SFist: From the Editor's In Box

bluecanary

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:47:32 -0800

Oddly enough, it's usually cheap pieces of shit with car alarms in my neighborhood. Luckily, my hill's too steep for most SUV's to manage parking (but watching them get towed when they get their asses stuck makes for some amusement).

Ciaran

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:07:52 -0800

But I need my minivan/SUV/tank for my 12 kids/dog/art project!

bluecanary

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:07:05 -0800

well, now I know to tell the cops right up front when I call that I'm more than willing to sign a citizen's arrest form. However, I have also found that leaving a polite note on the car, coupled with dog shit under the driver's side door handle, is also extremely effective. You want to be inconsiderate? I will see your car alarm and raise you one hand full of dog shit.

bob_here

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:56:17 -0800

You did the right thing to sign the citizen's complaint. And, yes, it has nothing to do with SUVs specifically and everything to do with the lack of people's consideration and sense of responsibility. If your car alarm is going off every few minutes for hours on end, YOU are responsible. Who else? Where do you get the huge entitlement to keep a whole neighborhood up at night? I don't condone vandalism but, frankly, on a jury, I'd never vote to convict someone who lost it after hours and hours of hearing a car alarm go off.

bob_here

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:53:36 -0800

City Dweller

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:47:20 -0800

Do you all know that the City has a Noise Ordinance? It's Article 29 of the Police Code. It's lengthy, descriptive and an interesting read. It states, in part: "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City and County to prohibit unnecessary, excessive and offensive noises from all sources subject to its police power." "Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, and in addition thereto, it shall be unlawful for any person without justification to make or continue, or cause or permit to be made or continued, any unnecessary, excessive, or offensive noise, as defined in Section 2901.11, and including vocal or instrumental music and related sounds, whether live or reproduced mechanically by radio, television, stereo or otherwise, and which disturbs the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or which causes discomfort or annoyance of any reasonable person of normal sensitivity residing or working in the area. The criteria which shall be considered in determining whether a violation of the provisions of this Section exist shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) The volume of the noise, music or related sound; (b) The intensity of the noise, music or related sound; (c) The continuousness or repetitive nature of the noise, music or related sound; (d) Whether the nature of the noise is usual or unusual for the area in which it occurs; (e) Whether the origin of the noise, music or related sound is natural or unnatural to the area in which it occurs; (f) The volume and intensity of the background noise or sound, if any; (g) The proximity of the noise, music or related sound to residential sleeping facilities; (h) The proximity to offices, places of business or other areas where work is known to be carried on of the noise, music or related sound; (i) The nature and zoning of the area within which the noise, music or related sound emanates; (j) The density of the inhabitation of the area within which the noise, music or related sound emanates; (k) The time of day or night the noise, music or related sound occurs, and the relationship of the time to the normal activities of the area in which it occurs; (l) The duration of the noise, music or related sound; (m) Whether the noise, music or related sound is recurrent, intermittent, or constant; (n) Whether the noise, music or related sound is produced by a commercial or a noncommercial activity." "Any person violating any of the provisions of this Article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in an amount not exceeding $500 or be imprisoned in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such." Odd that a "citizen's arrest" was apparently required with an alarm that was going off for several hours.

bob

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:40:16 -0800

what's worse? owning an SUV or being a vindictive, irrational asshole?

biggerisbetter

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:35:01 -0800

People have no respect for others. Key the m***?? key my car and find yourself a statistic.

me

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:57:50 -0800

Three words: key the motherfucker.

montrealais

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:43:08 -0800

I think that I am the person that is mentioned in this story as the one who made the "citizen arrest" and had the car towed. It has been enlightening to read the comments and be able to witness how the readers of this story judged my actions... For the record, I didn't care that the car in question was an SUV. However, I did care that it had an incredibly loud alarm that was steadily honking away when I arrived home at 11:30 tired and ready for bed. My wife was wearing ear plugs so that she could concentrate on her reading. She told me that the alarm had self-triggered every five or ten minutes for over three hours. I've lived in this neighborhood for over fourteen years and I've had to try and sleep through ridiculous car alarms for many nights during that time. It seems that lately, the after-market car alarms with their rococo variety of alarm sounds have gone out of fashion and have been replaced with car alarms that feature sounds that imitate the steady honking of a robot with hyper-tension behind the wheel or random honking patterns that mimic someone with deep emotional distress giving a misguided cry for help. I've tended to respond to situations where these alarms go off every time a breeze wafts up the street by trying to use it as an opportunity to notice the tension in my shoulders - do some stretches, reconnect with my breathing... I've put oversized notes on offending cars under my window only to have to hear the same car a week later. I've called the police in the hopes that they would be able to serve a ticket... These actions were in the end ineffectual. Noise pollution is a real problem, we have a right to a modicum of quiet and we all have to sleep. When I went downstairs to get the license plate so that I could file a noise complaint, my wife's story was corroborated by two or three notes left by the neighbors on the offending vehicle. They all complained about the noise and threatened action if nothing was done. While I was down there, the police arrived - apparently called in by a neighbor that beat me to it. When they told me that the car could be towed if someone would sign a citizen's arrest form I hesitated - knowing how it hurts to be towed (yes I have inadvertently blocked a driveway in my time)... Then I weighed passivity against the prospect of lying awake another night... Seeing as my neighbors had already done the first part of the job, I figured that it would be best to follow through... I didn't hear a cheer go up, but I can attest that I slept well - no moral quandary kept me up and no car alarms woke me either. Last words on this already too long comment: I My neighbors and I have been vigilant (not vigilantes) about calling the police during the recent wave of muggings on Fair Oaks. The last time that a mugging happened was ten feet away from where the car with the annoying alarm was a few months later. Within 20 seconds of hearing the victim cry out for help I had 911 on the phone and my neighbors did too. We didn't prevent the mugging, but we did help the police to arrive within a minute of the incident - enough to give would-be criminals pause. Neighbors can work together to keep neighborhoods safe and more livable. Perhaps creating good neighborhoods is more about involvement than remotely "protecting" oneself with alarms or just chalking up inconsiderate noisemakers or petty thieves as the price we pay for living in the city. Call me old fashioned, but every time I hear breaking glass in the middle of the day or night I look out the window to see if there is robbery in progress... no annoying manic robot horns needed.

Dave

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:23:53 -0800

Yay for the brick throwers! Yay for the handle urinators! Yay for the towers! Just because I live in the city doesn't mean I should have to listen to crazy ass honking car alarms ALL THE TIME. Fuck dat. I've lived in big cities all my life and let me tell you something - if your car alarm is honking for three hours straight, you'd better count yourself lucky it only got towed. Some neighborhoods it would be perfectly acceptable to slash the tires, key the doors and maybe even leave a cinderblock in the windshield. There's RULES when it comes to living in the city. You break 'em, and your neighbors are gonna take enforcement into their own hands. If you got a problem with that, maybe its YOU who should move to Mayberry. As for SUVS, who the hell in the city needs one. Last time I checked, all the roads were paved and we don't get no snow around these parts. As for 12 kids, show me the SUV owning yuppie that has 12 kids. I'd like to see this mythological creature. I bet I could make a killing on selling a picture of one to the Enquirer. Its funny, when I was a kid, my folks got by perfectly well carting me, my brother and our friends around in a beat up Subaru hatchback. You don't "need" that minivan or SUV. You just want one b/c you want to pamper yourself and isolate your kids in a cocoon via built-in flat screens, DVDS and video games.

citygeo

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:42:22 -0800

The battle to make cities quieter is not being lost; this story is about one small victory. If car-alarm users reading this thread are inspired to discover how these devices can be adjusted, well, there's another victory. It's not the alarms themselves causing the problem; it's when they malfunction, ie, going off when the car is not being burglarized. I agree towing is harsh. A citation and fine are certainly enough to motivate people to fix the problem. However, this doesn't help the neighbors who are being driven crazy when the gizmo malfunctions. I suggest alarm-owners leave a note on the dash saying where they can be reached. That would have saved the car-owner in the above story. He or she could have been called and then come turned it off.

MattyMatt

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:21:54 -0800

Car alarms may stop burglars, sure. But in my experience, they can't stop irritated neighbors from urinating on the car's door handles.

Edker

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:14:27 -0800

It's always amusing when I'm at Lowe's in San Bruno and a 747 takes off setting off at least five car alarms in the parking lot.

sfliberal

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:41:45 -0800

What's with the blanket SUV bashing? The issue is car alarms and yet people kind of automatically assume that all SUV drivers are evil-doers plotting against the good and perfect people of San Francisco. That's pretty fucking smug. Can you just stop for a moment and not make the gross assumption that everyone who's not like you is a complete asshole? Seriously people. And the person who will only tow SUVs that block their driveway? I hope you have about 12 kids and they get to sit on each others shoulders in your Prius. oh wait - that would be illegal. Nobody is perfect, calm the fuck down and just get on with your own shit. You being a dick is only gonna make the other person angry, and then we have fights etc. This is the thinking of certain warmongers we know well... Conflict is never the answer and yo can't tell people how to live.

hmmmm

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:32:24 -0800

Living in the city does not give you carte blanche to be an ass. But it gives you a right to decide for yourself what other people can and can't do? My car actually came with an alarm installed and the only time it has ever gone off was when it was being broken into and when I set it myself. If it's true that car alarms can be set for sensitivity (I have no idea) then possible a ticket should be issued,- that might help. But condemning all people who have car alarms and are making an attempt to protect their property (and decrease the cost of insurance) is just kinda of mean and crazy.

bornandraised

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:56:25 -0800

i feel both sides of this. i know that i have a car alarm on my car (a mini) because she's very important to me. but i am also the neighbor who has gone out in her bathrobe at 8am on a sunday and rung the doorbell of the douche down the block who's alarm has seemed to wake up everyone save him. the thing that bothers me is this: the only time my alarm (to my knowledge) has gone off was when i accidentally did something to set it off and i had to figure out how in gods name it happened so i could turn it off. but that is the ONLY time. which makes me wonder, either i have never had a large enough vehicle drive by to set it off, or my alarm company rocks at efficiancy. i bet the second one is true, so i think we should just grant a monopoly to the mini dealership to outfit all cars with their alarms. silence for the masses, protections for those rare occasions.

TI

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:56:18 -0800

I think its ridiculous to say that you can simply "adjust the car alarm". That is an outdated idea from the 70's when car alarms were an after market addition to most cars. If I saw someone throw a brick through a car window -- a much more serious crime than an alarm ringing -- I would definitely report them to the police. I suggest that those posters above who don't like car alarms consider living somewhere outside the city because you are fighting a losing battle: cities are noisy!

OG

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:28:15 -0800

Car alarms are perfect examples of a selfish "I got mine, screw you" mentality. They benefit the car owner slightly but annoy the rest of us, disrupt our sleep, and send the stereo thieves down the block to rip off our alarm-less cars. If you're going to have a car alarm, keep its sensitivity set appropriately for local conditions (truck traffic in particular). Otherwise, calling the tow truck is the polite thing to do. If you're impolite and want a fast fix, break a window, pop the hood and disconnect the battery.

SFist_Sarah_L

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:21:39 -0800

From the letter-writer's message, it appears that it wasn't that the alarm was loud and annoying but that it was going off for over 3 hours. re: SF Dude and the driveway blockages My driveway is also frequently partially blocked, by SUVs and compacts alike. I will call for a tow if I can't get out (or in) or if I recognize the vehicle as a repeat offender. However, I can't help from wondering, "What were they thinking? Isn't it obvious that their car does not fit here?"

Greg

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:16:58 -0800

Ha! Good story. The SUV owner should consider himself lucky. I used to live in Venice Beach and every night some guy on his Harley (or many, as was often the case) would go roaring through late at night and set off the most obnoxious car alarm ever. This was especially annoying in the summer when people left their windows open. AFter many polite notes from concerned neighbors, one night after it'd gone off for the THIRD TIME, late at night, there was the usual blaring, then a SMASH! Someone had tossed a nice big brick (the industrial sized kind they used to whack Hoffa with) into Irritating Jerk's expensive car window. You could literally hear the cheers across the neighborhood. I often wonder what value a car alarm has anymore. Does anyone hear one and say "My goodness I must call the police right away!"

Ciaran

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:02:59 -0800

Living in the city does not give you carte blanche to be an ass. No, but having a big black SUV does.

bluecanary

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:29:35 -0800

Yeah, yeah, the one time an actual thief was in your car. But the other hundred times the fucking thing went off for no reason it served no other purpose but to piss your neighbors off. I'm so sick of people saying "move to Mayberry" as an excuse to be an inconsiderate asshole. Since when did merely living in a city meant you lose your right to not have to listen to a screeching alarm? Living in the city does not give you carte blanche to be an ass.

hmmmmm

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:17:19 -0800

When the alarm went off the theif took off. I know this for a fact. So there - yeah it did stop them from stealing stuff because when they tried to reach in and open the door from the inside, the alarm went off. I have lived in the city for a long time and have been able to look past many alarms going off right under my window. Unless the alarm is malfunctioning, towing someone is way over the top. Its actions like this that make neighbors hate each other. If you can't stand a little noise, maybe you should move to Mayberry. But if we start towing everyone that annoys us or inconveniences us, we'll be living in an awful place. Its just a car alarm, get over it. Maybe a ticket - but towing is a bit much.

hifidigitalboy

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:09:23 -0800

#2: Last time I checked you can turn down the sensitivity of car alarms.

bluecanary

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:42:58 -0800

No, hmmm, it's not too harsh at all. And if you've ever been held hostage by one of these assholes, you'd know that. And what happened when your alarm went off? Did you run out to confront the thief? Did your neighbors? Hell, no. Car alarms do absolutely nothing to stop crime. They're just a way to piss your neighbors off (and get your car keyed, or covered in dog shit, or have a toaster thrown through the windshield, as recently happened in NYC). I'd love to know when it became a civil right to disturb your neighbors to protect a fucking car that nobody is going to rush to save, anyway. I want to find out which cops these were and send them a big freaking box of fresh donuts and coffee.

hmmmmm

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:23:37 -0800

Wow - that's kinda harsh don't you think? People towing cars because an alarm went off? Do people have control over the sensitivity of their alarms? I don't think they do. I doubt the person set this up this way intentionally. It's pretty messed up to dislike someone because of the car they drive. I live on Fair Oaks and its actually pretty high crime lately. My car alarm went off after someone broke my window and tried to open the door. If I wouldn't have had an alarm I'm sure they would have ripped my dash apart to get my crappy radio. People who drive bigger cars undoubtedly have a harder time finding parking - duh. It's just seems really petty to me. Getting your car towed really sucks - hasn't it ever happened to you? Stop being so reactionary and judgemental. I'm sure people you know and love drive big cars and have alarms in them. Can't we all just get along?

SF Dude

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:06:19 -0800

Way to go! My driveway gets partially blocked all the time. I tend only to tow if it's a big SUV trying to squeeze in a spot it's not small enough for. It's bad enough people drive those monsters in a CITY, but then to try to claim a small spot is ever worse. If you drive a behemouth in the city, you should be prepared to have a hard time finding parking for your huge beast. Get a city car already!