The new fad in Florida

Sheesh... The Duluth News Tribune is reporting the following new fad:

Train horns latest fad, irritant on Florida streets
On a February afternoon, five high school students lounged patiently on a bus-stop bench in Westchester, Fla. Lino Alvarado Jr. slowed his truck to a crawl, smiled, and unleashed more than 150 decibels of sound from a dozen train horns attached to his truck's undercarriage. "Did you see those kids flinch?" Alvarado, 20, said as he breezed through a stop sign. "But old people are even better." The students were blasted by one of the area's hottest vehicle customization trends. A good set of train horns cost about $1,000 and packs an audio punch that can reach hundreds of feet - to the delight of people who buy them, and to the dismay of residents, who are complaining to police.

And the technology involved -- talking about Frank Carralero, co-owner of Red's Auto and Truck Customization Shop in Miami:

Red's installs two horn setups. A five-horn set of genuine train horns from the Nathan Manufacturing Co., maker of horn sets for locomotives since at least 1940, costs $2,500. A chromed three-horn set made in Asia, about half as loud as Nathan's, costs $950.

And

"Now, in nine out of 10 trucks we do, we put in at least two sets of train horns," said Steven Menendez, 27, who works at Red's. Szuster once installed three of the five-horn sets - 15 trumpets - in one truck.

And one example of their use:

Or the time Menendez blew his horns at the railroad crossing next to the shop: "All these cars slammed on their brakes because they thought a train was coming. Their wheels were locking up and everything."

It is now not illegal to own them, only to sound them but catching the offender only results in a $70 fine. I wonder when the fatal accident or heart-attack will happen and what will be done then. I don't mind a glass-pack muffler on a decent car or motorcycle but this is a bit over the top. Hearing damage is the other concern.