The car alarm is far from being a universally popular invention: a British television poll listed it as one of the United Kingdom's ten least favorite inventions (just behind the cell phone), and as mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani commented, "Noise pollution is a major problem. Even in a city as exciting as New York, people should be able to sleep without being disturbed by car alarms..." There have been petitions to ban the devices, and there have even been claims that car alarms, far from helping reduce instances of car theft, actually make the problem worse!
The first recorded instance of car theft occurred in 1896. Cars are valuable and simple to "disguise," so thieves regard them as easy targets. Reputedly the product of car stereo manufacturers in California in 1970, the car alarm seems to offer the perfect solution; an automated alarm that will emit a loud blaring noise when activated, scaring potential thieves away and alerting people to the fact that a car is being stolen. The problem with the device has traditionally been the sensitivity of the activation mechanism.
Modern car alarms consist of an array of sensors, spread around the car, wired up to activate the alarm when the door opens, or when the car is moved suddenly. The frequent accidental activation of these motion sensors has led people to ignore the alarm. like a mechanical version of the boy who cried wolf.
In place of the typical car alarm, modern stolen vehicle recovery systems, such as LoJack, are becoming more prevalent. Once a car has been reported stolen, a silent wireless device hidden in the vehicle relays a radio signal to the police, who, using corresponding computer programs, can then track and recover the car (often apprehending the thief in the meantime).
