Cars Honking at You?

I was at the traffic light the other day waiting to get onto the "highway" (the 40 mph highway in between suburbs) and a car stopped behind me. My mom was in the passenger seat and she gets a little panicked in the car so she kept urging me to wait until the road was empty. I learned to drive with my dad and he taught me to wait until the road was empty but that it was okay to go ahead when there was a safe gap, but with my mom, I tried to go when the cars on either side were very far away one time and she still yelped and held onto both sides of the seat like we were going to get into an accident

It felt like a minute passed and the road wasn't clearing up so I waited until the the cars on either side were very far away (I know the feeling of fear that rushes through you when a car suddenly shoots out in front of you from a side street) and went ahead. The car behind me at the traffic light didn't honk at that time while we were there and the person was very patient thankfully but being in the car with other people before, the driver behind you sometimes presses on their horn repeatedly, even when you can't (like at a no turn on red sign) and I'm afraid of that happening to me. I already get nervous very easily, and someone behind me repeatedly honking makes me just want to drive ahead, even though I don't. I just sit there fidgeting in my seat and wishing that I could leave the car. I know I'll encounter this situation a lot in real life so I have to get used to it so I'd like some advice.

Apparently a car horn is 110 decibels, so is this safe? Should I always wear earplugs while driving, and would they be enough to protect against damage from a car horn?

 

I was at a stop, not a traffic light, to clarify. It would've made it easier if I were at a traffic light, of course.

 

If a car keeps honking at me I just flip them off. They're gonna be rude so can I.

 

That's not something I would do. Not every car is going to honk at you. Also, by wearing ear plugs it makes it harder to hear. It can be dangerous while driving, to not be able to hear the road sounds and any sounds in general. It is your choice of course, but I would not wear ear plugs while driving...