Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn in
good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a
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Tue Dec 09 22:17:00 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 321 (137, 2)
235 MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD, §321.434\n\ndistance of not less than two hundred feet, but no horn or other warning device shall emit
an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle. The driver of a motor vehicle shall when
reasonably necessary to ensure safe operation give audible warning with the horn but shall
not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.
[S13, §1571-m17; C24, 27, 31, 35, §5040, 5041; C39, §5034.41; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71,
73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §321.432]
2024 Acts, ch 1043, §85
Referred to in §321.234A, 805.8A(3)(af)
For applicable scheduled fine, see §805.8A, subsection 3
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Notes of Decisions
Cited in
11
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1948–2023 · leading case:
France v. Benter, 128 N.W.2d 268 (Iowa 1964).
France v. Benter, 128 N.W.2d 268 (Iowa 1964).
· cites it 12× “The other statute dealing directly with horns is section 321.432, which is set out: "Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less…”
Trask v. Gibbs, 200 N.W.2d 565 (Iowa 1972).
· cites it 8× “At the close of the evidence, and after all parties had rested, defendants requested the court's permission to amend their counterclaims in both actions to assert an additional ground of negligence, to-wit, "in failing to sound a horn or other warning device in violation of…”
Christensen v. Kelley, 135 N.W.2d 510 (Iowa 1965).
· cites it 4× “Section 321.432, Code 1962, I.C.A., provides in part: "* * * The driver of a motor vehicle shall when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.”
Olson v. Truax, 97 N.W.2d 900 (Iowa 1959).
· cites it 2× “” The request was doubtless based upon this provision of Code section 321.432, “The driver * * * shall when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation give audible warning with Ms horn * * *.”
Van Wie v. United States, 77 F. Supp. 22 (N.D. Iowa 1948).
· cites it 2× “Section 321.432, Code of Iowa 1946 provides in part as follows: “The driver of a motor vehicle shall when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.”
Susan Porter v. Kelly Martinez, 68 F.4th 429 (9th Cir. 2023).
“” Iowa Code § 321.432 . Kansas: “The driver of a motor vehicle when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation shall give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.”
Brown v. Guiter, 128 N.W.2d 896 (Iowa 1964).
· cites it 2× “See also section 321.329, Code of Iowa, 1958.”
Nichols v. Snyder, 78 N.W.2d 836 (Iowa 1956).
· cites it 2× “329, Code of Iowa 1954, provides as follows: “Notwithstanding the provisions of section 321.328 every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary * * (Emphasis…”
Anderson v. Wilcox, 189 N.W.2d 541 (Iowa 1971).
· cites it 4× “" Defendant stated the specification was based on section 321.432, Code, 1966. I. Plaintiff's first assignment of error deals with the instruction concerning the "sounding of the horn" specification.”
Udell Ex Rel. Udell v. Peterson, 133 N.W.2d 119 (Iowa 1965).
· cites it 2× “Likewise he has the same duty of continued lookout and to operate his car to avoid injuring plaintiff which may properly include sounding his horn.”
Susan Porter v. Kelly Martinez (9th Cir. 2023).
“” Iowa Code § 321.432 . Kansas: “The driver of a motor vehicle when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation shall give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.