By Tommy Hallissey
Intro 811, sponsored by City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) prohibits the sale and installation of all non-factory installed car alarms – both legal and illegal. Also discussed was Resolution 365, sponsored by Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz (D-Manhattan), which calls upon the state Legislature to remove all insurance discounts for the installation of audible car alarms.
“Audible car alarms do not prevent theft,” said Liu. “They do prevent New Yorkers from getting a good night's rest. This legislation will strike at the source of the problem through a sensible and enforceable approach.”
Intro 81 aims to limit noise pollution from car alarms by banning the sale and installation of all non-factory installed audible car alarms. It currently is illegal to own car alarms that wail for longer than three minutes or to own car alarms that are triggered by anything other than penetration of the vehicle.
It is not illegal to sell and install such devices. A City Council survey found that 72 percent of non-factory car alarm installers sell illegal car alarms despite the existing law, which dates back to 1993.
“Audible car alarms are to noise pollution what exhaust fumes are to air pollution,” said Gennaro. “Today's legislation is an important first step towards reducing one of our city's biggest contributors to noise pollution. Just as we took actions to reduce exhaust fumes, I look forward to exploring actions that the Council can take to address the noise pollution caused by all types of audible car alarms.”
Liu's bill, Intro 81, falls short of banning all car alarms because City Council research found that some manufacturer-installed car alarms cannot be disengaged without disrupting the electric wiring of the automobile. Carmakers such as BMW and Daimler-Chrysler told the Council that factory-installed alarms are considered to be an integral part of the vehicle's central wiring system.
For Gennaro, this is an important first step in reducing noise pollution, but he said the bill will need revision before it is passed. Intro 81 bans the sale of both legal and illegal car alarms.
“Maybe a better way to go is to make it illegal to install and sell illegal car alarms,” said Gennaro. “I have my own amendments that will make it a more doable bill. Something that will help eliminate those alarms that are illegal in New York City.”
Gennaro said his goal was to pass a bill that was the natural extension of the 1993 law, which is currently on the books.
The Committee also evaluated Resolution 365 that calls on the state Assembly to pass a law that would offer an auto insurance discount to only those policyholders who have installed silent anti-theft devices in their automobiles. The current law offers discounts to those with silent or audible alarms. The City Council does not have jurisdiction in the matter.
The pieces of legislation come on the heels of Mayor Bloomberg's plan to overhaul the city's noise code. Bloomberg's legislation focuses on five areas: reducing sound from construction; more practical regulation of sound from commercial music sources; closing the loophole in current code provisions governing air conditioning and air circulating devices; simplifying enforcement by using “plainly audible” standard instead of conventional decibel limits, which require use of a noise meter; and increasing enforcement effectiveness by limiting the Code's use of standard of “unreasonable to a person of normal sensitivities.”
Reach reporter Tommy Hallissey by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 155.
