My '95 has an air bag in the steering wheel. There are two small horn buttons also. Should the air bag cover also blow the horn? It doesn't. However, I've driven other vehicles where both the buttons and the cover operate the horn. (Or, the vehicle doesn't have the buttons, the cover serves as the only horn button.)
It's hard to find those small buttons in a hurry, and almost impossible if I'm turning the wheel when I need the horn.

 

Only the two bottons control the horn. I've almost always driven one of these trucks daily and never had an issue with the horn setup. How often do you need it? I think I think the number of times I use it in a year can be counted on one hand.

 

It's not a matter of how often I need it, but rather it should be ready accessible. I shouldn't have to search for the horn when I need it! Poor design, and I'll bet Ford knew it, too.
I'd guess that early on in the history of airbags, the technology didn't exist to control the horn with the air bag cover.

 

I found the buttons awkward to use at first too, but after driving the truck for a while I don't have an issue with them.

 

The problem with the buttons is that they aren't "universal". For at least 60+ years, the go-to location of the horn is the center of the steering wheel. The industry experimented with alternatives - the ring just inside the wheel in the late '60s / early '70s, the column stalk in the late '70s / early '80s, the side buttons on the early-ish air-bag wheels. I think there were some '50s or '60s cars where you could just push on the wheel itself to blow the horn. They all have been about as popular as the Edsel, and generally lasted about as long. Why? Because it's virtually muscle memory, nearly burned into our DNA, to smack the center of the wheel at that "oh $#!+" moment when you really NEED the horn. Even Maggie Simpson knows that....

It's like the switch for the emergency flashers. The "industry standard" used to be right next to the key cylinder. Then, for the most part, it moved up to the top of the column. But there are a lot of European and Asian cars where it's right in the middle of the dash. I **THINK** the rationale there is that if the driver becomes incapacitated, and there's a passenger, the passenger can easily reach the button. Still seems out of place to me, but again, that's what's been burned into my muscle memory.

I've never seen a vehicle an air bag and side horn buttons, where the air bag cover also operates the horn. My Saturn, for example, has an early-gen air bag and side buttons. The next generation of the car, the air bag cover acted as the horn, and the side buttons were gone.

 

Great post. Maggie Simpson, exactly!
I like the 4-way flasher button in the center of the dash. It's easy to find quickly. You would think there would be a standard location for safety related stuff.
I drive a 2009 school bus. I think it's a Blue Bird. Anyway, it has the small buttons and the horn also works with the air bag cover. Odd, for sure.