As car alarms have gotten louder and more intensely proliferated throughout modern culture in many parts of the world, people continue to grow more frustrated with this raucous ear sore. In some places there is talk of passing laws to ban the use of car alarms altogether.
New York Councilmember, Eva Moskowitz, says that the biggest complaint she receives on a regular basis from all kinds of people is about the noise of car alarms. The problem has become such a large concern that Moskowitz and fellow councilmember John Liu are each going to sponsor a bill that promises to fix the car alarm problem in New York.
Introduced in 2002 with nine co-sponsors, Liu’s car alarm bill would effectively ban the sale and installation of car alarms that are audible within New York City. Then Moskowitz’s bill, introduced with fifteen co-sponsors I April of 2002, goes further in proposing a mechanism by which citizens could report annoying alarms to the police. This, in turn, would produce a warning letter that is sent to the owner of the offending car alarm.
What is interesting is that in New York City, as well as several other populated cities, the people seem to be in agreement that something must be done about this specific type of noise pollution. There doesn’t seem to be anyone that likes to hear car alarms. Personally, the reason I don’t own one is because I know how annoying they are to hear. Apparently not every one applies the golden rule in this way when it comes to car alarms.
In preliminary surveys taken of residents in New York City, a resounding majority had a lot to say about how disruptive and downright pointless car alarms have become. Several respondents went so far as to add specific statements about how car alarms have become the primary annoyance of their everyday existence.
Car Alarms Do Not Prevent Car Theft
Interestingly, studies done by car insurance companies to determine the effectiveness of car alarms showed that car alarms do nothing to stop car theft. So, when all is said and done, that wailing screeching alarm that just woke you up didn’t do anything to prevent a car from being stolen.
Either the person is going to steal the car anyway, or, which is even more likely, the person simply brushed up against the car accidentally. If car alarms are so ineffective why do we continue to put them in our cars? Well, it seems that the manufacturing companies are to blame here, with all the new cars that come with built-in car alarm systems.
Car Alarm Manufacturers Resist
In 1997 when the first build of Liu’s anti-car alarm bill was proposed to the City Council, lobbyists for the car alarm manufacturers derailed it almost immediately. These manufacturers and lobbyists went on trying to convince the council not to ban their products.
At a council hearing in New York City, a Directed Electronics spokesperson, K.C. Beean, said, “The proof that our systems work is exhibited I the fact that since 1993, annualized vehicles theft in New York City has fallen by 76 percent.”
However, the city’s murder rate dropped by 70 percent, robberies are down by about 68 percent, so it follows that car theft and other crimes would have fallen that drastically too. This is the only statistical ‘proof’ that car alarm manufacturers in New York City have.
