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Support a Ban on Car Alarms in NYC!

One of the banes of New York City life is the constant sound of car alarms. At home, I find that alarms are going off every hour or so for no reason at all. I assume that this is becuase they are too sensitive and triggered just by somebody walking nearby or a truck going past. Read on for details about a proposed solution and what you can do to help!

At last it appears that the New York City Council is starting to take action on the matter but I they need to see how much this issue affects people and that a total ban is the only effective cure.

The Transport Alternatives group seems to be taking the lead on this issue and doing a good job highlighting the benefits of a total ban and what everyone involved stands to gain.

The idea of an alarm free evening at home would be bliss and really nobody looses out. It's already been shown that nobody takes any notice of car alarms and theat they no longer deter thefts. In addition, there are so many better solutions - Heavy locks, GPS trackers, engine imobilisers and so on.

I think insurance agencies should take a stronger stand here. They should stop offering discounts for alarms and instead offer them for people using the idea above.

Unfortuently, although the City Council is currently looking at 2 bills to limit car alarms only one goes far enough. Bill 198 would ban alarms outright but seems to be flagging. The second Bill, Int.448, doesnt go nearly far enough. The Bloomberg Administration is currently defending them as a necessary "first line of defense from theft."

You can send your comments to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and ask him to ban car alarms now from this link: http://www.transalt.org/press/askta/030610.html

Replies: 8 Comments

your a such a pussy... just cause you are a little sissy and cant listen to a car alarm... you probly dont care cause you have a for taurus or something lame... you would understand if you had something nice

Tim said @ 04/19/2004 02:01 PM EST

what is this website...are you for real? amazing what comes up when you google 1/2 marathons!

mikey said @ 04/02/2004 12:38 AM EST

like I'm not going to kill you all.

Dave said @ 03/03/2004 06:02 AM EST

Transportation Alternatives has won a city council committee hearing during which the council will vote on Int. 448, which will ban the sale, use and installation of car alarms in New York City.

Hearing is scheduled for December 11.

But though the hearing delay means that we'll all have to endure two more months of obnoxious, pointless car alarms, it also gives T.A. a chance to organize even more support to ensure that we win a full ban of car alarms.

Support TA with a donation or find out more

dave said @ 10/16/2003 11:40 AM EST

Car Alarms are an intrinsic part of New York life and form the sort of pleasant background noise in the unban jungle that birdsong does in less developed places. I say let 'em blare!

The Anti-Hippie Patrol said @ 07/25/2003 12:23 AM EST

Dear Dave,

I had received some follow-up from the New York Product Manager and thought you would be interested.

NYS law mandates discounts for cars with any kind of anti-theft device including alarms. This was a public policy decision on the part of the legislature and is supported by the department of insurance.

We give discounts mandated by NY state law, but because we believe silent anti-theft devices that disable the vehicles ignition or work with an electronic tracking device in conjunction with a participating police agency are more effective than audible alarms, and we give a greater discount to insureds with these types of devices than to those with just alarms.

I hope this information is helpful.

Lydia Woolnough, Progressive Internet Service Specialist said @ 07/10/2003 02:34 PM EST

GEICO has always offered a discount for silent theft prevention devices such as Lo Jack, and Force Tracker. In fact, we offer a discount of 25% off of Comprehensive coverage for these devices, where as we only offer a 10% discount for the typical noise making alarm system.

Erik Mirsky, GEICO: Internet Service Representative said @ 07/03/2003 10:12 PM EST

A rubber band around your steering wheel is more effective than a car alarm. All the alarms do, besides wake up everyone in a 12 block radius when a cat rubs up against a tire, is provide a soundtrack to cover the laughter of the jerk-off steeling your rims. After 13 months in New York, the Mr. Softie ice cream song grabs my attention quicker than the screach of the viper...or whatever alarms are "hot" these days. I can only imagine what financial gain Bloomberg is looking for in his support of car alarms -- since that is the mans only motivation. But, I say, go for the "Club"...it's cheaper, quieter and just as ineffective.

TonyaK said @ 06/30/2003 02:56 PM EST