Originally published at: Watch: Man installs train horn on his car, uses it on a driver who cuts in front of him | Boing Boing
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8 Likes
I’ve seen these on cars before. Totally not cool. Anyone in the vicinity is treated to ear-damaging noise, and the startle factor can cause a dangerous situation if other drivers panic. The people who install these things on cars are looking for any excuse to use them, or often have no excuse at all. I was walking through SF pushing a baby in a stroller once when some A-hole cruising down the street repeatedly blasted his train horn just for fun.
52 Likes
Insanely, obnoxiously loud.
Probably violates every local noise level ordinance.
Total overkill.
But I could put this to such good use…
23 Likes
Just to set the record straight, I did not ever mount one of these on my R1200GS and then use it to scare the shit out of someone and cause them to drive off the road when the idiot was about to merge into my lane and hit me.
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I’ve always wanted to install a super-loud secondary horn in my car, but have never done so, for exactly the reasons you state.
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Still, maybe a slightly watered down version for motorcycles. They need to be noticed when on the road.
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If he only used this horn to try and prevent an accident I would be fine with it.
But c’mon. Nobody here thinks that’s the only time.
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I always wanted to install a car horn on my bike. I know “SMIDSY” is a real thing, but so are pricks in mini-vans who look right at you and then change lanes into you.
17 Likes
I’ve always wanted to put directional, normal decibal horns on my car to make sure when I honk at the asshole driver to my left, he knows that it was meant for him and not the person in front of me.
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Riders need every advantage they can get, but the best approach is for the motorcycle to be noticed without needing to actively honk your horn, which would be too late to prevent collisions in many situations. I really wish that more motorcycle riders in the US would consider wearing neon reflective vests, bright colored helmets, etc. but black bikes and black leather still seem to be the most popular. I wear a vest when I’m on my brightly-colored Vespa around town and (knock on wood) I’ve been ok so far.
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I have a Stebel Nautilus on my R1200GS and my K1600GTLE. They are loud enough to grab people by the attention handle.
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A lot of years ago, I had an air horn on my bicycle (with a little plastic bottle reservoir that you pressurized with a bike pump). It let out a piercing, bizarre sound that cut through most car stereos and got some damn attention. It was almost a bonus that it wasn’t immediately obvious that the sound was coming from me. It probably broke a number of laws, but I used it sparingly and it probably saved me more than a few times biking through the city.
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I had a semi-truck air horn on my Triumph Spitfire back in the 70’s, and it was very useful. Unfortunately, more often than not it was the only thing on the car that worked.
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He says it might have saved him but I think the swerving into the other lane was probably all that was needed. The horn didn’t stop the car from getting in front of him. He just wanted to show off his horn in a video.
12 Likes
Yeah, no, this is awful and dangerous.
But I’ve always fantasized about having an LED display on which I could display choice messages for those driving behind me (too closely, straddling two lanes, on their phone, etc.). I’ve seen enough road rage videos not to risk even that, though.
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Huh. That louder horn for my scooter is still in the garage. I’d forgotten about it.
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I’ll up this arms race… car mounted foghorn
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…and perhaps activated by facial expressions…
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