Comments on: Honk if you’re Horn-Envious

By: Miron

Miron — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:24:48 +0000

I live in los angeles and I’ve been commuting to work for over fifteen years. About two years ago I decided to get an airzound system because of all the close-calls I experience on my daily commute. Sure I can be a bit on the obnoxious side with it, but I don’t only use it to get the attention of drivers who cut me off but also to alert drivers that I’m approaching when it’s obvious they are not paying attention. Also my voice alone does not compete well against buses and delivery trucks. So, a good blast with the the horn gets their attention. I have also noticed that most drivers appreciate the heads up. I’ve even been told that if I didn’t blow that horn they would have come into my space. A short friendly blast differs from a long angry one. And I do get a kick out scaring some jacka## in standstill traffic chatting on their cell phone. Or the occasional coffee shop filled with hipsters on the patio. I know I know…. But it’s innocent fun and no one gets hurt.

By: Fatima P.

Fatima P. — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:40:01 +0000

I find my Airzound more effective on attacking dogs than pepper spray. First, charging towards me, in a heart beat, they’re fleeing for their lives and I don’t even need to take my hands off the handle bar.

By: Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:54:30 +0000

I have been hit 6 times in Massachusetts, where the roads are poorly lit, beat, deer paths with no shoulder and telephone poles in the damn road! I have smashed mirrors, pounded on cars, and even keep broken up porcelain chips from spark plugs in my cheeks to spit at tempered glass windows to shatter them and yell at the deaf jerks running me off the road, I think a horn is more polite in such a last resort scenario… It’s definitely worth a try!

By: LAL

LAL — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:31:33 +0000

Using an Airzound on a trike. I do not use it often, more the standard bell for pedestrians. Of course, voice may also be faster, but I still find useful to ‘get ready’ and use it with cars.

By: Chris J.

Chris J. — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:47:45 +0000

I ride a recumbent with an AirZound and it saves my life about once a week.

Lately I’ve been at intersections where I have the right of way, the car coming from my right has a stop sign, and they don’t look left before attempting to make a right turn. A quick blast from the AirZound makes them instinctively hit their brakes and allows me to pass through the intersection unharmed.

I agree that one’s loud voice works as well, but the horn seems to blow in a frequency that short circuits the driver’s brain and makes them hit the brakes. I think that’s because it makes a cyclist sound like a larger vehicle, and the way car drivers often communicate with each other is through the horn.

I find when I yell at drivers it is more likely to head toward confrontation because I’m not able to censor myself and usually say what I’m thinking — which is not too friendly.

The AirZound offers a neutral way to give the message: I have the right-of-way, get the frack out of here!

By: John M. Hammer

John M. Hammer — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:03:24 +0000

In New York, a bell or horn is mandatory equipment. On my recumbent, I have both a nice bell (a Mirrycle Brass Duet – ding ding!) and an AirZound. I also have a fully-functional voice and I use that in preference to, or at least before, the bell or horn whenever possible and I keep my use of the horn to an absolute minimum because it is truly obnoxiously loud.

I’ve become very used to both the dual rear-view mirrors and the AirZound on my recumbent to the point where I miss them when I toodle down to the very nearby stores on my older hybrid. I’ve tried mirrors but my helmet mirror works better for me on the hybrid, and I can’t justify the cost of another AirZound for the short and infrequent trips I take with the older bike.

By: norm

norm — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:51:09 +0000

My current peeve is oblivious pedestrians with headphones walking in the bike lane – and not facing oncoming traffic (didn’t any of these people go to kindergarten?). I need a horn for them, as they can’t hear my polite and friendly little bell. However I like BluesCat’s approach – how about a horn that makes a Zombie Apocalypse Victim Scream?

By: BluesCat

BluesCat — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:15:52 +0000

I don’t have bells or a horns on my bikes. I doubt if any of the pedestrians or motorists I encounter would hear them: the motorists all have their windows rolled up and their air conditioning going full blast, and the pedestrians all have iThingie buds embedded in their ears.

The only thing which has worked for me is to glide up slowly behind some person afoot whose iGarbage toys have eliminated their ability to hear much of anything in the real world … and do my best imitation of a Zombie Apocalypse Victim Scream.

By: Paul in N.W. Gorgia

Paul in N.W. Gorgia — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:38:19 +0000

I have been using air-zound horns on all of my bicycles for years. My bicycles are, to me, my cars. I would not operate a motor vehicle without a horn for safety reason. Nor would I with my bicycles. The same goes for a side view mirror. (yes, I do turn my head, but a side view mirror adds safety, too)

All my bikes have bells, too. They work for most pedestrians and a few motorists with open windows. But having a very loud horn has saved me from collisions where motorists who were failing to follow laws more times than I can count. They also help with earphoned jamming pedestrians who are clueless to what is around them.
Sure, I could ride much slower, but I use my bicycles for transportation only and I cannot take 6 hours to ride to or from work all they time.

My only complaint with air-zound horns, they need a bigger air tank for more horn time..

It amazes me how many motorists are giving drivers licenses when they are clearly dangerous.

By: JP

JP — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:51:31 +0000

My fear is that now these obnoxious things have been invented it will lead someone to get it into his, of course his, mind to connect it up to the bike-equivalent of a car alarm. Won’t that be fun? What the world needs is less noise, not more.

Geezer harrumph over.