2004 press releases

Car Alarms: Local MP Fights for the Big Turn Off

Lewes MP and Lib Dem Shadow Environment Secretary Norman Baker has taken on one of the biggest scourges of Britain's towns and cities - the car alarm - in an effort to restore some much-needed peace and tranquility to blighted residents across the country. Most cars are now fitted with audible car alarms as a security feature to guard against car thieves, yet their effectiveness has become increasingly questionable as few people now respond to them and many regard them as simply another urban irritation. Norman has pledged to table a Bill in Parliament which seeks to ban manufacturers from fitting audible car alarms in new vehicles and oblige them to provide alternatives which are more effective in preventing theft, and which do not cause noise nuisance.

Commenting on his Bill, Norman says:

"Car alarms are a source of irritation to people. I have received letters from people up and down the country who complain about sleepless nights resulting from screeching and persistent alarms which go off for no apparent reason.

"When a car alarm goes off the car has almost invariably not been stolen, no-one bothers to investigate, and the police do not attend - all they do is annoy people. They don't appear to fulfil any useful function whatsoever.

"What I am seeking is a ban on installing alarms in new vehicles, tighter controls on existing alarms, and for them to be replaced with more effective alternatives such as immobilisers and tracking devices. Bans have been put in place in many Italian cities and moves are afoot to do likewise in cities across the world from Moscow to New York to Brisbane. Why cannot we now follow suit and give a much needed break to sleep-deprived and irritated neighbours?"

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