CEA Opposes NYC Car Alarm Ban
ByAmy Gilroy -- TWICE, 6/14/2004
Arlington, Va. — CEA said it opposes a new effort in New York City to ban car alarms.
Legislation now before the New York City Council would ban the sale and installation of audible car alarms, but the CEA claims the bill would do little to reduce noise in NYC and would diminish consumer options for theft protection. The CEA called for the bill to be rejected in comments to the City Council on Thursday.
The CEA noted that FBI crime statistics for the year 2002 showed 27,034 incidents of motor vehicle theft recorded by the New York City Police Department. In addition, it said the City Dept. of Environmental Protection recorded 2,238 noise complaints for car alarms from June 1, 2003 to May 31, 2004.
CEA called on the Council to focus on enforcing the city’s current car alarm law rather than "forcing local consumers and retailers to leave New York to buy and sell aftermarket security systems," said a spokesman.
The current New York City law states that car alarm systems must be configured to automatically terminate within three minutes and may only be triggered to go off by direct physical contact or individual remote control. It also limits the decibel level of the alarm.
CEA further objected that the proposed law would not apply to late model or luxury cars equipped with factory alarm systems, and would therefore unfairly "burden owners of older and less expensive cars," the CEA said in a written statement.
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