[QUOTE=Maelochs;19889678]
What was the point of your honking? if you were already passing, do you think they didn't notice your Pick-Up Truck (not usually small or quiet vehicles---even if the motor is not loud, the wind and tire noise will be.) What message were you sending? "I am here!"? Again, there would be no question of that ... and in most groups, "Car back!" would have been called long since.[\quote]
What is the point? Well, it's the LAW is the main point. First of all, it's what I was taught WAY back when I took Driver's Ed. It's currently the law in Ohio that when passing a vehicle on the left, that driver's are required to "sound the horn to warn the driver of the vehicle that is about to be overtaken". I do this for bikes, and I do this for garbage trucks, mail trucks, UPS trucks, and stopped vehicles. I freely admit that I do not do this when passing a car on the highway.
I understand you are doing it trying to be polite
It's not "polite". It's the law to sound the horn when I'm passing another vehicle. The horn isn't to signal "I'm here". Rather the horn is to signal that "right now is the time that I'm going to pass you". Mind you, I am careful to make sure I have plenty of time to spend in the other lane to give cyclists plenty of room. It's not honking "stupidly". It's a question of whether I should follow the written law or not.