Let's Ban Car Alarms

City Journal ^ | Winter, 2002 | Brian Anderson

[traditionalist]

Car alarms do no one any good. Get rid of the damn things.

[mhking]

!?!?!?!????!!

[Paul Atreides]

Sorry, with useless government agencies so prevalent, I'll pass.

[Jagdgewehr]

Car alarms do no one any good. Get rid of the damn things.

True, but it was fun setting them off while driving down a residential street in a large diesel-powered truck. :-,

[rockfish59]

Agreed, but more on the boom box crap.
How many times I've wished I had an RPG when they go by!

[Marauder]

My car alarm is a little different; it doesn't make noise. It activates a beeper on my belt via a signal transmitted from the unit through the antenna when a sensor is activated.
This gives me a chance to go kick some butt before the police arrive, which is lots of fun.

[Numbers Guy]

My car alarm is a little different; it doesn't make noise. It activates a beeper on my belt via a signal transmitted from the unit through the antenna when a sensor is activated.

That's far preferable. I live near a garage where one unknown idiot has one that gets set off every time it's really windy. What fun to wake up at 2 a.m. to a horn honking every two seconds for half an hour, then it will stop, then the wind picks up again and it starts going again.

Personally there are days where I think every driver should be issued a sledgehammer to be used to smash the windshield of any vehicle whose car alarm is giving a false alarm. Someone's butt brushing against your car when he's trying to get into his car in a garage should not set off the alarm.

[Calvin Locke]

Vaguely recall a "commercial" on SNL years ago where a similar product was advertised for dealing with annoying car alarms.

[Cobra64]

Don't get me started; except to say that in the last 10 years I've wheeled in the higher priced spread: Jags, Beemers, Vettes. I have NEVER set the alarm. In one case, the car would automatically set itself and I had the dealer disconnect the stupid thing.

If a pro wants your car, no effing alarm will prevent it. On the flip side, I see morons "arming" their car's alarms on today's equivalents of Yugos and Geos; as if anyone wants a tin-can roller skate.

When I was a road warrior (250,000 airline miles a year) You park the car, a jet takes off, windows rattle and hundreds of car alarms go off. I just smile and think, "what a bunch of bozos parked their cars here with the alarm set." To date, none of my cars have been stolen.

People do not understand that we have been effectively innoculated against bothering to RESPOND to car alarms.

Cheers.

[Cobra64]

First time, just leave a note. Second time, "key" the paint. Third time, liquid steel in the door locks. After that, I'll accept further suggestions from you guys.

BTW, I live in the rural hills in upstate New York so we don't get too much of this noise from these idiots.

[unixfox]

While we are at it, let's ban trains from blowing their %$#*@%^ horns as well. They are WAY too loud !!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I was doing some work up at Hill Air Force Base one time when I noticed that there were two cars sitting right next to each other whose alarms would go off every time an F-16 would take off. The 388th was doing a ton of flying that day, so those alarms were going off constantly. It didn't really bother anybody because they were in the middle of a large parking lot that was about 100 yards away from any buildings. (And, since the buildings were about 100 yards away from the flightline, they had thick block walls to mitigate the sound.)

As it turned out, both cars had their batteries completely drained after a full day of blaring every time a jet took off. And at the end of the day, when the owners were walking around the lot asking anybody and everybody for a jump start, nobody had jumper cables (that they would admit to). The two owners were upset, I call it poetic justice.

[RandallFlagg]

I had one of those! Got it ar Radio Shack for $200.00 and the crappy thing only lasted a year before the little pager died. Easier and cheaper to rig your door handles to a 500,000 volt stun gun. More fun, too!!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Oh man, I'll bet some J.B. Weld would do a number on your car locks. This isn't a problem in my neighborhood, but I'll keep this idea in mind for future reference.

[Bob Mc]

Car alarms, boom-box cars, police and fire sirens, noisy, complaining neighbors, traffic congestion, burglars, door-to-door salesmen, barking dogs, vandalism, lawnmowers on Saturday morning, ...

Reminds me why I am glad I live on the farm.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yeah, I'm a real fan of country living myself.

[RandallFlagg]

more on the boom box crap.

EECHH! I've looked everywhere and asked everyone! How can I buy, or build an electronic device that either jams or otherwise disrupts those $&?%!! things??

When my next child is born, the first loser that wakes him/her up in the middle of the night with their "BOOM-BOOOOM" is going to be on the receiving end of Flagg's wrath...

[strela]

How can I buy, or build an electronic device that either jams or otherwise disrupts those $&?%!! things??

Try the first item on this page.

[Bush2000]

Car alarms do no one any good. Get rid of the damn things.

I agree. Car and stereo thieves could care less. And nobody pays attention to them anymore. When was the last time you called the cops because of a car alarm going off? Never!