Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/06/16/listen-to-the-nicest-car-horn.html
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Great job!
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Super awesome hack. Easy to do, with infinite possibilities for variation. I dig the R2D2 horn. There is one problem. Some places might have laws regarding what horns can be in cars, (especially the loud train type)… so if you make this custom horn, check your local laws and ordinances first so that you don’t wind up with an expensive ticket!
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I love it… but it probably couldn’t be used to best advantage in the UK, where one may only use a horn:
- to warn other road users of one’s presence (not to tell them to stop texting or otherwise comment on their activities)
- whilst the car is moving (so not at traffic lights, for example) - that one’s a legal requirement
- between 07:00 and 23:30 - another legal restriction.
In short, the horn is not for general car-to-car communication - it’s emergency equipment.
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FYI drivers: this horn is great for car-to-car communication, when you’re wrapped up tight in your giant metal cage.
For the rest of us - people on bikes, people walking, children, etc - THERE IS NO NICE HONK.
What sounds “nice” to you is still really f’ing loud outside your vehicle. Don’t worry, we can hear your combustion engine growling down our necks, you don’t need to let us know you’re there. Even your Prius is louder than you think.
Also, in case it wasn’t clear from the above, my dude’s super loud train horn is never appropriate for pedestrians, even the slow ones. That’s a dick move.
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What about when you’re at a light and the person in front of you is texting and you need them to GO so that you don’t miss the green light? Is it illegal to notify them that they are a dumbass?
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My kid had this exact idea the other day. To make a friendly beep version.
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In urban traffic the only information a horn conveys is that someone, somewhere, is using one… Which car was honking? Who is the driver honking at? Me? Another road user? A pedestrian? Is he warning someone? Trying to attract attention? Saying hello to a friend? It is usually a complete mystery.
Of course, what it really means is that somebody is cross - and in my experience, usually, that the person behind me at a junction thinks I am being too slow in driving into said junction. Which really frustrates me, as from a car’s length further back he can’t see the reason that I have not done so yet: there is a car coming, you douche, do you want me to rush out and slam into it just because you are an impatient idiot?
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I presume that was rhetorical 
Yes. It would be illegal. Perfectly understandable, but technically illegal: the horn is there to tell other road users that you’re there. Absolutely nothing else.
And you can’t use elequent gestures instread, as you have both hands on the wheel, right?
In better news: I checked the exact wording of ‘The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986’, and it refers to any “horn, gong, bell or siren fitted to or carried on a vehicle”. I want a gong!
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I’m partial to claxons.
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I wish I had the time to get on it
Drivers think they are honking at someone, but they are actually honking at everyone. Horns are not directional. While the person they think they are honking at is usually another driver who is ensconced inside a relatively sound proof cabin, it’s the innocent pedestrian walking on the sidewalk next to them who bears the brunt of the noise. Just stop using your horn in non-emergency situations. Literally everyone want you to stop it. We don’t want to hear it.
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Doesn’t sound nice to me. Sounds irritated and in a hurry.
And as a person who live in a city where drivers already honk way too much I can only think : honks x 3 = 3 time as much honking.
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surprised no one else has mentioned the prevelance of the friendly double-toot in the Carribean to say thanks.
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I’ve known some folks in the past whom modified their bikes with hefty air horns:
Given that the average stock bike horn is an anemic tweet, the tugboat option is nice to have.
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Well, in Indonesia, you use the horn to tell people you’re overtaking or backing up. That’s because people there don’t use shoulder checks or look in their rear view mirrors very much, so when a car you’re walking behind honks twice, you have a chance to hit the back of the car before it flattens you.
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What’s wrong with using morse code?
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I may have to make one of these, sans train effect. I’d like to be able to make BB-8 car sounds (though R2 is still my favorite). If I ever put a compressor on the car it’s going to be for re-inflation after a beach run.
I’ve considered a Bermuda Bell for this, but the speaker is a better plan.
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not if by text.
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