Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-26
SIRENS OVERUSED,
AUTO MAKER SAYS
Too Much Reliance Placed
on Horns, {. T. Strong
Declares.

That too much reliance has been
placed on the use of the automobile
siren and too little on care in driving
and use of brakes and steering wheel
is the opinion of many experts who
have given their attention to the mat.
ter of accident reduction.
The automobile horn. they assert
in many instances has inoculated the
driver with A false sense of security
which often breeds careesSness and
results in disaster because of his too
great dependence on it. With many
drivers it has become instructive to
bring the hand down on the horn but.
ton and shoot ahead without heed as
10 the effect which the sounding of
the horn has had on the other fellow.
And the other fellow. whether motor.
list or pedestrian, has become calloused
to the blare of the horn and much of
its significance is lost upon him.
Any doubt as to the truth of this
statement would he removed in the
opinion of E. T. Strong, president and
general manager of the Buick Motor
Co, if automobile owners would try
driving their cars without the aid of
their electric horn. Under such cir.
cumstances they would find them
selves motoring with more care than
they had exercised since their first
experience as automobile drivers.
Would Use More Care. e
Drive two blocks through traffic
without the use of the horn" Mr..
Strong asserts, and you will find that
you are using means which you never
used before to avoid accidents. You
will drive as you always should drive,
with due regard for others who are
cl1 n inc l..
ways with you. And you will dis
cover that even without using the
horn. you will be driving with greater
regard for the safety of yourself, pc
destrians and other cars. This is true
because YOU will not be placing exag-
gerated confidence in a noisy bit of
mechanism which cannot and never
could of itself prevent accidents, even
though many drivers show by their
actions on the road that they credit
it with such superhuman powers.
Then round out the test by MOTTO
ing as you drive and as you cross the
streets on foot what effect the horns
OF other cars have on you. You will
discover, that the sound of an electric
norm no longer causes you to jump
out of the way or pull your car over
to the side of the road. You go ahead
warning; in fact the chances are that
you haven't heard it. 1t is only after
repeated warnings force themselves
on your consciousness that you notice
the cause of the noise at all"
Sometimes Blows Too Late.
Sometimes this happens too late,
Mr.. Strong says, and then Is wit
messed another accident which might
have been prevented if the driver had
placed more reliance upon his brakes
and steering wheel than on the power
of his horn to clear the path for him,
In court the drivers defense will be
that he blew his horn, this excuse
serving to ease his conscience, where
as in fact he may be criminally liable.
Possibly if horns were removed
entirely from automobiles we would
see very satisfactory decrease in au-
tomobile accidents. Without horns 1t
would not take long for every one to
realize that safety depended entirely
on keeping the eyes and ears open.
which is after all the only sure and
complete remedy for accident. A long
step in the direction of greater safety
will have been taken when drivers
realize that they cannot drive with
the horn" concludes Mr.. Strong.