CAR ALARMS

For those who have suffered sleepless nights because of car alarms, an MP's plan to make them all but inaudible will be music to their ears. But what's the point of an alarm you can't hear? A car break-in is not just a headache for the victim, it seems. Two thirds of those questioned by insurer Zurich said their sleep had been disturbed by home or car alarms. And a third said they simply ignored other people's alarms because they were sick of the noise, the poll of 1,100 Britons found.

Car alarms on all vehicles built since 1993 are limited to 105 decibels and can sound for up to five minutes before shutting down. These limits were set down in a European directive. But they don't go far enough, according to Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Norman Baker. He will present a bill in the House of Commons proposing further reductions, prompted by letters from the public complaining about the problem.

Mr Baker's bill will propose a 55-decibel limit on car alarms, which is barely louder than background noise, and he admits this will make audio car alarms virtually useless. "The purpose is to drive manufacturers to fit modern technology which is far more effective at protecting a car against theft, and which is also less intrusive to everybody else," he says. Alarm systems that send a warning message to a motorist's mobile phone or a tracking device to transmit a stolen vehicle's whereabouts are a couple of examples.

But there has already been huge progress in reducing the number of false alarms, says Mike Briggs of car research and technology outfit Thatcham. At the same time, vehicle thefts fell 17% in the most recent crime figures, measuring the three months to July 2004. A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says the Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993 gives local authorities the power to break into vehicles and silence alarms or car stereos following complaints from the public.

They can also serve abatement notices to persistent offenders, failure to comply with them can lead to a £5,000 fine or the confiscation of equipment. The Control of Pollution Act 1974 bans the use of loudspeakers in the street between 9pm and 8am and has also been used to prosecute other forms of noise, such as people with loud car stereos. If the car playing its music is moving, then it's a matter for the police.