Car alarms

Almost every car on the market comes with a built-in alarm system that honks the horn a lot if you open/unlock the door from the inside when the car thought it should be empty. Aftermarket systems are far worse - they’ll make their stupid array of noises if you look at them the wrong way, go near the car, generate another noise near the car, or breathe 3 miles away. And that’s assuming they’re installed properly and would never go off without provocation. (Sure.)



  1. What percentage of alarm triggers are a result of actual malice or theft attempts?

  2. When an alarm triggers nearby, does anyone actually bother to find out if there’s something bad happening?

  3. When an alarm triggers, how likely is the owner to hear it, recognize it as his, and take action?

  4. What would a person be charged with if they called the police and screamed for 60 seconds for no reason, twice a day?

  5. Why are car alarms legal?


When I’m president of the world, car alarms will be among the first things to go. (Mobile-phone ringtones that make sound for more than 1 second every 5 seconds, will be first.)


I’d create a new crime definition: aural assault. Why don’t we have that now?

— marco

 All hail President Marco!

I used to live along the street from a car with a proximity sensor, if you went within 5 feet of ityou would be politely asked to step away from the vehicle, in heavy rain the alarm would just sit them barking at no one for hours, it was quite annoying…. 

Source: marco