Air Bags and Horns

Hi,
Can someone enlighten me as to how exactly horns on stearing wheels are
a good idea with air bags? My logic flows like this:

When is someone most likely to use a horn?
Just before impact in an accident.

Where is the horn button located?
On or near the stearing wheel.

In the event of an impact what happens around the stearing wheel?
The airbag deploys.

Where were your hands when this airbag deployed?
On top of the stearing wheel pressing the horn!!!

What's the logic behind this?!?!?!

 

Guess it depends on your use of the horn.

I use the horn (couple of short toots) when someone has the blinker on and
wants in my lane to indicate to them I'm holding a spot open. Or I use the
horn when the person with a cell phone starts to drift over into my lane
with looking or signaling to get away from me (polymer panels or not). If
they keep coming over I steer, accelerate or brake to avoid contact.

If I think an accident is likely to happen, I have my hands on the wheel
(not the horn) to try and steer out of the anticipated accident, or if
there's no getting out of it (an impact), I want to hold on to the wheel and
brace for the impact. To me the horn is not for impending accidents, just
to signal other folks.

My $.02.

 

Can someone enlighten me as to how exactly horns on stearing wheels are

I doubt that generally you would have time to hit the horn if you are about to
get into an accident that is severe enough to deploy the airbag. If you can see
the accident coming and hit the horn, generally you will also have enough time
to steer away from it.

 

I wouldn't imagine many people would have their fingers on the horn at the
moment of impact, they'd be more concerned with slamming on the brakes or
trying to avoid the other vehicle (if someone's main concern just before
impact is leaning on the horn, I would suggest they quite likely deserve
what's coming to them..)

 

Thats what I'm saying.......if one would have the time to be able to hit the
horn, he would also be able to try to avoid the accident. Which would you pick?

 

For many drivers, that is where the horn has always been and
putting it elsewhere can make it harder to find in a hurry.

I had one of the Fords with the horn in the turn signal stick. It
also had a 5-speed with 4 gears on top and 2 on the bottom, so
there was no center position. The gears were close together,
so it had a really nice short throw, but you had to be really
careful putting it into first or reverse so you didn't get
the wrong one. I hated that piece of junk.

The horn buttons on my 1998 SW2 have annoyed me a few times
because they take longer to find even with practice. I let my
girlfriend borrow my car and someone backed into it in a parking lot.
She was trying to find the horn but in the interim it got whacked.
No damage, but she was pretty annoyed at the crappy little horn buttons.

-DanD