Property News · May 17, 2016

Are car alarms a complete waste of time?


The security devices have been criticised by councils and car owners for failing to combat crime – but it might not be worth scrapping them altogether …They have become the electronic dawn chorus in our towns and cities, but is it time to kill the car alarm? This week, it was claimed that security devices “don’t deter criminals” and are “a public nuisance” – statements backed up by studies from the 1990s that show that, between 95%-99% of the time, they are false alarms.These are hardly the first criticisms of car alarms – in 2004, there was an attempt to get them banned in New York City. A bill was proposed after a report by non-profit organisation Transportation Alternatives suggested they cost $400m-$500m (£275m-£345m) a year and their noise “boosts stress hormones and has been linked to cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal illnesses, psychological problems and unhealthy feotal development in a number of studies over the last 30 years”. The report also noted that a 1997 analysis of insurance-claims data from 73m vehicles demonstrated that cars with alarms “show no overall reduction in theft losses” compared with cars without alarms. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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