bancaralarms.org

Dear Friend,

I'm writing today to share good and bad news with you about T.A.'s campaign to ban car alarms in New York City.

First, the good news: Transportation Alternatives has won a city council committee hearing during which the council will vote on Int. 448, which will ban the sale, use and installation of car alarms in New York City.

Now, the bad news: the hearing was just moved from October to December 11.

But though the hearing delay means that we'll all have to endure two more months of obnoxious, pointless car alarms, it also gives T.A. a chance to organize even more support to ensure that we win a full ban of car alarms.

If you have already made an emergency donation to help us cover the costs of the crucial last days of this campaign, thank you! Your contribution has allowed us to reach out to and organize even more city council members and neighborhood and civic groups, securing the support we need to ban car alarms.

If you haven't already done so, please make a generous emergency donation to help us cover the cost of this final push to ban car alarms. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of October to help us cover the costs of the extra expense of having our car alarm campaigners do the mailings, phoning, meetings and community outreach we need to build an even stronger coalition in support of banning car alarms. Your support is crucial.

This is truly an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers and set a precedent for curbing the car invasion of New York City.  By banning car alarms, we'll be sending the message that driving does more than just create congestion and imperil the lives of everyone-including people who get around by bicycle and foot. We'll also make it clear that driving pollutes our city, making it dirty, smelly, toxic and-yes, noisy.

We won't get another opportunity like this anytime soon, so, if you haven't already done so, please make a generous donation now to take a decisive step forward in our fight against the onslaught of driving in New York City.

Sincerely,

John Kaehny
Executive Director
Transportation Alternatives

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Campaign Memo, September 18, 2003: Why Ban Car Alarms?

Read more at www.bancaralarms.org. 

Typical, current prices for audible and silent car security devices in New York City.

• A ban is legal. New York City already prohibits the use of noisy aftermarket motorcycle tailpipes (NY Admin. Code Sec. 24-227) and the use of audible status indicators on cars. Summons under these laws are sustained. We can ban car alarm use. Likewise, no legal issues prevent a ban on the sale and installation of alarms - see our memorandum on Commerce Clause issues for details [ Commerce Clause Memo (pdf format) | Legal authority of city to ban car alarms (html format) ].
  
• A ban will work. Police enforcement of car alarm laws will become much simpler and more practical. Just as important, a clear ban will provide a "codified morality" that will be enforced through social pressures. Laws requiring "pooper-scoopers," prohibiting cell phone use while driving, and limiting idling to three minutes are rarely enforced directly, but they are still effective.
  
• New Yorkers want a car alarm ban. The two car alarm bills before City Council have twenty-one co-sponsors from across New York City, including high car-ownership areas of Brooklyn and Queens. Unlike the smoking ban, these bills have support across the political and demographic spectra. Virtually all of the opposition to a car alarm ban comes from out-of-town consumer electronics industry lobbyists.
  
• Car owners will buy silent devices once audible alarms are banned, benefiting car owners and local businesses. The need for car security won't go away when alarms do. Recent history suggests that car owners will flock to installers for silent anti-theft products once audible alarms are banned. When the New York State Legislature banned the use of handheld cell phones while driving, sales of hands-free headsets soared. Plantronics, which claims nearly half the worldwide headset market, reports that New York sales "more than doubled" in the months following passage of the New York law.^** The same will happen when car alarms are banned, with installers reaping the benefits. Meanwhile, car owners will gain better security and bigger insurance discounts.
  
• Installers will not need to retool, since Int. 448 bans only the audible part of existing alarm systems. A car alarm consists of an array of sensors, a radio receiver, a wireless key fob, an auxiliary battery, a computer control unit, and a siren (see illustration). Only the siren would be banned. Instead of triggering a loud, ineffective noise, this same system can activate a silent pager or immobilizer. Installers already have all the equipment and expertise they need to install silent devices - indeed, 70% already sell silent pagers (see above for prices).

Only the siren (alarm speaker) will be disconnected when the ban goes into effect. A qualified installer can shut off the siren and install a replacement pager in under one hour. There are several add-on pagers available from most installation shops. Source: Tom Harris, "How Car Alarms Work", http://www.howstuffworks.com/car-alarm.htm 

"Memo: Why Ban Car Alarms" is also available in PDF format.

Read the rest of the report at www.transalt.org/press/testimony/030918caralarms.html. 

Read more at www.bancaralarms.org.