In the US, we hit the car horn to either 1) warn of impending collisions or 2) express our frustrations. Drivers in Peru, however, use a subtle morse-code like language to communicate more specific messages. And although Peruvians likely don’t learn it in driving schools, eventually everyone develops a grasp of this situational language. Here’s a selection of the car horn lexicon we’ve been able to decipher as we’ve dodged traffic:
- Beep – None of us have a stop sign and I’m now coming through the intersection.
- Beep – Hey pedestrian! I’m about to pass in front of / behind you.
- Beep Beep – I’m driving a taxi; do you need a ride?
- Beep Beep Beep – I’m driving a taxi, currently on the opposite side of the road, but I can turn around; do you need a ride?
- Beep – Just letting other drivers know that I’ll be turning right from the left lane when the light turns green.
- Beeep – Hey asshole, you just turned right from the left lane!
- Beeep – The light changed to green one millisecond ago; get moving!
- Beeeep – The light changed to green two milliseconds ago; get moving!
- Beeeeep – The light changed to green three…well, you get the idea.
- Beep, Beeeeep – I don’t care if you can’t complete your right turn because peds are in the crosswalk! Go around or over them.
- Beep – I haven’t hit the horn recently and am having existential moment.
Our Spanish language skills continue to suck, but perhaps because the stakes are higher, we’re geting the hang of car horns.