The Hornster 178 dB Bicycle - Is Noise Pollution A Solution To Road Safety?

Few more decibels on a bicycle horn that literally shouts for attention, and is only so loud as to overwhelm the surrounding crowd, should be just about the right thing for a cyclist to make his mark amidst the heavy vehicle drivers. The #-Link-Snipped-#, a brainchild of Yannick Read, developed by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), was specially made to focus on the dangers faced by cyclists on the urban city roads.

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The Hornster bike uses a three-bell Airchime KH3A air horn that's used on trains. It derives all its power from a SCUBA tank placed between the handlebars and the seat. A full-sized tank rests between the cyclists legs. The reason that this could prove out to be harmful on-road is, at 178dB, it is way more louder than the Concorde superset. Anything over 140dB is enough to cause an ear damage, so it's practically quite irresponsible to use this in a crowded street. Why then was it made you ask? Well this is what Yannick Read had to say:

He stated, “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.”

Whether his point is justified or not, this hornster is going to pose some serious trouble to the remaining drivers. Check out the following video showing its working: