Frontline World

EGYPT - Inside Cairo's Living Room, December 2003
a FRONTLINE/World Fellows project
Cairo's Streets: Sights, Sounds, Smells
A street sign displays a no-honking symbol
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Drivers here are fond of calling an automobile's horn button "the Egyptian brake pedal," because of the unanimous inclination toward honking rather than slowing. Still, there is a forceful kind of courtesy on Cairo's million-car roadways, equal parts charity and assertiveness. In recent years, to curb noise pollution, no-honking laws have been passed. My ears don't detect any difference -- perhaps it's the thought that counts.
Cairo's Cafes: Go