This is definitely not a cultural universal. Different countries have different practices. In some places the horn simply means “I’m here, check your mirrors”, in other places it means “You bastard!”, and in some other places it means “We are both stuck in traffic let’s make as much noise as possible to pass the time”
> only use it if there's an imminent danger to avoid a crash
Therefore the difference between the horn being readily accessible and being hidden away could be the difference between life and death.