Baby on Board signs 14 April 2015 at 6:09AM in MoneySaving mums 34 replies 7.6K views

VfM4meplse

Just had to post: its not strictly moneysaving, but opinions are welcome.

I thought "Baby on Board" signs are supposed to encourage a bit of extra safety on the road given there are precious bundle(s) on board. An alternative (and IMHO completely ridiculous) suggestion is that they encourage people to ram your vehicle.

Experiences?

GoldenShadow

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Just had to post: its not strictly moneysaving, but opinions are welcome.

I thought "Baby on Board" signs are supposed to encourage a bit of extra safety on the road given there are precious bundle(s) on board. An alternative (and IMHO completely ridiculous) suggestion is that they encourage people to ram your vehicle.

Experiences?

I thought they were so paramedics etc knew a baby was in the vehicle in a crash etc but then people started leaving them in all the time so they are largely ignored.

I find it ashame that people expect me to drive so badly that I need to better it if a small person is in another vehicle. People should drive well all the time. My friend's little brother (20) was pronounced dead at the scene in a crash with two other vehicles last week

As a non parent they make no odds to how I drive. I often won't park near a car with one or a child seat in though after a thread I read on another forum :eek:

System

Since people leave them in the window regardless of whether there is a baby on board then they are totally useless.. Emergency services will fully check out a vehicle regardless.

However, I would think car thieves would find them handy as they identify cars that have probably got a £50+ car seat in them that they can flog on.

Cuilean

Personally, I can't stand them. We're TTC at the moment, and one thing we said straight off is that we won't have one. IMHO, their original useful purpose has long since been hijacked by the super-sparkly fashion accessory ones with things like "Little Dude On Board". I am also pretty sure that if someone's going to drive like an idiot, they're going to do so regardless of what you want them to know about the contents of your vehicle.

I'd like to think that any emergency service worker worth their salt would do a thorough check of any car involved in an accident to check for a small person.

Having said all that, I have a small copycat one in the rear of my car for when I take the dog out, which looks a bit like this, more to warn anyone considering getting too close that they might be licked to death by an affectionate hound :laugh:

davetrousers

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I thought "Baby on Board" signs are supposed to encourage a bit of extra safety on the road

This is the reason they were invented. The yellow square (rotated 45 degrees) is reminiscent of a US road sign, which is where they were invented.

The idea that they inform the emergency services is poppycock. Trained professionals are trained to check vehicles.

Marisco

Every one I ram, I put on the side of the car, like fighter pilots did in WW2 with every plane they shot down

peachyprice

I thought they were just a fashion accessory TBH, especially those tack 'princess' and 'dude' ones.

Maggie.Moo_2

I've never heard about people bumping into cars because of the 'Baby on Board' sign, that is quite worrying!

When I got my first car I was over excited and I used two of these ("Cheeky Monkey" and "Little Monster") along with far too many other accessories and now I'm super embarrassed about it (luckily it only lasted a few months as that car was a piece of junk). I had them in the side windows though as they can restrict your view in the rear window.

I actually didn't know what their original purpose was and foolishly thought it would encourage others to be safer (or be patient if I was a bit slow at traffic lights due to being distracted by a toddler or leave space for me to get a child in/out) but since realising how much a lot of people hate them (and how my "new" car was far prettier without them) I haven't even thought of using them since.

I actually get quite annoyed by them too now, as a previous poster said, I always drive safely and I doubt it affects those who don't (I've saw someone driving recklessly with a baby, a small child and an older child in their car once!)

lulu_92

I hate them so much! They do not serve a purpose other than to act as a fashion accessory. I don't think they make people drive safer as 99% of them are left in the car no matter if the baby is in there or not.

Why else have them? The stranger in the car behind you does not need to know you have a child, and I doubt they care. Cars with children in them are identifiable by the presence of car seats and the occasional sun shield on the window.

Like Cuilean, I'm TTC and I definitely will not be having one of these signs in my car and I should hope that anyone who knows me would know better than to buy me one, and if they do buy me one it's not going in the car.

Errata

I doubt they ever had an initial useful purpose. All they signal is "I'm fertile and need to brag about it".

mtbbuxton

davetrousers wrote: »

This is the reason they were invented. The yellow square (rotated 45 degrees) is reminiscent of a US road sign, which is where they were invented.

The idea that they inform the emergency services is poppycock. Trained professionals are trained to check vehicles.

Maybe now, but not always. When I did my Emergency Ambulance Technician training 26 years ago, baby seats weren't commonplace and children regularly travelled unrestrained on an adults lap, so we were taught to look out for the Baby on Board signs and conduct our vehicle search accordingly.

M x