Regulate Vehicle Horns

Vehicles in Nepal are using horns producing loud noise as drivers feel that people walking /crossing roads do not hear it easily and it seems devised to drive them off hastily aside. Sometimes, they are found with double sets of horns blaring at the same time. It is more menacingly demonstrated at bus stations and sub-stations to attract attention of commuters.

This very irritating and frightening sound may serve their purpose. However, people are seen, especially children and elderly persons, reacting to it in a rather nervous way. They may run aside suddenly, fall down on the ground or drop off and damage their belongings rights there out of shock and fear—sometimes leading to fatal injuries. One can see, drivers speeding up in urban areas pumping such horns.

It is very harmful to health of people at large and particularly so to health of traffic police personnel as they are regularly exposed to this kind of noises manning at different road points in our cities.

One does not have to go far to experience it. Just spend some hours at New Baneshwor Chowk area or at Kalanki Chowk. You feel number for sometime afterwards.

Horns are meant to just let known people crossing a road or walking along that a vehicle is coming. It should just be a heading sound for them—not INTIMIDATING AND MADDENING.

It is my personal bitter experience and fact that people staying very next to every long route has stations (like Narayan Ghat, Butwal, Bhairahawa) cannot sleep unless they are in habit of tolerating such noises. It is torturous to lodge at hotels next to bus stations while travelling in Nepal.

Therefore, this particular subject needs to be regulated and monitored through our authority though it’s not done yet. I earnestly request the concerned Ministry of Health and Nepal Traffic Police Office to devise a neat system immediately to regulate it for health and safety of all.

Birendra D. Shrestha
Kathmandu, Nepal