"Are you kidding?" Grandma cops hefty fine for honking horn
A grandmother from Sydney has claimed she was slapped with a hefty fine after a car pulled out in front of her, causing her to use her horn.
Alma Smith, 85, was driving to work in Roselands when she got the fright of her life while driving down Riverwood's Belmore Road.
"There was cars parked and this guy just went 'flip' in front of me. I thought I was going to collide with him so I applied the brakes and the horn," she told 9News.
Little did Alma know there was a police car watching on, and was pulled over moments later.
"Apparently there was a copper behind her counting - three seconds is okay and four seconds isn't," her son Warwick Smith said.
Alma said she was shocked and appalled when she was handed a $352 fine.
"He said I had used the horn excessively, unnecessarily and that's like road rage."
"I went silent for a moment and I said, 'are you kidding I have never heard of that and I have been on the road driving for over 60 years'."
"I couldn't believe it. Is this a joke? Haven't they got better things to do?"
In NSW, you can only honk if you need to warn traffic users about the position of your car or get animals off the road.
You can't beep to say hello, out of anger or frustration or to get someone moving when traffic lights turn green, as these offences are considered to be road rage.
"It's pretty ridiculous, someone pulled out on her, she slammed on the brakes, what do you do? You hit the horn," Smith's son said.
"In a case like that, I felt like it was necessary to blow the horn."
Even Alma's lawyer Sam Macedone said he wasn't aware that the length of the beep could get drivers in trouble.
"In this case I understand she used her horn to warn someone who was cutting across so she had every right to use her horn.
"I can't see anywhere in the legislation that indicates you can only give a short beep."
Alma intends to fight the fine, but will have to wait until next year to have her day in Bankstown court.
Image credits: 9News