If you need this on the back of your car you shouldn’t be driving?

[escapingtothecountry]

Just that really.I saw it on a car last week (dash cam picture, before someone asks) Am I required to be patient when your reactions are so slow that you can’t break fast enough and hit my car, or worse my child?

Yeah, I've heard the signs for children are to alert emergency services too!

No. The emergency services would never use these signs for that purpose. It’s not like some kids get missed in car accidents because their parents haven’t put these little signs up! They have to be thorough each and every time.

I have seen one which says 'baby incubating on board'!! How awful is that??

Also hate 'little man on board' or 'little princess on board'.

Ah the old alert the emergency services tripe.

No
No
And then No.

"If you can’t drive properly get off the road"

As many PPS have pointed out, this isn't about driving 'properly' or not. No-one is arguing that an unsafe driver should be on the road. It's about someone asking for a little bit of courtesy and patience because they feel vulnerable in a car.

You have no idea what other people are going through. Maybe that person just lost a husband and is dealing with life by themselves for the first time in decades. Maybe their local bus route has been cut - as so many have been, especially in isolated rural areas - and the car is their only link to a social life. Maybe they had an accident that wasn't their fault, but feel nervous behind the wheel now. Maybe they don't like driving at all, but do it to help to care for grandkids.

Be patient, be compassionate, and be considerate. Leave enough time for your own journey from A to B and you can sit back and relax. Being massively impatient won't get you where you want to go any faster. All it does is to make you a less pleasant person, and life on the roads less nice for everyone generally.

If you need concessions from other drivers then you shouldn't be driving. I don't care if it's ageist. However reliable public transport for the elderly should be readily available in order for them to maintain their independence.

I frequently get stuck behind old folk doing 20 miles an hour.

I got one for my mum as an insult present. It's in the very top corner and doesn't block any view. Two weeks in and still hasn't noticed it 😂😂

It's not about slow reactions outvoid. As you get older you get more fearful. Driving aggressively around the elderly drivers will make them very stressed and cause dangerous situations. Getting stressed easily should not be a disqualifying factor for being able to drive. Driving like an aggressive dickhead should be, in my opinion - but sadly isn't either.

I have seen one which says 'baby incubating on board'!! How awful is that??

Oh FFS yep it's very awful silly precious and ridiculous

Yanbu. The only reasonable sign is the newly qualified driver one. Baby on board or whatever else is just non-sense. I'm not going to suddenly remember road safety rules having been prompted by a sign.

I know we are all meant to be objective about elderly drivers, but this sign is taking the piss. They can't see properly outside their window, and it would make me very wary of who was driving. And I would wonder what has made them put the sign up.

My only experience with elderly drivers are my two grandfathers, one who is dead now but literally had my Gran in the front seat telling him when he was clear to go because he couldn't tell (very dangerous) and my other Grandad who is 86, can not walk properly due to a hip break and a shortened leg, who has glaucoma and reduced vision and is a terrifying driver. And yet won't give up his car.

The amount of vile being spouted here aimed at elderly drivers is ridiculous.

Particularly when ‘mummies on the school run’ display some of the worst ( and most dangerous ) driving and parking I’ve seen!

Some of you need to climb down from your high horses....

I don’t often see elderly drivers tailgating or on their mobile phones unlike the yummy mummies rushing to pick up their angels from school with their baby on board signs.

I drive like everyone around me is an idiot and about to do something stupid. I can control my driving but I can’t control the driving of others!

Going by some recent threads, I'd estimate that 90% of mumsnet should give up driving!

Ridiculous, they shouldn’t be on the road if their reactions are slow- it isn’t safe!

Not everyone who reacts slower is unsafe unless we say that the average adult reaction time is exactly on the cusp of what is safe and what isn't.

If I can react in 0.3 seconds and someone older than me can react in 0.6. Where between 0.3 and 0.6 is the safe line?

I would suggest both are safe, though one is slower than the other.

We already accept that different groups of people have variation in reaction times, e.g. males have a faster reaction time than females. Yet both are allowed to drive. People with active lifestyles have faster reactions than sedentary people. Yet both drive.

There is obviously a cut off at which point it becomes unsafe but before that there is variation between reaction times that are within a standard we (society) considers to be worth the risk. Whilst I hate these kinds of signs, I do think there is a place for faster drivers having some patience for slower ones in the understanding that being able to drive brings that person personal benefit and probably benefits wider society to a degree.

If you need concessions from other drivers then you shouldn't be driving.

This is always easier to say when it is someone else. Let's make an assumption that you are female with average reaction times for a female. These are slower than the average reaction times for males or athletes. Therefore, aren't you getting concessions from them when driving? Or maybe you didn't get quite as much sleep last night as normal. This would slow down your reaction. Or maybe you have a cold but still need to work. That would slow you down as well. None of us operate at our very highest standard every minute if every day. Most of us would have gotten away with silly mistakes because the other driver was quicker on the brakes or because they spotted the potential for trouble before we did. So, at some point, all of us get concessions.

Personally I think this is a bad idea. People who are courteous will be so to other drivers whether there is a sign or not. A sign is unlikely to make someone think "Oh, I'd better not be an arse around this vehicle!". What it might well do is advertise to the morons that there is someone driving who could be an easy target...

I remember as a learner, the amount of idiots who thought it was funny or acceptable to get very close to my bumper on a steep junction. I used that junction many times as a learner and then when I had passed with no sign. I got many more people right up my behind with an "L" sign on the vehicle.

I often arrive at the station at the same time as Mummies on the school run - the driving is atrocious, including complete disregard for crossings.

You're right in that it won't deter the determined arsehole. But it could well serve as a reminder for a mundane driver who might not have considered that actually.. they could be giving the car a bit more space.

One of the questions on the theory test is something to do with being more patient for elderly drivers... Ridiculous, they shouldn’t be on the road if their reactions are slow- it isn’t safe!

There's a difference between being a bit slower in certain situations and being unsafe. While some elderly drivers probably shouldn't be on the road many are perfectly safe. When I first passed my test I was safe enough to stop in an emergency (probably more safe than most as I was paying full attention) but I was definitely slower than most to get parked and I'd wait for a bigger gap when pulling out.

If people want to be a dick head they will be but even reasonable people sometimes become impatient behind the wheel - maybe this sign reminds them they're dealing with an actual human being who is doing their best and not trying to make them late.

Anyone who doesn’t have patience with other road users shouldn’t be on the road in my opinion

Hear hear!

I would assume the sign means they are fed up of people tailgating them to be honest.

@Damntheman Wed 08-May-19 12:16:27
Eh.. the sign shouldn't be blocking so much of the rear window but frankly a sign like that, and P plates are perfectly valid to me. They say "Please don't get up my arse". They wouldn't be needed either if people weren't so bloody aggressive on the road.

This.

I've been wondering whether to get one to see if it makes people back up a bit. For some reason, my current car seems to invite people to drive 2cm behind me and to cut me up with barely any room to spare. Its only a 308 ffs!!

In my last car, a nissan micra sport convertible, people would leave a ton of space around me.

Fuck knows what the difference is.

I completely agree. I was almost run over in the supermarket car park a couple of weeks ago. The man got out and yelled at me that I needed to be wary of elderly/vulnerable drivers. I don't bloody think so!

Perhaps, but you DO need to look for traffic wherever you are. And if you are a fellow driver, you should know you need to aware of vulnerable road users, which includes learners, cyclists, motorcyclists and elderly drivers, whose reactions may be slower than yours.

And absolutely, 100% that if you have no patience, you are a much higher risk to other drivers than someone who is a “bit slower”.

I always have one in and take it out if kids aren't in the car - I also have Child Details on car seat - If child gets thrown from the car having the sign alerts emergency services that there is children in the car. Or on approach so they check for children first. I don't like having it always but 'Baby on board' is definitely a safety measure.

So Nina do you think the emergency services just don’t bother looking if there isn’t a sign?

Worse than "Powered by Pixie Dust"? is anything worse that this? There is a powered by Pixie dust car that parks round here but it also has fake eye lashes on the headlights 🙄