Horns should be illegal. It’s har side me to understand how stupid we are as a species that we think horns are ok.
This is so obvious to even non motorists, that I doubt it's the first time you've heard it.
And horns are getting louder? That's the first I've heard of that. Even Google doesn't indicate that's a thing.
I think you're way off base on this one.
What happens when you use it? Do they suddenly start paying attention and stop driving recklessly? I ask, because I've never used my horn whilst driving; I've only ever used it for alerting someone reversing into me whilst I was stationary.
If I see someone drifting into my lane, then I back off by applying the brakes. If someone is swerving, then I also slow down. Generally I slow down or change lanes but I've never used the horn.
You must not drive. I can't imagine any other way to come to this conclusion.
I don't drive a lot, but at least a couple times in recent memory when I've signaled/started to merge only to realize there was a car there. They didn't honk. Maybe if I hadn't noticed in time they would have, but I suspect they were focused on preparing to brake or swerve.
It definitely might be safer if we had a honkier culture. When you're urgently trying to avoid a collision, you won't have the mindfulness to remember the tools you never use. For many of us, that means we stick with the ones we're used to: we brake and/or steer.
The most frequent use of the car horn here seems to be the light has turned green and the driver in front of you hasn't noticed. I'll bet sizable percentage of local drivers haven't used their horn in a year.
It was explained to me when learning that they are a "Hey, I'm here" button.
They can be usefully deployed when someone is, for instance, reversing towards your vehicle and apparently doesn't see you. I think that's a good use for them.
They are not an anger button, or a let me through button.
(in response to the below, as I am rate limited:
Well, you can't fix stupid... But you can help along someone who's bit tired and forgot to look and "oh shit someone's just beeped me aaaaaaaaa I need more coffee". I've been on both sides of that and have yet to actually reverse into anyone else's vehicle)
However, what should be penalised heavily is blaring your horn in frustration or when stuck in traffic. This happens near where I live on a daily basis, and causes my blood to boil. It seems for these people it is almost instinctual, and they will do it at the slightest slowdown or inconvenience.
Not a big fan of enforcement actions, but this is incredibly anti social and provides zero/negative utility. A couple of weeks of police camping intersections and handing out liberal fines might perhaps encourage a change in behaviour.
Or more likely, I've avoided them ahead time because distracted drivers are fairly obvious if you're playing with your phone yourself.