Silence of the 'Larms
AutoMedia
By Brett Solomon

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It seems almost laughable or unconstitutional that a city government could infringe on your business as a mobile electronics dealer. However, a potential ban of audible car alarms in the New York City area has stirred up not only City Hall, but the dealers and distributors trying to conduct business. The proponents of the ban include an organization known as Transportation Alternatives as well as Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz. Findings by Transportation Alternatives show a decrease in the quality of life as noise pollution decibels increase. Although this makes sense, it seems that City Council is a little foggy on how aftermarket alarm systems work. We all know that if installed properly, they work well with a small chance for false alarms.

The bill, if passed into law, will state that no audible alarm system can be installed on a vehicle in New York City. If a dealer installs an audible alarm system, he or she faces a $500 fine for the first offence, with stiffer penalties deemed for offences after that. Now, in defense of the bill, I'm sure we've all been woken up at 3:00 a.m. due to your alarm falsing because of a stray cat walking on the roof. Installers can be a little overzealous when setting the proximity sensors on alarm systems. But, moreover, we all know (because we spent our time underneath the dashboard and not in a bureaucratic legislature) that false alarms are mainly due to improper installation.

Councilwoman Moskowitz is a strong entity at City Hall. Her usual activities include heading the caucus on education.

"Noise is the number one complaint I receive, and car alarms are a large contributing factor," states Moskowitz. "People have a right to sleep."

When asked about if the NYPD would be responsible for enforcement she notes, 'The police are very busy, especially with terrorist threats, so we came up with an idea for Citizen Enforcement. A citizen would get the license plate number off the offending vehicle. Then they would receive a citation to have the car inspected."

Fines would be given for those who were found to have an audible alarm and had time to remove it before the inspection. She adds, "We do not want to reduce business in the city, but, again, people do have the right to sleep. If you are in a second-story apartment and the same car alarm keeps going off at 2 a.m., it needs to be quieted."

As you can see, based on the comments made by Councilwoman Moskowitz and legislative aide John Ushman (see sidebar for Ushman's comments), certain members of the City Council are adamant about getting the law implemented. They see car alarms as a nuisance and as a contributor to a decrease in the "quality of life" of the average New Yorker. Indeed, no one wants to be woken up by a screaming car alarm, but what about the increases in theft or potential vigilantism from silent pager-alarm systems?

KC Bean, director of Legal Affairs for Directed Electronics notes: 'The proposed car alarm ban is misguided on a number of fronts. Economically, it will hurt mobile electronics retailers in New York City who will see their business leave the city as customers purchase car alarms in surrounding areas. It will hurt consumers who will see a resulting rise in car thefts, and who will lose their insurance discount for having a vehicle security system. And it will hurt the city itself, which will lose tax revenue. But the arguments against the ban don't stop there."

Bean attended one of the City Council's hearings on car alarm bans. He gives us some of his thoughts:

"Directed is grateful that the council committee invited us and allowed us to present our position. It has always been our desire to work with communities to resolve any concerns they may have regarding our products. It appeared that vehicle security systems have been targeted by some council member for action, and we feel this legislation is unfair and will only have negligible effect on reducing overall noise in the City.

Regardless of the fact that vehicle theft has fallen nearly 75 percent over the past 10 years in NYC, the sponsors of the bill clearly took a position that found no value in any vehicle security system. These members dismissed the fact that multi-billion-dollar OEM car makers are exempted from the proposed law, and that many small business people in the NYC area would be seriously impacted by this legislation, forcing small business owners to layoff hundreds or thousands of installers."

"Other council members seemed very concerned about the impact on jobs in their communities and the strong likelihood that the sales of security systems would just migrate to neighboring cities and states," continues Bean. "They further showed concern for the harm to their constituent by increased insurance premium by elimination of a reduction allowed by NY state law. More open-minded council members were very interested in technological efforts that have been made by the industry over nave over the past few years. Additionally, it appeared that there may be substantial conflicts with both state and federal law if the legislation is passed."

Jeff Malmud, vice president of Marketing for Warehouse Distributors, a car alarm distributor for New York City dealers, really has some poignant opinions on the issue. One great point is the exclusion of OEM alarms in the proposed bill. Malmud states: "Now, I'm not a lawyer, but I believe that this constitutes restraint of trade — what the bill is effectively saying is, you can not sell or install an alarm within NYC, unless you are a multi-billion-dollar business such as GM or Ford; then they will look the other way. Also, in the proposed bill, audible automotive security will be banned for sales and installation within NYC, but if you presently have an alarm, then that is OK. This is just another band aid in the labyrinth of governmental policies that can't work. How are they going to know who has alarm installed prior to the law taking effect, unless it is a 2004 or newer vehicle? If an alarm is going off midday, are the police going to trace license plates to the consumer's home, knock on the consumer's door, find out where he works, go the consumer's workplace, and ask for a receipt with the installation date so they know whether he has broken the law? If these bans come to fruition, they will be ineffective and unenforceable."

"In NYC, there is currently a law that makes anyone whose alarm is going off for more than 3 minutes liable for a $2000 fine, I have never even heard of, or know, anyone who has received a fine for their alarm. Ever! They banned dark window tint in the front of vehicles in NYC, but I see blacked-out front windows every single day on my way to work. Another unenforceable law... A more logical approach might be to hire an independent company, such as UL, to approve alarms for NYC use, based on quality of manufacture and 'urban friendly' features, while creating installation standards that, when met, will be rewarded a license to sell and install alarms in NYC. This will help reduce the 'trunk-slammers' from putting in substandard product with inferior workmanship, whose results are often alarms that keep going off, which is how this all started!"

Malmud continues, "NYC is trying to treat the symptoms without curing the illness. The problem isn't the alarms; it's why people, and insurance companies for that matter, feel vehicles require alarms for their cars in NYC. Stop vehicle theft, and vehicle content theft, and no one will feel compelled to protect their car with an alarm! Besides, consumers from NYC will simply go to a dealer in the nearest suburb, i.e., Long Island, New Jersey, and Westchester, to make their purchases. There will not be fewer alarms on NYC streets; the sale of them will just shift to the north, west, and east. Of course, the sales tax collected from the sale of alarms in NYC will go south!"

If this bill is passed in NYC, what will it mean for municipalities across the country? Stay tuned to AUTOMEDIA for the latest news and updates.

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