Train Horns are Car Parts?
There are plenty of things about cars that can be confusing, such as how an air bag is both a major inflatable safety feature for the driver and a type of component used in air suspension systems, and how HID headlight bulbs can’t simply just be screwed in where the older halogen bulbs were. But among the most jarring is trying to figure out what a train horn is doing on a passenger car. That type of noise certainly isn’t expected to come out of Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, or even a Ford Explorer, so when you hear it far away from train tracks, the sound can be quite startling (not to mention confounding).
Train horns are, in fact, aftermarket accessories for cars, truck, and SUVs that are used to reproduce authentic train horn blast sounds. Aftermarket car train horns are novelty items; they don’t replace a vehicle’s main horn and they definitely should not be used on a major highway or even a back road. Part of this has to do with how loud and startling a train horn is. It could be dangerous to use one where others are driving, as it can result in unexpected reactions from other drivers. Drivers simply use train horns because they enjoy tricking people and making them jump, they just tend to do it in parking lots and other less risky places.
Train horns are designed to fit under the front section of the car, usually adjacent to the bumper and hidden from view. This location hides the horn well enough that most other passersby wouldn’t be able to tell what was coming, which would ruin the surprise of using the horn. These add-ons are quite easy to install but their legality does vary from region to region and state to state, so check on local laws and regulations before committing a purchase and installation.
Whether you want to prank some friends or even make a YouTube video of peoples’ reactions after hearing a train horn unexpectedly, there’s likely a train horn that produces just the type of sound you need. Just make sure, if you’re doing a video, not to do the filming yourself when driving (a friend can do that, and it’s much safer than you handling both the video camera and the steering wheel at exactly the same time while making loud noises come out of your car).
