Is your car equipped with a car alarm? Turn an everyday item into an additional safety tool.

Safety Tips
Place your car keys beside your bed at night so that if you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, you could 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. The 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 could work 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.

Remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. In case of an attack, activating the panic button might scare off the would-be attacker.

Working outside your home? Having your car keys might be useful in the event of an emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can't reach a phone. Activating the alarm could attract attention and get you the assistance you need.