- [Narrator] There is nothing as obnoxious as some jerk
laying on their horn in traffic.
Although it's something that we all love to hate,
the horn does in fact have a purpose.
Because before, it was madness.
- [Man] Learn to drive.
- [Man] Get outta here.
- [Woman] Get out of my way.
- [Woman] Oh, you dingbat.
- [Narrator] In the early days of the automobile,
the roads were a riot of sound.
Drivers could use whistles, sirens and bells
to alert pedestrians and other cars what they were up to.
If you were driving in London,
every car had to have a guy with a red flag
walk in front of it.
Imagine being that guy.
Miller Reese Hutchison was an inventor
who lived in New York City.
Disturbed by the increasing number of accidents,
he sat down and invented the klaxon,
which was a horn with a sound so unique and distinct,
it became the preferred choice for cars and their drivers.
The invention delighted the people of the UK so much
a car race called the Emancipation Run was created
to celebrate getting rid of that flag guy
and replacing him with a horn.
It runs to this day.
Miller Reese Hutchison went on to many great things.
He worked for Thomas Edison.
He also invented the first practical version
of the hearing aid.
But the car horn is perhaps his most iconic creation.
Love them or hate them, it changed the acoustic landscape
of the world and gave you a way to give that guy
who just cut you off a piece of your mind.