California: Is it legal to put a train horn on a car?
California has no train horn ban, but no horn may make an unreasonably loud or harsh sound.
California requires a working horn audible from 200 feet and bars any horn from making an unreasonably loud or harsh sound. The same law lets only emergency vehicles carry an air horn that breaks this rule, and sirens are limited to emergency vehicles. A train horn, built to sound like a locomotive, is likely to fail the loud-or-harsh rule, though the law sets no decibel number.
Conditions
- Horn must be audible from 200 feet
- No unreasonably loud or harsh sound
- Non-complying air horns allowed only on emergency vehicles
- Sirens allowed only on emergency vehicles
What the law says
A motor vehicle, when operated upon a highway, shall be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than 200 feet, but no horn shall emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound. An authorized emergency vehicle may be equipped with, and use in conjunction with the siren on that vehicle, an air horn that emits sounds that do not comply with the requirements of this section.
Sources
- Cal. Vehicle Code § 27000 (public.law) Mirror of official text · california.public.law
- Cal. Vehicle Code § 27002 (public.law) Mirror of official text · california.public.law
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- California Highway Patrol
- Website
- chp.ca.gov
How bordering states compare
- Arizona Allowed with limitsArizona has no train horn ban, but no horn may make an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle.
- Nevada Allowed with limitsNevada bars any horn from making an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle, which a train horn likely breaks.
- Oregon Allowed with limitsOregon has no express train-horn ban, but unreasonably loud or harsh horn sounds are illegal, and bells, sirens and certain whistles are banned.
All 50 states for this question · Other topics in California