All About The Horn

[Mike W]

Unless the Elio is between a rock and a hard place, I think it will simply be pushed aside when contact is made with a SUV. The light weight will be an advantage. Of course, that is very simply my very biased and totally not humble opinion. Z

Maybe at really slow speeds, I can see that happening. Sadly a suv hitting us at anything above 35mph will be as bad news for us as the VW Bug of old. The good thing is that the safety built in will give us much better chance of crawling out of it in better shape. I really don't anticipate a whole spate of careless driver accidents though. At this point we have all had a number of years behind the wheel, so it will all be good! But remember Physics isn't just a good idea, it's the law!

 

[outsydthebox]

Maybe at really slow speeds, I can see that happening. Sadly a suv hitting us at anything above 35mph will be as bad news for us as the VW Bug of old. The good thing is that the safety built in will give us much better chance of crawling out of it in better shape. I really don't anticipate a whole spate of careless driver accidents though. At this point we have all had a number of years behind the wheel, so it will all be good! But remember Physics isn't just a good idea, it's the law!

I am glad you mentioned Physics. Any action that we take while driving can have a "ripple effect." Especially in rush hour traffic When safe distance is pretty much ignored. A few years ago, I had a nice conversation with pilot/ traffic reporter. He brought up an interesting observation. He mentioned how often he would see, from the air, a car make an "oblivious" lane change, causing the car ( that was almost hit) to slam on the brakes...not to the point of stopping, but cutting its speed in half. No problem, right?...accident avoided. Wrong. He said, the "panic braking" that follows, very often causes others to collide. He said that, even if an accident does not happen, it can have a ripple effect that will actually stop multiple lanes of traffic momentarily, and cause "stop and go" that last for miles! We have all been in traffic like this...when you finally get to the front...no wrecked cars, no tow trucks, no apparent reason.
I agree, there is no substitute for good, defensive driving. But I HAVE been in situations where my choices where, (because my wimpy horn could not be heard at 70mph) the shoulder, the ditch or hitting the brakes & being rear-ended. And after installing an air horn, when a "gentle toot" was effective enough to avoid the "ripple effect" from ever starting. My 2 cents.

 

[Smitty901]

All a horn does is alert witness to what has just happened. I ride a Motorcycle a lot. Most are windows up tunes on cell phone on and GPS going they will not hear a 500 pound boom go off. You are better off taking action than blowing a horn.
At first the problem maybe some fool staring at the ELIO running into someone else.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I am glad you mentioned Physics. Any action that we take while driving can have a "ripple effect." Especially in rush hour traffic When safe distance is pretty much ignored. A few years ago, I had a nice conversation with pilot/ traffic reporter. He brought up an interesting observation. He mentioned how often he would see, from the air, a car make an "oblivious" lane change, causing the car ( that was almost hit) to slam on the brakes...not to the point of stopping, but cutting its speed in half. No problem, right?...accident avoided. Wrong. He said, the "panic braking" that follows, very often causes others to collide. He said that, even if an accident does not happen, it can have a ripple effect that will actually stop multiple lanes of traffic momentarily, and cause "stop and go" that last for miles! We have all been in traffic like this...when you finally get to the front...no wrecked cars, no tow trucks, no apparent reason.
I agree, there is no substitute for good, defensive driving. But I HAVE been in situations where my choices where, (because my wimpy horn could not be heard at 70mph) the shoulder, the ditch or hitting the brakes & being rear-ended. And after installing an air horn, when a "gentle toot" was effective enough to avoid the "ripple effect" from ever starting. My 2 cents.

Mythbusters did a recent demonstration of this.

 

[Truett Collins]

Mythbusters did a recent demonstration of this.

With a regular horn they look before they respond, with an air horn they respond before they look......

 

[outsydthebox]

With a regular horn they look before they respond, with an air horn they respond before they look......

At 60+ mph and the stereo and A/C going they don't even hear the regular horn. The semi horn is definitely noticeable. No need to "lay on it." Just a quick "toot toot."
The horn is just a tool. When a tool is too small it doesn't do the job effectively. The same thing if it is "miss-used" or "abused."

 

[BillJ]

With the Elio being a small vehicle, that might not be seen well, I have a feeling that we will need to have a LOUD horn to ensure others will hear us when needed.... Harley Davidsons and similar bikes have a really loud exhaust which is a nice safety feature, as you can't miss hearing them! While annoying to many, the exhaust sound has no doubt saved many lives.... I don't want a loud Elio when they're made, but a loud horn is a must....


Moderator Comment: Moved into existing horn discussion thread

 

[Jim H]

With the Elio being a small vehicle, that might not be seen well, I have a feeling that we will need to have a LOUD horn to ensure others will hear us when needed.... Harley Davidsons and similar bikes have a really loud exhaust which is a nice safety feature, as you can't miss hearing them! While annoying to many, the exhaust sound has no doubt saved many lives.... I don't want a loud Elio when they're made, but a loud horn is a must....


Moderator Comment: Moved into existing horn discussion thread

BillJ, welcome to the forum and thanks for jumping right in with your comments. It ideas and comments from the members that makes this forum so enjoyable. Hope you will use the forum search function to quickly find the answers to most of your questions. If not, just ask because most of us are friendly and helpful. Welcome to this exciting and historic journey in modern transportation

 

[Mike W]

With the Elio being a small vehicle, that might not be seen well, I have a feeling that we will need to have a LOUD horn to ensure others will hear us when needed.... Harley Davidsons and similar bikes have a really loud exhaust which is a nice safety feature, as you can't miss hearing them! While annoying to many, the exhaust sound has no doubt saved many lives.... I don't want a loud Elio when they're made, but a loud horn is a must....


Moderator Comment: Moved into existing horn discussion thread

Yes, welcome BillJ. I agree, there are a lot of safety "tools" that two wheelers have but most people don't realize. Harley's unmistakeable rumble or a motorcycle's headlights on high beam (just this morning I saw this). I rode a 150cc scooter for a number of years and my high beams were always on to make sure people saw me. The same with a car's horn. It's a tool, only one of many in a safe driver's arsenal. The primary tool has to be safe, responsible driving habits and techniques, anything else without this is nothing but noise and bright lights.

 

[wayne kemp]

I want mine horn to go with the image

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