# What can you do if a car alarm is going off and the owner isn't around? (need answer fast) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381 "2009-08-14T03:52:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/21 "2009-08-14T16:44:27Z")
I’m sure I’ve asked this before, but I forgot: What the hell is the point of car alarms? 😕 I’ve never seen them accomplish anything but annoying the neighbors. Carjackers aren’t so poor that they can’t afford earplugs, right? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/22 "2009-08-14T17:18:30Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I’m sure I’ve asked this before, but I forgot: What the hell is the point of car alarms? 😕 > > I’ve never seen them accomplish anything but annoying the neighbors. Carjackers aren’t so poor that they can’t afford earplugs, right? It’s to find your car when you hit the remote unlock. I think we’d be better off, having a camera that sends pictures to a security firm or your choice of site every time the car is accessed without the security code. The total ignition shutdown is a good way to to prevent stealing the whole car. billfish678 I think it was days too, but didn’t want to say that without the link. I won’t even try to search for it on this site either. ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/23 "2009-08-14T18:30:22Z")
I was wondering the same thing last night at 1am and Wednesday night about 11:30 pm, and Tuesday night too. Great to know that I’ve paid tickets for a dog barking in the daytime for less than 4 minutes, but I can’t do a damn thing about this moron’s car. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/24 "2009-08-14T18:38:21Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > And if the car is subsequently stolen, the owner would have a claim against you for the value of the car. 1. What car thief is going to check why the car won’t start and try to fix it while stealing a car? 2. If they do manage to steal it then anything done to it can be laid at the car thief’s door. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/25 "2009-08-14T18:56:39Z")
**What can you do if a car alarm is going off and the owner isn’t around? (need answer fast)** It’s been about 15 hours since the “need answer fast” plea. So, it’s too late to help. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/26 "2009-08-14T19:08:02Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > This is not a police problem If police can come break up a noisy party, or have an illegally vehicle towed, how is it not a police problem to have a nuisance vehicle causing a huge disturbance towed? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/27 "2009-08-14T19:13:38Z")
I always wondered if the method from Twins works - Ahnold lifts up the back of the car, which sets off some sort of sensor designed to turn off the alarm if it’s towed. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/28 "2009-08-14T19:21:42Z")
Well, ten to fifteen minutes of just cursory Googling shows that a lot of communities have passed ordinances enabling the police to fine and/or tow vehicles that just won’t shut up. I’m surprised that this isn’t universally embraced—what better way to bolster municipal coffers with some fast, easy bucks? I’d wager that there are also homeowner’s associations which have bylaws regulating car alarms. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/29 "2009-08-14T19:29:39Z")
Someone in our neighborhood had a Toyota pick-up with an overly-sensitive alarm. It used to go off at all hours, doing the 30-second _ **WHOOP-WEEEEEah-HONK-CHIRP** _ thing 15-20 times a day. Nice notes didn’t work, angry notes had no effect, calls to the police were a waste of time. We did find a successful approach, though. What eventually got results? Liberal amounts of semi-rotten foodstuffs dumped in the bed of the truck and applied to the windshield. I guess the owner didn’t like the smell of old sauerkraut, onions, garlic and pickle juice. Good thing, too–the next weapon was going to be fish sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/30 "2009-08-14T20:03:23Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > If police can come break up a noisy party, or have an illegally vehicle towed, how is it not a police problem to have a nuisance vehicle causing a huge disturbance towed? It’s absolutely a police problem. In fact, my friend once had his car towed in college…we were in class, he came back 4 hours later, his car was gone, and he ended up paying a fine for disturbing the peace. Just call the cops, they’ll have the thing towed. Simple as pie. They’re not going to send out 15 cruisers with flashing lights, but they’ll have someone drive by at some point in the next 20 minutes, and if the alarm is still going off, they’ll try to locate the owner at any nearby houses, if the car is registered locally, and then just have it towed. You’re not interfering with any real crime investigation, you’re just having the police do exactly what they’re supposed to do: SERVE and protect. That’s what we pay cops for: to deal with violations of property and the public welfare. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/31 "2009-08-14T20:05:33Z")
So I guess, so far, the bottom line is: Nothing can be done. At all. At least legally. And chances are, nobody will be able to help either. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/32 "2009-08-14T20:18:29Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > What eventually got results? Liberal amounts of semi-rotten foodstuffs dumped in the bed of the truck and applied to the windshield. I guess the owner didn’t like the smell of old sauerkraut, onions, garlic and pickle juice. Good thing, too–the next weapon was going to be fish sauce. Hmmm.. is it against the law to put something on someones car if it doesn’t do any permanent damage? I wouldn’t advise keying it or dumping paint on it but what if you wrote on the windows “beepbeepbeepbeepbeep” with a bar of soap? Or dumped a glass of milk on the windshield? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/33 "2009-08-14T20:27:40Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I’m sure I’ve asked this before, but I forgot: What the hell is the point of car alarms? 😕 > > I’ve never seen them accomplish anything but annoying the neighbors. Carjackers aren’t so poor that they can’t afford earplugs, right? Once I was going to bed when a car alarm went off nearby. It stopped going off after about thirty seconds. I knew it wasn’t mine but I checked anyway - it was my boyfriend’s, and it went off because a homeless lady broke into it to sleep in it. It stopped going off when she shut the door, weirdly. So, I’m the one example. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/34 "2009-08-14T20:36:59Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Hmmm.. is it against the law to put something on someones car if it doesn’t do any permanent damage? I wouldn’t advise keying it or dumping paint on it but what if you wrote on the windows “beepbeepbeepbeepbeep” with a bar of soap? Or dumped a glass of milk on the windshield? Well…if you can literally JUST touch someone and get charged with assault, I suspect you can do something pretty darn minor to a car and get charged with vandalism…maybe even grand vandalism auto 🙂 You local legal mileage will vary enourmously ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/35 "2009-08-14T22:15:19Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > If police can come break up a noisy party, or have an illegally vehicle towed, how is it not a police problem to have a nuisance vehicle causing a huge disturbance towed? There are probably local ordinances which specify how loud a party can be and whether a given vehicle is illegally parked and the consequences for violating those ordinances. If the noise ordinance is too narrowly tailored, it might exclude car alarms, in which case the cops can’t do anything about it. The solution then would be to lobby your city/county commissioners/aldermen/etc. to create regulations specifying when a car alarm becomes a nuisance and how the issue should be remedied. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/36 "2009-08-15T03:22:40Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > I’ve never really investigated the matter since I’ve never owned a car alarm, but surely there must be some municipalities that have adopted ordinances to deal with this issue. It just stands to reason that this must be the case. Therefore, there must be places where it is a police matter. I’ll look into it in the morning and see what I can find. About 15 years ago I believe it was San Francisco thar did adopted an ordinance. If I remember right, if an alarm went off for over 30 minutes (I think the time was 30 minutes) and you had made a reasonable attempt to find the “responsable person”. Then you were free to do what ever was reasonable to shut the alarm off. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/37 "2009-08-15T06:00:05Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > This is not a police problem,. It’s a public nuisance and as such can be towed away. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/38 "2009-08-15T10:17:28Z")
In the UK, Environmental Health have the authority to deal with a problem like this, and can get the car removed. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/39 "2009-08-15T10:55:51Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It’s a public nuisance and as such can be towed away. Not necessarily, it depends upon the local laws. Public nuisance laws which are overbroad can be thrown out on First Amendment grounds. But jurisdictions attempting to avoid that might then have regulations so tightly tailored that they wind up not covering annoying car alarms. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381/40 "2009-08-15T11:59:32Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > So I guess, so far, the bottom line is: Nothing can be done. At all. At least legally. > And chances are, nobody will be able to help either. IANAL but under UK you would probably be entitled to gain access under the bonnet and disconnect the battery, provided this did not result in criminal damage, or if the amount rendered was _de minimis_. You might also be able to argue a case for actual damage from “lawful excuse” provided you, > [@](#): > > (a) at the time … he believed that the person … believed to be entitled to consent to the destruction or damage … had so consented, or would have consented had they known …, or > (b) he destroyed or damaged … the property in question … and in order to protect the property … and at the time … he believed > (i) that the property … was in immediate need of protection; and > (ii) that the means of protection … were … reasonable having regard to all the circumstances. [RIGHT]**Criminal Damage Act 1971 (section 5)**[/RIGHT] In light of _Chamberlain v. Lindon_ (1998) it can also be somewhat immaterial whether your action is actually supported in law, provided that it was honestly held. ([Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_damage_in_English_law#.22Without_lawful_excuse.22)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-if-a-car-alarm-is-going-off-and-the-owner-isnt-around-need-answer-fast/506381.md?page=3)