Startling. Annoying. Irritating. Aggravating. Pick the adjective of your choice, they all apply equally to the use of a vehicle’s horn to indicate that the doors have been remotely locked.
This is perhaps the stupidest, most illogical automotive feature in the history of car horns. What’s worse is that many owners don’t know how to reset the function to a less intrusive lock verification, such as a flash of the headlights. Some auto journalists don’t even get it.
My tester this week is the Chrysler Pacifica. Every time I locked the doors, the horn emitted a loud, sharp honk! It was ridiculously loathsome, and was nothing short of embarrassing to me if anyone was within a mile of the vehicle.
This van had been out to numerous journalists before it came to my peaceful driveway, whereupon I delved into “vehicle settings” and changed the “honk” to a flash of the lights; silent, yet clearly visible to me.
I find it reprehensible when I’m jolted out of delirium by some callous clown locking doors as I walk past his/her vehicle. So c’mon people, stop triggering angina with the unnecessary blast of a car horn to verify the locking of doors. Pull out that owner’s manual and reset the blasted thing; your neighbours will love you for it, and so will their cardiologist.