Alarm pollution

As I write this, a car alarm has been going off for about an hour in the office parking lot behind my house. I tried canvassing the local businesses in search of the owner, to no avail. I finally called 911 in hopes that the police would be able to do something. When the officer arrived, he informed me that he could not stop the alarm, but that the dispatcher would attempt to reach the owner on the telephone, once again to no avail.

So I am left with no option but to continue to listen to an annoying car horn until the owner returns. The owner is most likely within the sound shelter of the office building. What if he or she is there all day? Am I to listen to the alarm until the car battery dies or should I just put in my ear plugs and forget about it?

What good are car alarms if nobody pays attention to them? The sound of car alarms being armed, disarmed or blaring for no reason has become ubiquitous within our culture. In my opinion, car alarms are only another form of noise pollution.

 

JAMES SEARS
McCandless