to wonder if 'baby on board' signs make any diffference?

[misslinnet]

DH is very keen on us displaying a 'baby on board' sign in our rear window whenever we go out in the car with DS. He believes that drivers behind us will be much more considerate and not tailgate if they see this sign.

I think that most tailgaters don't understand why they're meant to be leaving a sensible stopping distance between them and the car in front, don't understand how their behaviour is potentially dangerous, and therefore I think that if a driver normally goes around tailgating the car in front, he's going to continue doing so whether or not there's a baby on board sign.

AIBU to think that these signs make no difference at all to other driver's behaviour?

baby on board signs are not for "tailgaters" or anyone like that - they are for the emergency services to let them know a child/baby is/was in a car if it is involved in an accident!!

It would make an interesting study. I think idiots are idiots regardless. As Frosty says, they are actually for the Police/Fire Fighters to know that there may be a baby trapped. I have heard a horror story about a trapped baby from a Police Officer and it scared me. However, most people leave them in even when the child is not in the car so they don't work anyway.

It's an urban myth about the emergency services.

(like Fireman Sam is not going to bother checking for children cos there isn't a sign...)

Allthese signs do is make most motorists think that there is a precious twat in the car in front.

I don't think they make any difference

They make the occupants of the vehicle look foolish... and that's it really.

Anybody who gives due consideration to other roadusers will do so with or without stupid 'messages' that do nothing other than obscure the driver's visibility.

Someone bought me a "bump on board" car sticker when I was pregnant with DS.

It's currently hanging on the back door (of the house) along with the baby on board, princess on board, naughty person on board etc etc.

I also think the emergency services thing is a myth, yet know that if they see carseats, they will search for DCs at the scene of an accident unless specifically informed that children were not present.

I thought the whole for emergency service thing was an urban myth?

I had a horrible experience with a tailgating man. I couldn't pull over, was doing over the speed limit anyway, when I did pull into the inside lane the fuck er pulled in front of me and slammed his brakes on. I followed him off the motorway, hand on horn. I was raging. When he pulled over and came over to my car and seen my baby ds in the car he said he wouldn't have done it if he'd known there was a baby in the car. How nobel of him. Twat. Anyway I did have a baby on board sign, it had fallen off that morning.

I think they look awful, especially the ones that have the actual child's name on them Or 'Princess on Board'

But I can't bear anything that clutters up the car, things dangling from the rear view mirror, window stickers etc.

That was 7 years ago, I don't have one this time round. I think any impact they might have had has been diminished by the shit princess on board, shop a holic on board etc.

Its an urban myth that they are for emergency services. The ES are advised to make a quick check, but they are to hopefully stop tailgaters. They are pointless for ES as many people do not bother to take them down when the kids are not in the car. I don't think it makes a difference to other drivers, if they are going to drive like a test they will.
I get quite pissed off when people have these signs and then drive like dicks. Its as though they are saying 'make room, I drive like a twat but be careful as I wouldn't want you to hurt my previous babies. But its ok if I do'

Nah, complete myth.
I drive carefully anyway.
I do have a 'Mrs Kimi Raikkonen on board', sign in my car, but that's because it makes me look like a twat cool

I hate my phone keeps randomly changing twat for test.

A friend of mine is a fireman who attends RTAs . He says the signs make no difference to the order in which car wrecks are searched. Driver's seat first, as there will always be a driver. Then, usually, back seats next, as this is where there are likely to be children, then passenger seat. This is the usual protocol in his brigade, but, it will also depend on where the car is damaged. He says the signs are fairly pointless, as the windows usually shatter in a big crash and the signs fall off.

I can never see one of those ridiculous signs without remembering that old routine of Ben Elton's and his "I have not yet been blessed with the gift of children, but I still don't want to die in a car crash" sticker something like that anyway line.

The emergency services thing is a myth. Plus it makes no sense. It's far easier to see a child or a car seat in the event of a collision than a 4 inch sticker,which is attached to a surface which is designed to shatter into tiny pieces upon impact.

They're annoying and utterly pointless.Perhaps the designer had good intentions,but you should drive carefully regardless of who is in front of you.Babies are no more important than any other age group,and I doubt that people will think 'I was going to crash into the nearest car,but as there's a baby on board I'll go for the elderly couple in the PT Cruiser instead.'

And if they're so important for the emergency services then why not have them at home,on the windows? I have too much faith in the emergency services to believe that they wouldn't consider looking for passengers in the event of a collision if there wasn't a sticker present.

Actually you can get signs for the home and/or car from the Fire Department here (not the UK). There are green on one side and say OK and red on the other and say HELP.

Nowt to do with emergency services
here

I know the real reason why they exist and it is to do with car insurance and pets!!! Years ago if you crashed into another car and there was a pet inside the other car which got injured/killed the insurance co would not have to pay damages in respect of the animal because the at fault party could not have known there was an animal in the car. So to get around that the. "pet on board " sign was developed. Then people thought it was crazy as children/babies were more precious than animals so wanted "baby on board" signs. And then insurance rules/laws changed but the baby on board sign stayed.
They're a waste of money imo

I hadn't considered the notion that they're for the emergency services, but I would think that the emergency services would check all seats for signs of people anyway, whether they could see a baby on board sign or not.

After all, if our baby on board sign is typical, they don't stick on windows that well. Ours falls off if I slam the boot too hard!

Its not an urban myth, a policeman went to a car that was on fire to find the child that was supposedly on board and was killed when the car blew up - there wasn't a child on board - the owner of the car had not taken the sticker down.

Equally an ES person (not sure which service) found a child that had been thrown from the car in an accident because of a child on board sign. The parents were not in a condition to be able to say that they had their child with them.

I didn't say that the ES wouldn't look for a child if there was no sign though.

And I agree that the Princess on board etc has taken away the whole point of them!

Never heard the thing about the emergency services but see it's an urban myth anyway. I shall have to repeat the falsehood several times anyway on MN, as is the law.

The signs just signal twat on board, IMHO.

www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/babysign.asp

They make me want to ram raid the car in front. But that isn't helpful is it?

Well if you stop driving like a twat cos a sign in the car in front of you tells you to then heaven help the rest of us!!

Frosty neither example proves they are for the ES. They were not made for ES.

I don't understand all the crap people have in their cars. I saw one the other day with cuddly toys covering the dashboard, and the parcel shelves. And do you remember those godawful Garfields everyone had stuck on their side windows.