Protester Loses Appeal Over California Horn Honking Restrictions

A California woman lost an appeal challenging a state law banning the honking of a vehicle’s horn except when reasonably necessary to alert someone to a safety hazard, after the Ninth Circuit said the law didn’t violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The regulation is neutral, as opposed to content based, a divided US Court Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said, and it doesn’t burden speech more than necessary to advance the state’s legitimate interests.

Susan Porter received a citation under California Vehicle Code section 27001 for honking her horn in “three clusters of short beeps, for a total of ...