When I lived in Canada we had to turn on the honk mode because there were too many people using devices that block remote vehicle locking. The honk is an obvious indicator that the car did, indeed, lock.
Aren't the flashing indicator lights also an obvious indicator that the car did indeed lock? Or even just the sound of the locks locking. It gives an audible click in all cars I know.
Yes, if you have line of sight. If you don't, sound has the advantage of going around corners.
I have encountered situations where I might need to operate the locks without being immediately in line-of-sight, like when I leave the vehicle before other passengers, someone else needs to get something out of the vehicle, etc.
Yeah, locking/unlocking the car out of sight sounds like a bad idea. It doesn't sound like a sufficiently important use case to justify obnoxious sounds.
The noise only happens if you want it to, anyway. All of the US manufacturers who add that feature only make it occur if you press the button 2x in succession.
I like to use the honk to locate my car when I've forgotten where I parked it. Unfortunately, my 2016 Corolla makes a beep inaudible from more than a spot or two away. :-(
