Once, when this troper was on vacation in Orlando, Florida, there was a thunderstorm, and a very loud bolt struck nearby, causing the whole building to shake, and setting off a car alarm. It was rather amusing.

This troper used to be in a marching band. To rehearse, we would have to march through a parking lot while the drumline played various things. We would regularly set off car alarms, sometimes several at once.

This troper was in drumline and enjoyed such events.

This troper has seen biker, whom already subcribe to the 'Loud Pipes Save Lives' BS, ride down the street in New Orleans stopping every so often to rev their engines to see how many car alarms they can set off.

This troper's father, a fireman, once told him that it was a common sport with the engine crew to hit the engine brake in a certain area- the deep, pulsating sound could be relied upon to set off car alarms every time.

Which US tropers ''haven't'' heard car alarms go off during a big Fourth of July fireworks show?

Actually, ''any'' big fireworks show with cars close enough to it can set off all the car alarms in the viscinity. This troper once went to a fireworks show in Quebec, and was amused to hear car alarms from the parking lot nearby.

This troper has found that car alarms can usually be set off with a good solid kick to the exhaust pipe. This will someday be useful for a dramatic moment.

Or by kicking the car, since, you know, that's what's ''supposed'' to set off car alarms. e_e.

A very funny version of this happened to my brother. My cousin had been walking home and thought that he saw my dog, so he whistled for her. My brother heard the whistle and decided to whistle back and a few moments later, a car alarm went off.

In this troper's neighborhood there's a car with a sensitive alarm: it goes off every time the local bus passes by with more than 40 kph (~25 mph). And early in the morning the bus usually goes faster. This troper wants a bazooka sometimes...

Thanks to the relative-anonymity of the internet, This troper'll admit this. I was in a fight (well, it was a bit one-sided actually, I was getting my ass kicked) with some dickhead who decided to smash my head against a car bonnet. Not only was I concussed, I was almost deafened. And I got the freaking blame for it.

This troper cites this trope as her chief reason for disliking Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats." It wasn't the car's fault that its owner was a cheating snake, so why is Carrie beating it to shreds?

Ahem...

This troper lives next to a train track. Car alarms go off frequently.

This troper once visited a old French and Indian War era fort where, while loading a canon with a very tiny amount of gunpowder, the tour guide told the story of a fellow employee who once decided to load a canon with one pound of gunpowder (in times of war they used two pounds). The shot not only set off every car alarm in the park, it also blew out most of the windows and was heard by the man's boss several miles away, who was quoted as saying, "Please God let that not be my idiot employee." He was promptly fired.

It wasn't a car though. It was a Sprite Can. It exploded. And it was AWESOME.

It was almost like a movie: Bus full of scared elementary school students sitting in a parking lot during a thunderstorm. The lightning flashes, and the kids start counting the seconds before the clap of thunder, to see how far away the bolt was. A couple seconds in, the thunder is heard and was loud enough to set off about four car alarms.

This Troper remembered a car show where a coal freight train sped past 50 ft away.... And since classic car owners have mighty sensitive alarms.... so yeah.

I almost forgot to mention a 58 Plymouth Fury whose alarm was modified to play "Keep A' Knockin"....

This troper and her friends were idiots enough to grab an old knocker- a streamer firework. We walked in pale moonlight to Walmart, which, amazingly, had about one hundred cars packed at 7:40PM. We waited until most of the people were inside and made the firework go off by five megaphones, pointing in all directions. We lit the firework. We ran off as far as we could and- HONK HONK HONK! A STREAM OF PEOPLE CAME OUT OF WALMART TO SEE THEIR CARS THUMPING ROUND AND ROUND, SOME WITH BURNT MARKS. #QUOTE# Person: MY CAR! X100.

Also for anyone who is wondering, we didn't get caught.