The Silence the Horns project
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| August 2026 Silence the Horns is a North American citizen-led project addressing use of horn sounds with remote car locking and other acoustic signals, such as "remote start" and "car finding" for use in a parking lot, and "easy fill tire alert" systems. Our goals are aligned with automotive sustainability and environmental missions, but more than half of automakers use horn sounds for non-emergency signals. Horn sounds are used in this manner in North America, while they are not used in many other countries, including European countries. |
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| In 2011, General Motors introduced the MyChevrolet app in an ad where a woman honks her car's horn from the airport, miles from where it is parked. In 2020, General Motors continues to advertise remote (miles away) honking in one of its newest Buick ads (at 0:07). |
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From 2014 through 2019, the Silence the Horns project challenged automakers to consider the impacts of preventable noise in vehicle design. We challenged SAE International to consider preventable horn noise in its standard setting, and NADA to educate new car buyers about quieter lock signaling at dealerships.
In 2015, we met with a member of Congress who referred us to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; we couldn't establish communication. We sent a report to a NHTSA executive who said he did not think the "off label" use of horn signals was a safety issue; he referred us to SAE, the standards developing organization. We wrote SAE leadership, received no response, and followed up to our initial letter, but could not establish communication. We created a letter-writing campaign targeting Consumer Reports; the magazine and website published articles 1 2 but stopped short of assigning blame. We met with a policy analyst at Consumer Reports in Washington, DC, but the organization declined to investigate the technology. |
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| Access to reasonable quiet benefits sleep, reduces stress, and has restorative qualities. All vehicles can and should be designed to function without using horn sounds for purposes of convenience. Horn sounds have meaning, and have unintended effects on people, especially impacting attention and sleep. |
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Most of the people who worked on the Silence the Horns project have left, and I don't blame them for giving up hope. Others have made it clear that they will take action if requested, such as letter writing. More and more infrequently, I have participated in public discussions online and off line. In May of 2025
I attended a private online event featureing one of General Motors' sound designers discussing the impact of electric vehicles on urban noise. In most discussion of the impact of electric vehicles on soundscapes, the use of horn sounds for non-emergency situations is not discussed, and this was no exception. I asked the speaker if there were any concerns about the impact of unnecessary horn sounds on the soundscape. Clearly irritated, the speaker waved off my question and said, "People want it - they want it." |
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| The idea that customers want to hear a horn sound for lock status was included in some of the responses from automakers during our first letter writing campaign. But it is doubtful that even that much research was involved in the decision to use horn sounds. Almost half of automakers manufacturing cars in the North American market use flashing lights or the quiet electronic tone used by Toyota almost since the beginning of the concept and creation of audible assurance of lock status. We spoke with many people who could not bring themselves to stop using a sound for confirmation, but would have welcomed the chance to use the quiet electronic tone instead of a horn sound. |
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| If you are here for the first time because you have just discovered this sound or just realized that the sound is affecting your sleep, concentration, or another aspect of your life, and if you would like to take action, contact any of your elected leaders who are knowledgeable about noise and health. If any of your elected leaders serve on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, contact a member of their staff and ask for a brief meeting. If your communication is ignored, attend a local civic meeting in person where the Congress member or a member of their staff will attend, and let them know that you would appreciate the chance to meet briefly to discuss an issue related to noise and health. If any of your elected leaders have written legislation related to noise, contact their staff and try to schedule a meeting. It's fine to approach this on your own, but much better to have at least one or more others who are affected by this noise when you meet with a representative. |
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| If you are considering posting an online petition, please write to info (at) silencethehorns (dot) org and we can discuss it. We started this effort with an online petition that did not succeed, but we would be willing to support and put time into a new effort. |
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