Pedestrians trying to negotiate city streets get so little respect from motorists that many may welcome a new design of portable air horn that can blast an ear-splitting 150dB warning to inattentive drivers.
No more worrying that drivers haven’t noticed you’re crossing a side street – the horn produces a sound claimed to be as loud as a jet taking off at 25 metres.
World’s loudest bike horn
When we built the Hornster to draw attention to the road danger cyclists face on city roads, we assumed our Guinness World Record for the loudest bike horn would be safe for a while. After all, we discovered first hand how equipping a bicycle with a horn louder than Concorde is quite an undertaking. Not only did we have to import the same type of air horn they fit to American freight trains, but adapting a high pressure scuba diving to power it to over 135dB was far from straightforward. Perhaps it’s why nobody had done it before.
However, now somebody appears to have done just that – and claims to have added a whopping 15dB in the process. Impact Train Horns sell their creations for around $160 plus shipping.
The same quietness that makes bicycles such a civilised way of getting around makes them vulnerable to inattentive motorists – the Hornster is a wake-up call for drivers who don’t pay attention to bikes
The triple air horn fitted to The Hornster is an Airchime KH3A from an American locomotive, which has been adapted to run off a scuba diving cylinder.
How loud?
- Hornster: 178db (3ft) 140db (50ft)
- F-14 take off with re-heat: 130db (50ft)
- Concorde (landing):119db
- Typical lorry air horn: 110db (100ft)
- City traffic: 78db (central London)
- Conversation in restaurant: 60db
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.
Anne Damerell
ETA, I love you dearly, but this is a joke, isn’t it? You don’t really want our streets blasted by horns louder than Concorde, do you?