Loud Horns Save Lives
Recently I was chatting with a fellow rider when he mentioned that he was a believer in the "Loud Pipes Save Lives" philosophy. The argument goes something like this: a loud motorcycle will cause a driver to look for the source of the sound, thereby seeing the motorcyclist and avoiding a crash. It's like sirens on an ambulances; loud pipes are intended to get drivers to look.
But wouldn't it be annoying if ambulances drove around with their sirens on all the time? Pretty soon no one would notice anymore. Then there would have to be some new noise to get our attention.
If loud pipes really do save lives, wouldn't you want the car that your spouse or child drives to be as loud as possible? Of course everyone else has the same idea, so you will have to keep making their car louder and louder so that it is more noticeable than the rest. Now we have an aural arms race that can only end in silence as our eardrums rupture.
Sirens work because they are distinctive and unusual. You don't hear them all the time and you know that when you do hear one that you need to pay attention. Horns on vehicles have the same effect and this is one place where I do believe louder is better and an upgrade to the typical factory equipment is definitely in order.
I recently had a Stebel air horn installed on my motorcycle. The manufacturer claims 105 decibels from this little bad boy. I wear earplugs when I ride to protect my hearing and have never heard the full fury of my new horn without hearing protection. But I do know that it works.
A couple of weeks ago while on a poker run with my son, a fellow in a minivan decided that he wanted to occupy my lane while I was still using it. A blast of the horn woke this guy up and, I think, caused him to go home for a change of undergarments. My son laughed for about 5 miles about the way the guy jumped out of his skin when I hit the horn.
I have also had several occasions where a quick blast while approaching an intersection caused a clearly inattentive driver to notice me immediately and no evasive maneuvering was required. No fuss and I don't feel guilty about waking my neighbors when I ride to work in the morning.
So here's thought, instead of upgrading your pipes, upgrade your horn instead. You will increase your safety and your neighbors will appreciate it.
John Davis is a rider and writer. His current ride is Victoria, a candy red Honda VTX1800 Retro. John writes for several web sites and blogs in addition to his own site, NorthwestCycleNews.
