Why are car horns in Europe harder to use than in Asia?
While cars of Asian origin are generally easy to use their horns, cars of European origin are often more difficult to use.
Specifically, car models from Europe such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Audi... are often difficult to use the horn. To use it, the driver has to use their whole hand, pressing firmly on the center of the steering wheel. Meanwhile, car models from Asia such as Japan and South Korea only require the thumb to press the horn.
Experts explain that this is because European car manufacturers design the horn components to reflect the culture, habits, and usage patterns of Europeans.
Asians tend to use their horns frequently, while Europeans rarely honk while driving. Therefore, car horns are rarely heard on the streets of European countries. In particular, excessive honking is frowned upon and strongly condemned in European countries.
Europeans are aware that the indiscriminate use of car horns causes noise pollution, harming both their own health and the health of the community. These factors have shaped the European culture of car horn usage.
Understanding this issue, manufacturers design the horns on European car models to be difficult to press, partly to discourage drivers from honking and also to cater to the usage habits of Europeans.
Meanwhile, in Asia, the use and honking of horns has become widespread, even indiscriminate, making it difficult for other road users to distinguish the reason for the honking. Therefore, the use of horns has become saturated and no longer attracts the attention of other drivers. As a result, the horn has lost some of its primary purpose.
The reason is that the streets are crowded with too many vehicles, leading to haphazard traffic flow, congestion, and chaos, which forces car drivers to use their horns excessively to ensure safety while driving.
And the overuse of horns over the years has become a common habit among many people, because everyone wants to go fast, and every vehicle wants to be given way. And the horn has become the only tool, the only way out.
To cater to the characteristics and driving habits of Vietnamese people, Asian car models have horns that are easier to use, in contrast to the difficulty in pressing the horn on European models.