Platform : Auto Alarms: Annoying but Necessary?
In Southern California, car alarms are almost as ubiquitous as the vehicles they’re put in. People complain about loud honking sounds, alarms that talk like humans and the ones that “chirp.” Several cities are listening to residents’ complaints. Los Angeles and West Hollywood, for instance, have recently passed ordinances banning alarms that chirp and make other annoying continuous sounds. Here’s what some have to say about the devices:
PAULA SAMUEL
Manager of parking lot, West Hollywood
When you have a huge parking lot and you may actually be in a building 1,000 feet away, you’re not going to hear your alarm anyway, so why activate it in a quiet, residential area? It is a nuisance. We put up the signs (that read cars will be towed if alarms go off) to be considerate to all of our neighbors--not only the residential ones, but the commercial ones as well.
WILLIAM C. MEECHAM
Professor of Acoustics, UCLA
Many people are irritated by constant, repetitive noise which they come to feel is an imposition on their life. And this kind of stress effect is harmful to both physical and mental health.
Sudden noises increase adrenaline for all of us; it’s built into our bodies. Startling noises increase blood pressure, and we have no way of controlling it. I think many people feel there’s a kind of arrogance implicit that (those who have noisy car alarms think) their property is more important than we are and there’s a sense of just not caring what that noise does to others.
Police Lt. MICHAEL GWALTNEY
Huntington Park, which ranks first in state for stolen cars, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau
Car alarms are a good deterrent for car thefts and break-ins. At times they can be a nuisance if they have an audible alarm in a residential neighborhood, especially if the owner of the vehicle is not around. Then you can’t contact them to cut the alarm. That’s about the only negative side to it.
There are several silent car alarm systems that help us in retrieving stolen vehicles. I’d recommend the red bars that go across the steering wheel, kill switches. Anything that a private owner can put in his vehicle to prevent it from being stolen is a good idea. It’s an expense that in today’s society we unfortunately have to bear.
JEFF PRANG
Spokesman for Los Angeles Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, sponsor of ordinance that bans chirping alarms, Westchester
Hearing an alarm go off is extremely annoying. Particularly, it seems, because 99 out of 100 times it’s going off for a reason other than an attempted burglary or theft.
They seem to be too sensitive. Probably what’s even more annoying than when they go off is the constant chirping that indicates to passersby that an alarm is ready to activate at the slightest touch.
Alarm manufacturers need to put more thought into their systems so that they aren’t so intrusive. If you’re sitting at home or a restaurant or in a classroom and one of those things goes off, you’re stuck listening to it for up to five minutes.
ROB PAYNE
Manager of retail store specializing in mobile electronics, Orange
Probably 80% of the alarms out there are going to chirp. There are options to override the chirp, though.
Sensitivity is adjustable on any halfway decent alarm system. That’s how you can prevent those annoying alarms in the middle of the night. If the installer doesn’t know what he’s doing, he can set the sensitivity so high that a truck driving by or a cat jumping on it will set off the alarm.
