“If light travels faster than the speed of sound, how come a car behind me honks before the green?”

Some people seem to honk a car in front of them at a red light before the light turns green. “Brooklyn is the only city where sound travels faster than light.The fella behind me honks 9 seconds before the light turns green! Drive Safe” was posted on Twitter on November 21, 2012. “Pretty sure sound travels faster than light because I can hear the asshole behind me honk before I see the light turn green” was posted on Twitter on June 8, 2013.
 
“If light travels faster than sound, how come I can hear that asshole behind me in the BMW honk before I see the light turn green?” was posted on Twitter on August 4, 2013.
 
The joke has been printed on several images. The “New York minute” is a related term.
     
 
6 January 1948, Independent Record (Helena, Montana), pg. 4, col. 1
It is said that the smallest measurable unit of time is the interval it takes, after the traffic light turns green, for some damn fool behind you to honk his horn.
       
Twitter
Facebuker Rebbe‏
@FacebukerRebbe
Brooklyn is the only city where sound travels faster than light.The fella behind me honks 9 seconds before the light turns green! Drive Safe
3:37 PM - 21 Nov 2012
 
Twitter
Quinn‏
@QuinnstinChrchl
Pretty sure sound travels faster than light because I can hear the asshole behind me honk before I see the light turn green
3:21 PM - 8 Jun 2013
   
Twitter
Christine Zangla‏
@CStof1970
If light travels faster than sound, how come I can hear that asshole behind me in the BMW honk before I see the light turn green?
8:18 PM - 4 Aug 2013
 
Twitter
A Libyan Girl‏
@LbynGrlProblems
light travels faster than sound EXCEPT in Libya when you hear the cars honk viciously BEFORE the traffic life turns green #LGP #lifeinlibya
5:49 AM - 26 Aug 2013
 
Twitter
selfimprovementkirby‏
@SteamyGoon
If light travels faster than sound how come I can hear the asshole in his BMW behind me honk at me before the light turns green?
12:53 PM - 11 Feb 2014
   
Reddit—Shitty Ask Science
If light travels faster than the speed of sound, how come I can hear the guy in the BMW behind me honk before the light turns green? (self.shittyaskscience)
submitted March 29, 2015 by TheUndeadKidJust learned to re-live
I’ve been at a standstill with my experiments.
 
Twitter
Shitty Questions‏
@shittyquestions
If light travels faster than the speed of sound, how come I can hear the guy in the BMW behind me honk before the light turns green?
12:48 PM - 29 Mar 2015
   
Twitter
Joke Authority‏
@JokeAuthority
If light travels faster than the speed of sound… How come I can hear the guy in the BMW behind me honk before the light turns green?
7:03 PM - 28 Feb 2017
 
Reddit—Jokes
If light travels faster than the speed of sound
submitted November 4, 2017 by 2020VisionEnabled
How come I can hear the guy in the BMW behind me honk before the light turns green?