Are car alarms a thing of the past? How effective are they really?
We all know that moment. You leave the restaurant after a perfectly enjoyable evening only to find the back passenger window smashed into a thousand pieces, the radio ripped out and the connecting wires hanging down like a scene from a bad horror movie.
It stands to reason then so many of us have car alarm system installed in our vehicles. However, in some instances these systems hardly prove effective at all.
Particular in cases where alarm systems are older, vehicle break-ins are relatively simple, as criminals have learnt how to recognise flaws within the outdated technology and bypass elements so that the noisemaker goes off.
In addition, for many it’s that the alarm has not been fitted properly by an approved installation professional. Shoddy installations by backyard amateurs may make them a few rand, but the consequences will be devastating for you should your vehicle become a target.
So what should you be looking for in a decent car alarm system?
The first items to be considered are standard anti-theft features such as immobilising technology and the alarm noisemaker. While the noisemaker certainly draws attention to the vehicle once it has been broken into, brazen criminals, especially in South Africa, have started to ignore this deterrent.
Often they flee the scene quickly as they have planned escape routes or another vehicle is standing by to whisk them away.
However, the continuing advancements in immobiliser technology have made their task that much harder, so when coupled with a noisemaker the result more often than not has the desired effect in that at least the vehicle won’t be stolen.
Yet these are the basic features, and given the canniness with which the modern-day car thief operates, new innovations are constantly being developed.
These days, for example, some cars have automatic roll-up windows once the vehicle has been turned off. While you should always make sure all the windows are closed, human error does occur, making it open season for any lurking criminals.
Another new product is the two-way pager alarm. By virtue of this system a signal is sent from the car alarm to a remote on the driver’s person to show her vehicle is being broken into.
The latest is of course biometric fingerprint car security. Two decades ago, one would have thought such innovation would only ever been seen in sci-fi movies, but today it is very real, although still fairly pricy for the average consumer.
What is so remarkable about such devices is that they are impossible to override by anyone other than authorised users, and it perhaps is telling that our safest bet when it comes to our cars is ourselves.
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