Hold Your Horn — Arizona's Law on Honking

One of our pet peeves is drivers who use their horns to express frustration or impatience with another driver. It’s annoying. It contributes to road rage. And in Arizona, it can be illegal.

What Arizona Law Says

Under A.R.S. § 28-954, a motor vehicle must be equipped with a horn that is in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible from at least 200 feet. But the statute also states that the horn shall be used only as a warning device — not as a tool for expressing anger, impatience, or displeasure.

Using your horn for anything other than a legitimate safety warning is a violation. An aggressive, sustained blast because someone cut you off? That’s not a warning — that’s road rage with a horn.

When Honking Is Appropriate

Use your horn to alert another driver who is about to merge into your lane without seeing you, warn a pedestrian who is stepping into traffic without looking, signal your presence around blind curves on narrow roads, and alert a driver ahead who hasn’t noticed the light turned green (a brief, polite tap — not a sustained blast).

When Honking Can Get You in Trouble

Prolonged aggressive honking can be cited as part of an aggressive driving pattern under A.R.S. § 28-695. If your honking escalates a situation and contributes to an accident, you could share liability under Arizona’s comparative fault system.

Keep calm on the roads. Save your horn for genuine safety situations. And if you’ve been the victim of an aggressive driver, the Law Badgers are here to help.