Honking Behavior | PEMCO Insurance

How often do you lean on the car horn

According to the 2017 PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll, three out of four Northwest drivers refuse to honk their car horns at offending commuters.

What about you? How often do you honk your horn, and how do you feel when someone honks at you

How often do you use your vehicle’s horn?

Total	WA	OR
3	2	2	Often
18	19	17	Sometimes
72	70	74	Rarely
6	7	6	Never
1	1	1	Don’t know

Compared to other regions of the United States, do you believe that drivers in the Pacific Northwest use the horn on their vehicle:

Total	WA	OR
2	3	2	Much more often than drivers in other regions
6	8	3	Somewhat more often
22	23	22	About the same amount
35	34	35	Somewhat less often
26	24	28	Much less often
9	8	10	Don’t know

Different people have different attitudes about honking. Some people believe that honking is bad and drivers should never do it. Other people believe that honking is good and every driver should do it way more often. How do you feel? (Sliding scale from 0 to 100)

Total	WA	OR
10	10	10	Honking is bad and drivers shouldn’t do it (0-25)
45	45	45	Tend to believe that honking is bad (26-50)
36	35	37	Tend to believe that honking is good (51-75)
9	10	8	Honking is good and drivers should do more of it (76-100)
50.8	51.9	49.6	Average Score

How do you feel about drivers who use their horn as a way to inform fellow drivers to pay attention? Is honking never the right way to inform fellow drivers to pay attention, or always the right way to inform other drivers to pay attention? (Sliding scale from 0 to 100)

Total	WA	OR
6	5	8	Honking is never the right way to inform (0-25)
20	21	19	Honking tends not be the right way to inform (26-50)
42	40	43	Honking tends to be the right way to inform (51-75)
32	34	30	Honking is always the right way to inform (76-100)
64.6	65.2	63.9	Average Score

When someone honks at you, which of these statements describe your typical reactions(s)?

Total	WA	OR
44	42	47	It startles me
41	43	38	I acknowledge my mistake with a gesture of thanks
25	22	28	It makes me feel bad, like I’ve done something wrong
22	21	23	I take the action the person honking wants me to take
18	17	18	It makes me mad, but I keep my anger to myself
8	8	7	I ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen
7	7	7	I don’t react at all
6	6	5	It makes me mad, and I let the person honking know it
5	5	6	Other
2	2	1	Don’t know

When someone honks at you, which of these statements describe your typical reaction(s)?

Total		Washington		Oregon
Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
36	53	35	49	38	56	It startles me
41	40	40	47	42	33	I acknowledge my mistake with a gesture of thanks
18	32	15	29	21	36	It makes me feel bad, like I’ve done something wrong
22	24	19	24	24	23	I take the action the person honking wants me to take
20	19	20	15	19	18	It makes me mad, but I keep my anger to myself
9	7	10	6	7	8	I ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen
9	5	8	7	10	4	I don’t react at all
8	5	7	6	8	3	It makes me mad, and I let the person honking know it
4	6	5	4	4	8	Other
2	1	3	1	1	1	Don’t know

Northwest profile #7I Never Jaywalker