Ask any woman who has been honked at by a passing motorist what her opinion of the driver is and I am sure she will not have anything pleasant to say. Ever since adolescent males have been driving cars, the honk has been used as a type of mating call (although I doubt it works very often). In more recent times bumper stickers have appeared on cars with phrases ranging from “Honk if you love Jesus” to “Honk if you love Honking”. Although this Neanderthal like form of communication has been used by many to express themselves, it is by no means protected by the First Amendment, despite what the ACLU will tell you.

The Michigan chapter of the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the city of Ferndale alleging the cities ordinances which says “[t]he driver of a motor vehicle shall when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use the horn when upon a highway.” cannot be enforced when the driver is honking the horn as a form of speech.

The complaint originated when war protestors Victor Kittila and Nancy Goedert held up signs at an intersection asking drivers to “Honk if you want Bush out.” Officers requested that Kittila get rid of the sign because of a city code that says it is illegal to encourage car horn honking.

The officers also wrote tickets to James Grimm, Harry Cook and Brian Price, motorists who honked in response to the signs. A short time later, Ferndale officers noticed Kittila holding the same sign that had been modified to read, “Ferndale police say: Don’t honk if you want Bush out.” Kittila reportedly resisted the police officer who attempted to take the sign and was ultimately arrested for disorderly conduct.

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the city asking the “Court to find that the City of Ferndale’s bans on the use of a vehicle horn to convey a political message and on the display of a sign inviting such use violate the freedom of speech guarantee of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States“.

The lawsuit goes on to say “The sounding of a vehicle horn to express support for a political message and the display of a sign inviting such use of a vehicle horn constitute “speech” within the meaning of the First Amendment.”

I suppose for those incapable of communicating intelligibly, the honking of a horn could be considered “speech”. The problem then however is the ACLU would need to prove those who honked in response to the sign lack the intelligence needed to communicate verbally, or through written language.

Horns were installed in cars to alert other motorists or pedestrians to your presence, as a way of avoiding accidents. They were not intended to convey agreement with a sign being held by someone on a street corner. If the motorists would like to protest the war in Iraq it is their Constitutional right to do so under the First Amendment, however the First Amendment does not give individuals the right to disturb the peace.

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ACLU, Constitution, First Amendment, Iraq