I'll sign your petition if you sign my petition. I'm trying to abolish all the North American emergency vehicle  sirens that make the AHHHH - WOOOOO sound. And replace them with European vehicle sirens that make the EEEEEY - YOU - EEEEEY - YOU sound. Cheers!

 

I agree.  It’s way worse on new trucks.  My husband didn’t put some of the optional alarms and warnings on his trucks but there’s nothing we can do about the alarms that irritate the drivers that now come standard.  The alarm and warning that tells the drivers that they turned on the windshield wipers always really irritates the drivers, but that came standard.  The problem is that it’s distracting because 100% of the time the driver’s first reaction is to clear the warning on the dash, UGH.  No, they need to pay attention to their driving, not to nuisance alarms!  Even worse is when the driver just won’t set the wipers above the speed that triggers the alarm in heavy rain.   The ADAS technology in big trucks is still way behind what’s on new cars.  It needs a lot more work.

I agree with you that there are far too many noises that could be curbed.  There is one car in my area with an alarm that loudly beeps at least 30 times before it goes off.  I want so badly to go down there with a golf club and break every window to justify that much noise.  When I bought my car, the standard anti-theft device was a cut-off switch.  No alarm, no noise.  When I lock my car, I do it from the inside, not with the key fob.  No beep that way.  The back-up beeping on trucks and vans can be particularly irritating although I get the reason behind it.  What bothers me more are the construction vehicles that beep when they're going forward.  The ditch diggers do that.  For almost a month, they have been tearing up the streets surrounding my block in order to lay new water pipes and move/replace the old fire hydrants.  Listen to that for 6-7 hours a day and you're ready to kill.  For the past four months, they have been doing façade repairs on our buildings to comply with a local law.  They are now working on my building and there is constant noise from drilling out and replacing the bricks.  I'm ready to move to a deserted island.

When there is a choice between digital/electrical or mechanical, I always choose mechanical.  The choices are fewer than in the past. 

My favorite is when I am dropped of by an Uber or taxi in front of my house, and drivers who need to wait while I get out and sometimes have stuff to unload honk because they don’t have any patience.

Sometimes, I make sure to move more slowly to make them wait longer.