NYC Bill To Ban Alarms Revised, Then Vetoed

By Amy Gilroy On Sep 20 2004 - 6:00am

A New York City bill has been vetoed that would have banned car alarms that did not shut off after three minutes.

Originally the bill, ordinance 81-A, called for banning all audible aftermarket alarms in NYC. However after representatives from The Mobile Enhancement Retailers Association (MERA), Audiovox, Directed Electronics and CEA appeared before the New York City Council, the bill was rewritten to ban only those alarms which sound for more than three minutes and which use outside motion sensors. According to MERA director Rick Mathies, most leading aftermarket alarms shut off within a minute.

The revised bill was vetoed by Mayor Bloomberg. The bill's sponsor, John Liu (D-Queens), and at least one other council member want to override the veto to pass the revised bill and may seek to do so, according to Mathies.

“If you take away audible alarms, you take away people's ability to protect their property,” Mathies said. He would have preferred that the new version of the bill passed, noting that without the new, more reasonable ordinance, “I'm afraid we'll have to go through the whole thing again at a later date.”