The proliferation of nuisance car alarms

One of my pet peeves has become car alarms. I don't really mean so much when something sets them off. I'm talking when the owner pushes the button on the key fob to activate/deactivate the alarm which produces a double chirp or double honk. I live in an apartment complex and over the last year there has been more and more people parking their cars outside my building who have these car alarms. I regularly hear the chirps and honks when these neighbors are leaving or coming home. If I'm reading or watching TV I find this an unwelcome interruption. It's really a nuisance when trying to sleep as the cars park next to the building.

This nuisance isn't just at home, for anyplace I go I increasing find I'm subjected to somebody's car alarm being set. Usually the parking lights will flash too when activating/deactivating so I don't even see the need for having a noise. Why do we put up with this extra noise pollution? Anyone else have an opinion on this?

I agree with you, and George Carlin: car alarms are what gave us carjackers. I'd rather not have a car alarm and the crooks take the car when I'm not in it.

I like how mine works - press once for a silent lock and activation, press again in a short amount of time for a confirmation honk. I use it when I'm in a hurry, just to confirm for myself that the doors are locked..

The cars that give a honk confirmation are especially irritating to me. I think the Ford's are the loudest. The newer Toyota's have a pleasant quiet chirp that isn't as irritating.

These tones have been banned in the EU under new legislation 95/56/EU and all new alarms have them disabled, of course if you're outside the EU, or just like to make a noise so every knows your car is alarmed you can turn them on again

My neighbor does this all the time, and the driveway is right outside my window. There is no crime around here, no reason to lock the car. I never lock mine and have never had a problem. I am so over it. Sometimes I want to set my car to honk, and do it at 2 am from my bedroom, just to **** them off.

At least most car alarms shut off after a long 4 minutes.

I live a mile from an elementary school that has an alarm that does not shut off automatically, A few times I have heard it going for 30 plus hours.

The local keystoners say they can't do anything about it.:scowl:

The confirmation honk can be annoying. The worst for me was in a covered parking garage (all concrete of course) and the way I parked when I got out of my car I was directly in front of the grill of another car that had just been parked. When that driver set the alarm I just about had a heart attack.

I probably wouldn't mind them so much if they were set up properly. I used to live on a busy street where thunder, busses, motorcycles and anything else that made noise would set them off constantly and at all hours. There are so many false alarms in many neighborhoods that most people who live there never even turn their heads when they hear one -- they just talk louder.

I don't think that carjacking needs to be an issue unless people absolutely refuse to defend themselves under any circumstances -- and those people have much more than carjackers to worry about. Where I live your car is legally an extension of your house and you can keep a loaded gun in your car any way you may like to.

A carjacker's safety is his problem. Once he initiates violence he relinquishes his right to be safe from violence. I like some of the foot switch operated flamethrower options you may choose with a new car in South Africa.

So, how do you like your carjackers done?

My family has two cars with notifications when you lock the car remotely. One car only blinks the yellow lights, the other makes a noise, but its only audiable if you're close to 10 feet away.

A carjacker's safety is his problem. Once he initiates violence he relinquishes his right to be safe from violence. I like some of the foot switch operated flamethrower options you may choose with a new car in South Africa.

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Hmmmm

Well some car alarms are interesting actually, they start out somewhat at a moderate noise, then it raises unless the person quits messing with the car. That and it scares off enough idiots trying to steal a car, and its also the owner's fault if they're stupid enough not to check whats going with their car and see if its a false alarm.

Navck said:

Hmmmm

Well some car alarms are interesting actually, they start out somewhat at a moderate noise, then it raises unless the person quits messing with the car. That and it scares off enough idiots trying to steal a car, and its also the owner's fault if they're stupid enough not to check whats going with their car and see if its a false alarm.

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Hey that gives me an idea. Why are these alarms sounding on the outside? What about having the alarm siren hidden inside the car? If the cops stop a suspect a few blocks away all they'd have to do is giv'em a hearing test.

LowBat said:

Hey that gives me an idea. Why are these alarms sounding on the outside? What about having the alarm siren hidden inside the car? If the cops stop a suspect a few blocks away all they'd have to do is giv'em a hearing test.

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Lowbat, you just gave us all a incrediblly good idea. Especially with those 100+ dB alarms people have

If people are so anal that they need "confirmation" that their car is locked, after they just locked it, why can't they put a red LED that flashes someplace visible?

Lightmeup said:

If people are so anal that they need "confirmation" that their car is locked, after they just locked it, why can't they put a red LED that flashes someplace visible?

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Or have their car lights flash.

I like the fact my alarm gives a chirp when it arms, it lets me know that the doors are locked as I have power locks tied in.

But also I can disable the chirp from the remote, which I do in the morning or evening when I don't want to disturb the neighbors.

When I had an alarm installed in my pickup over ten years ago, I had the audio chirp disabled for activation, just let it flash the lights. In my new car and in the company truck, it honks the horn briefly. I prefer the silence, but both came this way and really are not as good of protection as I'd like anyway, they basicly disable the ignition. It doesn't really annoy me though. What did annoy me were the Viper alarms that spoke phrases, such as "Protected by security system, please stand back!" and other sayings.

Several car alarm systems already have a siren inside the passenger cabin, called a "headache alarm." These are mostly for alarms that can be set off remotely with a panic button or with your cellphone at longer ranges, for when you discover that your car's been stolen and your alarm wasn't tripped. Could also come in handy when the thieves make a mistake and trip your alarm while they're inside your vehicle.


Cheers. :buddies:

Navck said:

Or have their car lights flash.

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My Toyota factory alarm is programable so that the alarm "chirp" can be audible with marker light flash or set to have the the marker lights flash only.

Diesel_Bomber said:

Several car alarm systems already have a siren inside the passenger cabin, called a "headache alarm." These are mostly for alarms that can be set off remotely with a panic button or with your cellphone at longer ranges, for when you discover that your car's been stolen and your alarm wasn't tripped. Could also come in handy when the thieves make a mistake and trip your alarm while they're inside your vehicle.


Cheers. :buddies:

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That rocks! I want to be able to stop my car and set off a piercing siren using my cell phone!

Install an air horn under your dash and wire it to your alarm with a 10-20 second time delay relay. If you want, you can also rig up a strobe in the dash AC vents as well.

So when armed, someone gets into your car without shutting off the system and closes the door. 10 seconds pass and the horn goes off inside the car and lights flash. Results in a deaf person stumbling away.