What Happens If You Honk At Police In Idaho?

Most of us have been in a situation where we've had to use our car horns, and if you haven't - consider yourself lucky.

Now, let us be clear, we're not talking about honking a car horn at pedestrians or to let the person you're picking up know you've arrived. We're talking about the instances where honking your horn can save your life.

No one's perfect... and that's okay!

Look, we all make mistakes, even our first responders. As we all go about our daily lives, we can easily forget that police officers, firefighters, and emergency services are all human beings.

And while it's not something we all like to admit, but many of us have spaced out at one time or another while behind the wheel. You could be recapping your day in your head on the way, thinking about personal issues you're dealing with, etc.

Our frontline workers deal with the same thing and then some!

Sometimes, officers could be responding to a call, requiring them to speed and if necessary, cut some of us off along the way. So, if you honk your horn at them as they cut you off, putting you in danger... would you get in trouble?

So, You Honked At A Police Car In Idaho...

Idaho legislation establishes first, that you should have a horn that sounds reasonable. You can't drive around with a loud "AHHH OOOOOOGA" horn... we suppose you can but you probably shouldn't use it. That horn alone could be deemed illegal as Idaho legislation says:

Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred (200) feet, but no horn or other warning device shall emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or whistle.

So, your horn fits the criteria... can you honk at an officer? Yes... and no.

Idaho legislation says:

The 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.

What does that mean? To put it simply, you can honk your horn at an officer to give them an "audible warning when reasonably necessary."

If you honk your horn at the officer, they should understand why if it's reasonable; for example, they don't see you and are about to hit your vehicle.

You know - for safety reasons!