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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to hate car stickers saying 'Baby on Board'

260 replies

Dorothyredboots · 20/08/2010 16:02

Sorry but they drive me mad. I drive carefully all the time so I'm not going to take special care if there is a baby in the car in front of me. Or are they alerting me to the fact that the person in front of me is likely to drive erractically as they are a parent and therefore have much more important things on their mind than driving safely? Or are they, as I suspect, just a way of saying 'Hey look what I made...'? And don't get me started on the ones that say 'Princess on Board'. They don't even make me laugh.
Anyone else want to put them in Room 101?

OP posts:
coraltoes · 20/08/2010 16:03

They were introduced to let emergency services know there were children on board in case of a serious accident. Sadly they've now become "oh so funny" statements about little brats on board etc.

The original sentiment was far better.

Ryoko · 20/08/2010 16:05

It is bloody stupid, I agree. maybe one that says idiot on board or angry clot on board would actually be useful/informative.

Beingblonde · 20/08/2010 16:05

I agree with you, especially with the 'Princess on board' nonsense, but apparently the reason for them goes back to when carseats weren't as safe as they are now. They were designed to let emergency services workers at the scene of an accident know that a baby might have been flung from the car. Makes sense... but obviously now they've become a fashion accessory and yep, I hate them.

Beingblonde · 20/08/2010 16:07

x-post Coraltoes!

pjmama · 20/08/2010 16:07

If you don't like them, then don't buy one. Personal choice, certainly not worth getting upset about. Wink

DuelingFanjo · 20/08/2010 16:08

yeah - I really don't like them. Worse are 'mum to be' on board stickers. Urgh!

lorna3 · 20/08/2010 16:08

I didn't even know that's what they were designed for in the first place. I hate them too but like them a bit more having read that!

ShrimpOnTheBarbie · 20/08/2010 16:09

We bought a new carseat the other day and we received a FREE sign in the box. DH nervously handed it over to me. I smiled and handed it over to the bin.

megonthemoon · 20/08/2010 16:12

We saw one the other day saying "Twins on board". DH and I wanted to go and congratulate the driver on being so fecund and ask whether she expected us to drive twice as carefully compared to when we're following people who are unfortunate enough to only have one baby on board :o

swanandduck · 20/08/2010 16:15

I hate those smug stupid signs. I know the owners will say it's so that people will drive carefully behind them, but if we followed that logic, people would go around with 'frail, elderly person on board' or 'cat on way home from vet after painful surgery on board' signs as well.

I think some people feel like they're fully signed up parents when they have that on their car.

herbaceous · 20/08/2010 16:17

Apparently it's a myth that they were introduced by the emergency services. If a car is so mangled that they can't see there's a baby and its seat in the back, a tiny yellow sign on a no-doubt crushed back windscreen is hardly going to make any difference.

They're a hideous faux-official looking fertility boast, and yet another example of how some people expect the world to revolve around them and their progeny.

So there.

Original poster
Dorothyredboots · 20/08/2010 16:17

Grinat Meg. Didn't know these stickers had a sensible origin. Would be quite happy if they were utility stickers; its all the dangling fluffy caterpillars & teddies I can't be doing with!

OP posts:
YummyMummy1208 · 20/08/2010 16:19

YABU

In my opinion, they are there to make drivers who are not so 'safe and sensible' like youself know not to get up your backside if you're not driving at 90mph!

I have a baby on board sign up - mainly because of my excitement whilst waiting for baby to be born i was buying everything in sight! - but also i see it as a 'back off from up my backside' warning. Its very disrespectful for a boy racer or a driver who just has to be somewhere yesterday to stay stuck to your backside when you have one of these signs in the window (in my opinion anyway).

I do -as you say - drive careful anyway but even more so when i have my little one in the car with me. My partner drives like a lunatic when hes in his work van - alone - but when he has his family in the car he's a lot slower. hence the sign.

Whats the big deal anyway - if you dont like them dont buy one. simple as Hmm

pjmama · 20/08/2010 16:20

I have a "Twins on Board" sticker, for no other reason than because I like it, it's my preogative to stick whatever crap I want up in my car and I really don't give a bugger what anyone else thinks!

herbaceous · 20/08/2010 16:21

And another thing. If these drivers are so concerned about safety, may I suggest they don't obscure their rear/side view with a sign.

swanandduck · 20/08/2010 16:21

YummyMummy, it is wrong to drive up anyone's backside, whether there is a 'baby on board' or not.

Wanderingsheep · 20/08/2010 16:21

Don't have a 'Baby On Board' sign but ATM we do have a 'Just Married' one! Grin My sister bought it for us instead of decorating our car but I'll probably take it down tomorrow.

I agree though, they can be naff. I don't mind the bog standard 'baby on board' but the ones with "Little Princess On Board" or "Cheeky Monkey On Board" etc are a bit Hmm. The worst ones are the ones in cars that say "Babe on Board"'or "Yummy Mummy On Board." Bleugh!

Original poster
Dorothyredboots · 20/08/2010 16:24

Just for the record I am childless and therefore the 'don't buy one' comments are irrelevant.

OP posts:
racheyh · 20/08/2010 16:26

It makes me feel like going up to the driver and saying "well done you had sex and made a baby what do you want a fooking medal?!" People seem to think it's like a badge of honour or something. I know a woman at work who had one and was showing off when her kid turned three that she was going to turn it around to say Child On Board the way she went on you'd think it was graduation day or something!

DuelingFanjo · 20/08/2010 16:26

the ones which say 'baby Kai on board' get right up my nose. Grin

Emo76 · 20/08/2010 16:28

"if you don't like one, don't buy one" does not remove the problem of having to see them in the first place!

They are SO naff, especially the ones which go on about "mummy's little princess" on board etc etc

flootshoot · 20/08/2010 16:29

yummymummy, so it's ok for your DH to drive 'like a lunatic' when he's not got your DC in the car then? Hmm

herbaceous · 20/08/2010 16:30

When I was barren and miscarriage-riddled I wanted to make some yellow diamond-shaped stickers with 'so fucking what' to stick next to the offending articles.

Now I've finally got a baby I would of course rather that nobody rammed my car from the back, but realise that no-one is going to change their behaviour just because I have reproduced.

This is my third post on this topic. I seem to be obsessed.

wigglesrock · 20/08/2010 16:30

I don't like them either, especially when it moves to grandson/daughter on board.

As far as I'm aware they were first introduced in countries like Australia where you had large unpopulated stretches of road, if there was an accident, emergency services knew they needed to search the area incase a baby/child was thrown from the car not necessarily in a carseat. Obviously if the person driving etc couldn't pass on any info.

bamboobutton · 20/08/2010 16:33

don't think it is a myth about the emergency sevices.

my dad has been a fireman for over 25 years and he was told to look out for these signs in his training.
back in those days child car seats were almost unheard of (we never had them)and rear seat belts weren't compulsory until 1991 so it quite possible for children to have been flung from the car in an accident and no-one knew about them