Been thinking about how to do that…
I’m a cop in Tennessee and in my state its not arrestable offence. Its a simple ticket of $130, it could be a excessive use of a warning device which could carry a court date.(pretty much you come talk to the judge and he tells you the punishment.
bgmaster, I am coming to kingsport and blowing my sh!t at you 
You gotta pay to play…
I was talking to a couple guys at work the other day and I guess around here they can get you with public nuisance charges if you get snappy with the cop. I didn’t realize how loud they are until my girlfriend blasted me with them one day. It’s not worth the laughs to scare people if you’re going to get a ticket IMO. I got them to let people know I’m in the lane when they’re trying to cut me off. I blow them a lot going over RR crossings. People start rubbernecking trying to find a train. Lol
It is an even larger fine blowing them around RR crossings or any operating locomotive. In the case that the Engineer may stop the train due to thinking another train is on the same track heading his way. Union Pacific does have a police force with a very large jurisdiction. So just pay a little more attention when blowing your horns around the railroad they highly frown upon them.
This one time i was driving along minding my own bizness and this lady flys up behind me and is riding my a$$ for at least a mile… Finally we approach a railroad crossing and just as i crossed over it, i blasted the k3 for a solid 5 seconds.
She slammed the brakes, and waited there long enough looking side to side till i could not see her anymore in my mirror
Some of you guys need a reality check, seriously. The best thing you can do in any situation is cooperate with the police. The OP here said one of the officers witnessed the event. That right there alone should tell you not to lie to the officer, or even tryo to argue any point. You are busted plain and simple, just cooperate and hope for the best. Arguing/lying to the officer is only going to amplify any charges they wish to hand to you.
I’m not lashing out or anything…just giving suggestions to anyone who might read this, and think they’d react the same way the OP did.
And fwiw, you guys saying something about a “search warrant”…bit rediculous. Congrats for drawing attention to yourself for making a statement like that. And if the officer actually witnessed you honking the horns, he doesn’t need a search warrant…
I don’t think the police can search a vehicle without a warrant, same as a piece of property (house). With vehicles at least the whole “reasonable cause” thing comes into play when talking about drugs, alcohol, arms… but I wouldn’t think that if cops had reasonable certainty that your vehicle had trains horns on it, that they’d have a right to search your property. Train horns aren’t in “the book”.
If they do search illegally, I’m guessing anything they find will be thrown out in court?
Baha! Post to a thread by username “bgmaster”, a police officer.
http://www.trainhornforums.com/showthread.php?t=1722&page=3
post#21
“In Tennessee if you have a gun permit and you feel like your life is in danger you can use your weapon. Only reason i know is i am a police officer. ha but heck i still blow at other cops that dont know me. There is nothing they can legaly do to prove that it was you. We cant search your car without i reason and a loud horn is no reason. So i know the laws to get by it. but the two times i was pulled over i had my badge out in the seat next to me so i think that helped ha. just cause we are cops dont mean we dont like to have some fun to guys hahahahahahahaha…”
I got searched awhile back while cruising thru our river market by a bicycle cop. He couldnt figure out how to make my horns honk so I got let go.
Haha that’s a good reason not to have a manual valve.
Politely refusing a search saved my bacon when I was a minor.
Pretty sure I would ‘repectfully’ do it again.
If they still search, at least I gave a lawyer something to work with.
Just talked to some of my officers to clarify. Of course the actual violation is going to vary by location with difference ordinances. But, regardless…if the officer witnessed you doing something in violation of a town/county/city ordinance…which has probably cause for an arrest or citation, the officer has all rights to search you vehicle for the source of whatever the violation was.
ie. illegal exhaust, loud stereo, train horns (durp)
Trying to say an officer can’t see your horns after pulling you over…and witnessing you using them…is like the officer pulling you over because your window tint is too dark, and you telling him he can’t test it because he doesn’t have a search warrant.
Again, I’m not busting anyones chops here…just want that to be known, maybe to help someone in the future who might get pulled over for the same. Don’t argue like you know the laws, when you have no clue. 
Yes, they can and WILL arrest you and impound your vehicle. I am in Ft Worth TX and recently pulled my K5 set off and sold it. The cops here have ZERO TOLERANCE for them any more.
@mdwaller, how did that work? Did you get busted multiple times and they warned you about impounding the vehicle and selling your horns?
I remember somewhere sometime that the police impounded street racers’ cars and crushed them. Same sort of thing, shows that they can impound and take away (steal(then sell or use), destroy) your stuff. I wonder what states can do this which states cannot?
That sucks man. I would think they would suspend your license or give you jail time before taking the citizens’ stuff.
The street racing thing was in Southern California.
They busted me. Gave me a huge fine and told me I had 10 days to go to the DPS and prove that the horns had been removed or a warrant would be issued and then the next time my truck would be impounded.
How much is a “Huge Fine”? I know you said the ticket was $122, what was the other part of the fine?
Yeah, because in California they tack on penalties and fees. A $122 fine could end up costing $300 to $400. I’ve always wondered what the penalty is and how they justify it other than a way to screw us for more money. Isn’t the fine penalty enough?
@RichardCranium, luckily in Washington state, there isn’t a ‘improper use of horn’ traffic violation. There is in Oregon though.
Could Washington search my vehicle if the police officer chose to site me with public nuisance due to the horns?