do have a very nice state and the people we saw locally were extremely friendly.

Thanks again for the replies.

[mbuszu]

oh the irony - when I moved to Indiana from NY City I found myself the only horn blower in town... accustomed to the fast-pace I would quickly lay on the horn whenever someone annoyed me or slowed my reaching destination at warp speed. LOL - I realized pretty quickly that people in Indiana don't really use their horns - except perhaps to say hi to one another :-)

To the topic-starter - my guess is that if someone was laying on their horn for your wife, she must've been doing something wrong or there is something wrong with your right-rear blinker (perhaps not working).

[Ronzou]

As being an Indiana native, I don't use my horn instead I shout obscenities out the window and talk in sign language. Selective sign language that is!

[sweetana3]

If you come up to Shipshewana, my favorite time is Saturday. Most of the tourists are doing something else, the Amish are in town shopping and it is a wonderful experience. Middlebury is about 5 miles west of Shipshewana and is a pleasant town with a true amish fabric and staple store next to the hardware store. It is very unassuming but interesting. The Menhof (not sure of the spelling) Museum in Ship. is great and not to be missed.

Sunday is a day of total quiet so you would want to plan something or somewhere else to go.

Exactly 3 hours north of Indy no matter which way you drive and I have tried them all.

[BuzzCam]

Thank you so kindly for your suggestion. We plan on making a trip to the northern part of your state on our next visit. My wife has family in Indianapolis she wants to visit as well.

My wife and I admire the simple lifestyle of the Amish, and the extreme great quality of their workmanship. Some members of my wife's family here in Tennessee actually contracted with Amish craftspeople to build their houses and the quality is second to none. There is a sense of pride in their work which unfortunately, I think, has been lost in mainstream American workers for the most part. Not all American workers, mind you, but a great percentage.

Again thanks for the suggestion.

Getting back to drivers who honk their horns, a poster mentioned she was doing it all the time when she first moved to Indiana
but quit since no one else did it. In Nashville, I seldom hear people blowing their horns, unless they see some they know and are trying to get their attention. I feel guilty blowing my horn if a traffic light turns green and the car in front of me does move for a few seconds. Usually, the driver is distracted with something and they will give a wave to me for alerting them the light turned green. Or, at least I think it is a wave. With all the reflections on the rear window obscuring most of my view of them, it could be something else they are doing with their hand other than waving

Have a great day!
Buzz

[domergurl]

When I was coming home last night, the Amish family across the road from my parent's house had a wedding for their 12th and last child. It was a sight to behold.