Kentucky · KY · Vehicles
Kentucky: Is it legal to put a train horn on a car?
Allowed with limits
Kentucky sets no horn loudness limit but bars sirens, whistles, and bells on non-emergency vehicles.
Kentucky only requires a horn loud enough to be heard from 200 feet and bans sounding it unnecessarily. It has no 'unreasonably loud or harsh' rule. A separate law bars any siren, whistle, or bell on non-emergency vehicles, but it does not say whether air or train horns count as whistles.
Conditions
- No siren, whistle, or bell on non-emergency vehicles
- Horn may not be sounded unnecessarily
What the law says
No motor vehicle, except those designated under KRS 189.910 to 189.950 as emergency vehicles, shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a vehicle, any siren, whistle, or bell.
Sources
- KRS 189.950(1) Official · apps.legislature.ky.gov
- KRS 189.080 Official · apps.legislature.ky.gov
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Kentucky State Police
- Phone
- (502) 782-1800
- Website
- kentuckystatepolice.ky.gov
How bordering states compare
- Illinois Allowed with limitsIllinois bans horns that make an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle, which a typical train horn likely fails.
- Indiana Allowed with limitsIndiana bans horns that make an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle, which a typical train horn likely fails.
- Missouri Allowed with limitsMissouri allows a horn or whistle but bars unnecessary noise and any other sound-producing signaling device, which may cover an added train horn.
- Ohio Allowed with limitsOhio sets no loudness limit for horns but bans sirens, whistles and bells on ordinary vehicles; whether that covers train horns is unsettled.
- Tennessee Allowed with limitsTennessee bans sirens and exhaust, compression or spark plug whistles, and forbids unreasonably loud or harsh horn sounds, without naming air horns.
- Virginia Allowed with limitsVirginia allows only State Police-approved warning devices on public roads and bans unreasonably loud or harsh horn sounds; air horns aren't addressed for cars.
- West Virginia Allowed with limitsWest Virginia bars unreasonably loud or harsh horns and whistles, and bans sirens, whistles and bells on ordinary vehicles.