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Conference waylay::askenet_v5

Title:	Ask The EasyNet (V5)
Notice:	Don't ask about notes conferences here - see 1.2
Moderator:	WAYLAY::GORDON

Created:	Mon Apr 13 1992
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1236
Total number of notes:	9997

1224.0. "Question re siren-like auto theft alarms" by NETCAD::MORRISON (Bob M. LKG2-A/R5 226-7570) Wed Apr 30 1997 18:15

  Is it true that it's illegal in NH and MA to have a siren on a private car?
I assume it is. So how can people get away with having a theft alarm that
sounds like a siren?
  I hear theft alarms several times a month. The first time I heard the siren-
like alarm was two years ago. Since then I have heard them a dozen times, in
many different places. It alternates between 6 (I think) different siren
sounds. The ONLY difference between these sounds and a real siren is that the
latter usually switches siren sounds at random time intervals (manually
switched?).
  I realize that theft alarms normally sound when a vehicle is parked, not
when it's in motion. So once people know where the sound is coming from, it's
usually clear that it's not an emergency vehicle. But the question stands:
common sense says that this is a siren, and sirens are illegal on private
cars, so why don't people who have these alarms get ticketed for a violation?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1224.1		MRPTH1::16.34.80.132::slab		`Wed Apr 30 1997 18:51`	23
	Bob, a siren is installed with a car alarm for a different purpose than a siren is installed in an emergency vehicle. A car's alarm is meant as a theft deterrant. If it makes a whole bunch of noise, a thief is going to want to avoid it if [s]he doesn't know how to bypass the audible alarm. An emergency vehicle's siren is meant to warn people that an emergency vehicle is approaching, and that it would like you to get out of the way. And like you said, an emergency siren is usually used when the vehicle is moving. If someone's stealing my car, I want that person to be deter- red in some way. One of my cars has an installed alarm with a siren, and the other has a factory alarm that activates the horn and headlights. Following your line of logic, you could ask whether or not a horn should be legal in a vehicle.
1224.2		NETCAD::MORRISON	Bob M. LKG2-A/R5 226-7570	`Thu May 01 1997 17:01`	9
	IMO a siren is no more effective in scaring off a car thief than a standard alarm is. Once the thief figures out that the siren is coming from the target car and not from an approaching police car, what is the difference? My real objection to theft alarms that use a siren or sound the car horn is that they are too loud. IMO this volume of noise is not needed to scare off a car thief. All you need is a noise that seems loud to a thief, can be heard inside an adjoining house with the doors and windows closed, and quickly identified as a theft alarm. Some theft alarms are so loud they can be heard inside a house 1/4 mile away.