"HORN OK PLEASE" - It's a common slogan written on every India Truck you seen. And there it has some reason.
Well. HORN PLEASE is requesting someone and OK means acceptance of that request. HORN PLEASE and OK you will commonly find written in different style . Because they are separate phrases!
HORN PLEASE simply urges the vehicles behind the truck to honk before they overtake.
But what is OK? Why is it even there? It has got some history.
1. Most of truck in India manufactured by TATA. So when a new truck manufactured and out from truck factory, Have to pass various testing and after that it was stamped as "OK TATA". And we know our India truck drivers are very creative. So, when truck come out they started painting HORN PLEASE surround to the TATA stamp.
2. The other reason for OK is too old during World War II. Due to shortage of diesel, kerosene was started being used. So, the drivers started painting "Horn Please, On Kerosene". This warning was even mentioned with the use of petrol too (On Petrol), so as to maintain distance between vehicles and to avoid accidents.
3. 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.
And the trend still continues!
Ban in Maharashtra
On April 30, 2015, the Government of Maharashtra banned the use of "Horn OK Please" on the rear side of commercial vehicles, on the grounds that it encourages motorists to honk unnecessarily and leads to noise pollution.[Ref]
Source - 1, 2
Well. HORN PLEASE is requesting someone and OK means acceptance of that request. HORN PLEASE and OK you will commonly find written in different style . Because they are separate phrases!
HORN PLEASE simply urges the vehicles behind the truck to honk before they overtake.
But what is OK? Why is it even there? It has got some history.
1. Most of truck in India manufactured by TATA. So when a new truck manufactured and out from truck factory, Have to pass various testing and after that it was stamped as "OK TATA". And we know our India truck drivers are very creative. So, when truck come out they started painting HORN PLEASE surround to the TATA stamp.
2. The other reason for OK is too old during World War II. Due to shortage of diesel, kerosene was started being used. So, the drivers started painting "Horn Please, On Kerosene". This warning was even mentioned with the use of petrol too (On Petrol), so as to maintain distance between vehicles and to avoid accidents.
3. 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.
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| Source - Quora |
- Other small inferences if considered, OK was used as an indication by driver to maintain certain 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.
And the trend still continues!
Ban in Maharashtra
On April 30, 2015, the Government of Maharashtra banned the use of "Horn OK Please" on the rear side of commercial vehicles, on the grounds that it encourages motorists to honk unnecessarily and leads to noise pollution.[Ref]
Source - 1, 2
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