Miata Mailing List: November 1994, Message #176
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   From: dinsmoor%cfa7.DECNET@cfa.harvard.edu
Subject: RE: vandalism
   Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 13:04:17 -0500

Sorry I'm so late in chiming in on this topic, but I wanted to
add my $.02 (silent alarms vs. sirens.)

Anybody who's ever been violated has had the fantasy of catching
the guy in the act and making him pay (my Scirocco of 14 years 
was broken into 7 times, stolen & recovered once.  So far, 
Miata untouched.  Knock, knock.)

So, your alarm goes off, you run out with the appropriate "scumbag 
preventative" and confrontation ensues.  We already know he's a
scumbag, so he'll probably value your well being (and your car's) 
much less than you do; maybe he's a junkie in desperate need of a fix...
So who knows what might happen?  If you run out and yell "Get away 
from my car!!" you givthe "fight or flight" option.  If he runs 
away, fine.  If he fights, then what?

You've got a baseball bat, he's got a knife.  You've got a knife, he's 
got a gun. He's got a gun,  you've got a gun, it gets very messy.  
Or, you whomp on the guy, and his buddy jumps out of the bushes 
and whacks you in the head with a crowbar.  The unpredictable 
iterations are endless.  Is it really worth the risk?

Yeah, we all love our cars, but the well-being of my bod is more 
important than any material possession I'll ever own.  The only
advantage I can see to silent alarms is they allow you to call 
professionals trained and armed to deal with scumbags (the police)
so that you have a chance of actually apprehending said scumbag 
instead of just scaring him away.  But major damage and/or theft
could happen in the several minutes it takes the cops to get there.  
He could also be gone, and unless you have a description of the get
away car, and may be tough to find.

Obnoxious as they can be at times, I still think an audible alarm is 
better.  

Douglas