---
title: "Hawaii Driver Gets Ticket for Honking at Police Car That Allegedly Cut Her Off"
description: "In what is literally a plot point from the latest season of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lynette Atuaia received a $72 ticket for the \"unnecessary use of horn\" after she says she briefly beeped once at a car that appeared out of nowhere and passed her on the right as she crossed the intersection on the island of O'ahu. Unfortunately, it happened to be a police cruiser."
date: "2018-02-13"
modified: "2018-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/18430/hawaii-driver-gets-ticket-for-honking-at-police-car-that-allegedly-cut-her-off"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "hawaii"
  - "horn"
  - "police"
  - "ticket"
---

# Hawaii Driver Gets Ticket for Honking at Police Car That Allegedly Cut Her Off

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/02/honk.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

A woman in Hawaii is fighting a [traffic ticket](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/2013/how-to-get-out-of-a-ticket>) she received for the very serious crime of honking her car's horn at a police officer as he allegedly cut her off at a four-way intersection outside Honolulu, [*KHON* reports.](<https://khon2.com/2018/02/09/woman-receives-72-ticket-after-honking-her-horn-at-a-police-vehicle/>)

[In what is literally a plot point](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwmN8hiCfp8>) from the latest season of HBO's *Curb Your Enthusiasm,* Lynette Atuaia received a $72 ticket for the "unnecessary use of horn" after she says she briefly beeped once at a car that appeared out of nowhere and passed her on the right as she crossed the intersection on the island of O'ahu. Unfortunately, it happened to be a police cruiser.

https://youtube.com/embed/k76HqSGvepY

"I was afraid. I thought I was going to hit him. My initial reaction was, ‘Hey, get out of my way. I’m going to hit you. You’re cutting me off!'" [she told *KHON*.](<https://khon2.com/2018/02/09/woman-receives-72-ticket-after-honking-her-horn-at-a-police-vehicle/>) "Then when I pulled over into the parking lot, he just said, ‘License and registration, I’m giving you a ticket for honking your horn.’ He said I should have seen I was an emergency vehicle, but he didn’t have his lights and sirens on as he was trying to cut me off or pass me."

According to Hawaii state law, drivers are only supposed to use their horns "when reasonably necessary to ensure safe operation" in traffic—in other words, to warn others of the imminent risk of a collision.

https://youtube.com/embed/ZwmN8hiCfp8

Even though that's exactly what Atuaia claims she was doing, she still ended up with a citation. She told the station she plans on [contesting it in court,](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/14601/woman-takes-75-speeding-ticket-all-the-way-to-iowa-supreme-court>) which the Honolulu Police Department confirmed is her right "if \[she\] feels the ticket was issued in error."

It's not the first time we've seen [a questionable ticket issued](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/14490/driver-passes-slow-moving-cop-gets-ticket-for-going-1-kph-over-speed-limit>) over a perceived slight—and until we get [those promised autonomous police cars](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/18323/does-fords-self-driving-police-car-patent-mean-robocop-is-coming-to-a-highway-near-you>), it won't be the last.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)