Ban Car Alarms
The New York Observer

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With crime continuing to drop–it’s time to do something about a legal but thoroughly offensive public nuisance. We’re talking, of course, about car alarms. Nothing would do more to improve the peace and quiet of New York’s neighborhoods than to ban these ear-piercing alarms. As Mayor Michael Bloomberg prepares to run for re-election, it’s hard to imagine a more potent appeal to voters than a proposal to free the city from the aural tyranny of these bleating devices.

Council Speaker Gifford Miller has called for a federal ban on car alarms, but the Speaker lost his nerve when it came to the idea of a more localized New York City ban. Car manufacturers told Mr. Miller that deactivating a car alarm was virtually impossible—and the Speaker apparently bought Detroit’s argument.

One local group working toward a ban, Transportation Alternatives, claims that the noise of a car alarm "boosts stress hormones and has been linked to cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal illnesses, psychological problems and unhealthy fetal development." No New Yorker who has ever been subject to a wailing alarm outside his or her window would disagree.

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