There are two purposes of a car alarm:
A) Tell everyone in the general vicinity that a car is being stolen. B) Tell everyone who notices the car driving around that it has been stolen.
A is annoying. I don't *WANT* to know that your car is being stolen. I am trying to sleep.
So, this alarm would just be the word "ALARM" in bright lights on both sides of your car. These lights would be camouflaged to blend in with the car's paint job, but would still involve cutting small holes in the car's metal to install it. And of course, as usual, the alarm would also cause all the car's existing lights to flash on and off.
Would this alarm protect against theft any better than a noisy car alarm? Probably not. Would it wake people up at 2AM? Probably not.-- aguydude, Nov 04 2010 (?) Semi baked for cabs http://www.newsobse...t-alarm-lights.html [DIYMatt, Dec 03 2010] This idea is not entirely without merit, though less attractive than the "remotely triggered airbag in the driver's head restraint" concept.-- 8th of 7, Nov 04 2010 //I don't *WANT* to know that your car is being stolen.//
Wouldn't you want to know that you own car is being stolen?-- Boomershine, Nov 05 2010 if your car knows that it is being stolen why wouldn't it simply shut down the systems that make the car run?-- WcW, Nov 06 2010 Boomershine: If my own car had a car alarm, I'm sure I'd assume, any time it went off, that my car is not being stolen, and would react accordingly. So, may as well just use *this* car alarm instead, which is still ineffective...but less annoying.
WcW: Apply that same logic to noisy car alarms. Apply your response to that logic to this device. :::Shrug:::-- aguydude, Nov 06 2010 Black paint? Duct tape? [-] C'mon guys, think like a criminal if you're going to dabble in this foray.-- daseva, Nov 07 2010 <rant> You want to stop your car being stolen, not tell the world after the fact. What I may do (if I could afford it) is install a 12" speaker behind a grill on both front doors (or front fenders), connected to an amp with a recording of an explosion. This plays at 120dB, both deafening the would-be thief, and letting the world know something is wrong. All this 'be nice to crims', 'don't harm the crims' crap. You try to steal my car, I will mess you up! </rant>-- neutrinos_shadow, Nov 07 2010 Better yet: an illuminated sign built into the rear bumper that lights up [STOLEN - CALL POLICE]. Don't flash the car's running lights; you want to perp to be oblivious to his obviousness right up to the point where the rozzers pull him over.-- BunsenHoneydew, Nov 09 2010 Perhaps the alarm should neither make noises, nor flash, but should make spikes shoot out of the driver's seat. That will make thieves think twice about thieving, and will make owners think twice about disabling their alarm before jumping in.-- pocmloc, Nov 09 2010 Just move to a nicer area. Nobody steals cars on the Buchanan estates.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 09 2010 //There are two purposes of a car alarm// There is only one purpose to a car alarm. It enables you to tell the insurance company that you have an alarm on your car. If someone has successfully broken into your car and driven it off, how will the car know if it is being stolen or not? I don't see this working as an 'alarm' as such. However, your final paragraph sells it for me. +-- DrBob, Nov 10 2010 DrBob: You have successfully understood the underlying goal of this invention.-- aguydude, Nov 13 2010 // Nobody steals cars on the Buchanan estates//
Could we just park our cars there?-- Boomershine, Nov 13 2010 [Boomershine] First you have to get past the triffids.-- mouseposture, Nov 14 2010 And the moles.-- Boomershine, Nov 14 2010 I forgot about the moles. Poor triffids.-- mouseposture, Nov 15 2010 //DrBob: You have successfully understood the underlying goal of this invention// Cool! Do I get a prize?-- DrBob, Nov 15 2010 I just saw on the news that they're doing this with cabs. [link] It has to be activated by the driver but it could easily be linked to the regular security system.-- DIYMatt, Dec 03 2010 random, halfbakery