Your car alarm key chain~ a useful home alarm?

This tip came to me in an email from a local County Deputy.

CAR KEYS- VERY GOOD IDEA

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator.

Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar or rapist won't stick around...after a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that.

And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there.

At first I kind of blew it off, but the more I thought about it, it made sense to me. After all, if my neighbor's car alarm goes off late at night, I look out to see what's going on. I can't be the only one who does that (despite DH saying I'm just nosey).

So, what do you think? Would your car alarm alert people that you needed help? Or do you live in a neighborhood where they go off all the time and nobody pays attention?