Mine’s in the middle of the wheel, also housing an airbag, and either the latter is faulty or it’s designed to not be triggered by, ummm, ‘heavy honking’.
If I’m honest, I can’t think of many situations where using the horn has really been an absolute matter of safety, of alerting others to my presence, maybe half-a-dozen times in ten years of driving. I can think of many occasions when I’ve sounded it in retaliation, in frustration, etc. (and the same for flashing lights on motorways). And I’m a nice person. The place I tend to use it most often is one particular awkwardly-positioned and poorly-signed roundabout, basically to say ‘you should have stopped, shouldn’t you?’
Aside: I love the Highway Code’s instruction to “never sound your horn aggressively”. Wouldn’t it be great to have an extra ‘aggressive horn’?
In Beijing I think traffic would come to a stop if every horn failed at the same moment. I also think there would be a tremendous opportunity for shops that did nothing but replace brakes, clutches, and horns. Most cacophonist traffic I’ve ever encountered.
There was a great letter to the editor in the local paper a few years ago. This guy suggested that cars have two horns. First, the normal one, and secondly a “polite” one. He described it as a “sort of automotive throat clearing”. I thought it was brilliant - and would go down especially well in England if not here.
In the absence of such a horn, I’ve just about perfected the “gentle tap” which makes a kind of muffled wheeze sound. This is useful for things like the guy reversing out of his driveway when there is a street full of parked SUVs and vans, and I don’t know for sure that he’s seen me.
I use my horn often, but I try not to use it unnecessarily - that still equates to “often”. Of course, Sydney drivers suck donkey dongers.
Well, in your neck of the woods, I happen to know for a fact that they are very useful for alerting idiot Americans that, regardless of their (the Americans) personal preference, everyone else intends to drive on the left side of the road.
Also good for saying “This roundabout goes clockwise, much like every other one on these two islands”
And they serve as a reminder to look right before crossing a street.
Just a few of the reasons I was honked at in Dublin.
I know some fellow rail enthusiasts who have a Nathan five chime air horn from a diesel locomotive set up on their truck, running off a tank of compressed air.
Batam, Indonesia, is another place full of horny drivers. From what I’ve heard, it’s the same throughout the rest of Indonesia, but I’ve only been to Batam.
But Singapore – a very short ferry ride away from Batam – is eerily quiet in that respect. I don’t think I heard a single horn in the week I was there.
Bermuda is entertaining and confusing. The horn has one, and only one, purpose. Which is a greeting to oncoming drivers you know. Use your horn for any other (i.e. normal) purpose, and you’ll have many people look at you, expecting to see a friendly familiar face.
There seems to me to be a correlation between the size of the city and the amount of horn honking. In medium cities and smaller places, hearing a horn is extremely unusual except when it’s actually needed to sound a warning. Very little aggressive honking is practiced. Probably a cycle is involved. Less stress demands less aggression which begets less stress, etc.
Speaking of aggressive honking: you got the quote wrong, Polycarp.
I wouldn´t wonder there may be a hefty fine associated with honking, or canning, or beheading… that place is insanely uptight that way.
Nothing else to add, except that once I had the chance to honk a big cargo ship horn. Oh man, if a thing like that was installed on a car you could clear the road half a mille in front of you, and by clearing the road I mean sending cars flying away.
Around here we call it a “Pana-second,” the shortest conceivable period of time. In fact, some believe the Pana-second is actually negative, and demonstrates the possibility of faster-than-light travel, since sometimes the horns start even before the light turns green.
Actually, in Panama right of way depends on 1) how big your vehicle is; and 2) who blows their horn first. Other vehicles, especially buses and taxis, will routinely cut you off or turn off a side street right in front of you even though they know perfectly well you are there. Honking your horn can sometimes intimidate them into hesitating long enough to get past them. (If not, you better be quick on the brakes.)
In England, I’ve encountered some instances where, in a narrow road with sharp turns and numerous blind spots, it was custom to “pip” before engaging in a turn to warn anybody coming the other way of your presence.
Maybe some our British Doper friends can corroborate that.
It used to be recommended behaviour to do this in such situations, but less so now. Partly, I suspect, because better sound insulation of cars means a short ‘pip’ is unlikely to be heard inside vehicles which are not already close to you. And a great big ‘honk’ from every passing car would be very annoying for people living nearby, and also could cause a problem for horseriders. Sensible cautious driving is a better option in these locations.
I have both: long ago I had installed a set of semi truck air horns on my 1984 Toyota 4x4, and was amused with the results. Last year while surfing the eBay I found a small horn for $30, “sounds like a semi truck horn.”
So I plunked down my cash and a week later I have this little air horn at my door. I installed it to a separate little button on the side of one of my scanners in my work truck, convenient and comfortable to my right hand as I drive.
All is good, however the horn makes a toot-toot sound instead of the ground shaking blast I was looking for, but I’ve discovered that quick little toot - toot taps sound really polite in city traffic, and since it sounds so different it gets people’s attention. Now I call it my nice horn and use it for that reason.
The PA is a side option on a CB radio I have; it’s a little weak and the thrill of actually telling people over a loudspeaker what I think of them has worn thin as I’ve come to realize what an idiot I sound like as I verbally berate people, so I just use it for fun instead.
So that when someone drives away from a house at 12.30 in the morning in a quiet residential street, they can sound their horn to say goodbye to their hosts.
Mine’s in the middle of the wheel, also housing an airbag, and either the latter is faulty or it’s designed to not be triggered by, ummm, ‘heavy honking’.