Simple driving mistake you're probably guilty of could land you a serious fine
Using your car horn to tell someone you’ve arrived to pick them up is actually illegal.
Victoria Police posed the question to people on Facebook on Friday.
“Can you beep your horn to call out to someone outside your vehicle?” police wrote.
Many people answered yes and more than 16,700 answered the poll.
However, it’s actually illegal to use your horn to call out to people.
“A driver must only use their horns to warn others. If you use your horn, or any other warning device, for any other purpose you could receive a $161 fine,” police wrote.
The fine is worse in NSW at $344 and can only be used to warn animals to get off the road, signal other road users you’re approaching or as part of an anti-theft or alcohol interlock device.
Drivers in Queensland have the same rule but it carries a $66 fine. However, it can be higher depending on how serious the offence is.
In Tasmania, it’s a $126 fine.
The same laws are observed in Western Australia, Tasmania, NT and ACT too.
On Facebook, people were bemused by the answer with some questioning what constitutes the right use of the car horn.
“Is it OK to ‘honk-honk’ when leaving my mum's house as I wave goodbye to her?” one man wrote.
Another added he clicked yes on the poll because the horn’s intended purpose is to get people’s attention.
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