Using your voice is protected by the First Amendment. However, using your CAR’S VOICE is not.

Susan Porter was cited for “unreasonable use of a vehicle horn” in California back in 2017. Apparently, she honked her car horn at least 14 times as she passed by a protest. She has been fighting having to pay the fine stating that the citation results in her having to “censoring herself by refraining from using her vehicle horn for expressive purposes.”

A federal appeals court has ruled against her. They stated that there should be regulations for excessive horn use because its primary purpose is to alert others of a traffic safety hazard. The court also stated that a car horn is not intended to be “expressive for First Amendment purposes.”

What is more perplexing about this whole situation is that the original citation was dismissed because the deputy didn’t show up in traffic court. So, Susan has been fighting this car horn case for years for really no reason. It’s unclear how much it has cost her in legal fees.

It does make you wonder … Would the court would consider honking at a person who cuts you off or pulls out in front of you as “alerting others of a traffic safety hazard” that there is an idiot on the road?

By: Buck Stevens