Horn OK Please

Horn OK please' is a phrase commonly painted on commercial vehicles like trucks, buses or local taxis in India.

The purpose of the phrase is to alert a driver of a vehicle approaching from behind to sound their horn in case they wish to overtakeThe origin of this phrase is unknown. Also, there is no official significance with respect to Indian traffic regulations. No rules in India mandate or suggest the use of such a "slogan" on a vehicle. Still many vehicles are decorated with the phrase Horn OK please.

In the early days, most of the trucks in India were manufactured by the TATA Group. When new trucks were rolled out of the factory, they were subjected to tests, and the trucks that passed the tests had 'OK TATA' stamped in the rear tailgate, with 'TATA' written below 'OK'. Owing to the huge amount of traffic, many truck drivers had 'Horn Please' painted on the tailgate, with the two words on either side of 'OK'. This was visually read as 'Horn OK Please'.

Though this may be the most likely origin, there are plenty of theories for the “Horn Ok Please” being into existence. One such theory has its roots in the Second World War where trucks were often run on petrol when there was a shortage of diesel. Petrol, being highly unstable in nature, would cause the trucks to explode at the slightest accident. Hence a warning would be painted on the back saying “Horn Please, On Petrol”. Gradually this became a norm and is still seen on most trucks even today.

Another possible explanation is that during the blackout on lights during the Second World War, if a car had to overtake a lorry in the night, it had to honk. For this purpose, there used to be a red light under the truck which the truck driver would switch on to signal that it was OK to overtake. It was the OK in the middle that would light up.

Yet another explanation (and probably one bearing some truth behind it) is that the OK is separate from the Horn Please. The OK is kept there in big, bold letters, to allow the drivers from behind to realise that they were OK and alive, thus preventing them from rash behaviour; in addition, the fact that they are able to read the OK is indicative that they are keeping an appropriate braking distance.

Another theory is that, the original words were Horn OTK (overtake) please. And since many times the T would merge into the paneling of the truck it got mistaken for OK.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia