Baby on Board sign?

[Mamawell]

What is wrong with a baby on board sign?

I've seen this come a lot on another thread, that it annoys people.

Why?

I've put my EDD when I was pregnant into my medical ID on my phone and changed it to their names and birth dates when they were born. I figure if I was in an accident or collapsed somewhere it made sense. I'm SAHM so kids are usually with me and I'd be hoping whoever contacts my next of kin mentions the kids or lack there of. God forbid they were lost or worse.

@VenusClapTrap

The reason they give people the rage is because the implication is ‘my PFB is more important than you and yours’.

HTH.

Right, so people believing their own dc is more important than yours makes you angry? How do you manage to get through a si angle day without spiraling into a rage?

They are useless, but each to his own. I would be more concerned that sticking anything to the rear window (and some of these signs are not exactly tiny) will create a blind spot that may be more likely to actually cause the accident you are trying to avoid. They are the similar to those plastic strips people used to have dangling off the back of cars to 'disperse static electricity', does anyone remember those? Totally useless, but, well, you never know, let's have it, just in case.
I do wonder if these signs are often bought as a gift from doting family members, so then the recipients use it so as not to appear rude.

I have a smallish, bright yellow sticker with plain black writing saying on it simply "baby on board".

I know that it's probably irrational to think of it as a safety feature, for the reasons everyone has described, but it does make me feel a little better re the emergency services etc (even if as I say that is irrational). I was in a minor accident with my baby and I am a bit nervous.

I almost never use the car without child but if I did yes I would take it out. Everyone on our road has one or similar (all young families) so we must be a much maligned street!

I hope people don't think I'm smug but if they do that's up to them. It certainly wasn't my intention in buying a small plain sticker.

And that's assuming everyone who puts these signs up is even trying to send that message, which I seriously doubt!

I like them. It's like displaying a badge showing the football team you support or a badge supporting a charity.
It just personalises the car a little. Shows you a member of a club.
I was so delighted to have babies I couldn't wait to get one (twins on board) for the car.

We use one because my OH is a much more sensible driver than most and always obeys the speed limit. If people are annoyed about this (which they often are) they may understand more when they see the baby on board sign. 🤷🏼‍♀️ We don’t have a frilly tacky one though. Hate them.

Right, so people believing their own dc is more important than yours makes you angry? How do you manage to get through a si angle day without spiraling into a rage

You can believe anything you like, but announcing it on a twee sign on your car directed towards other drivers is ... irritating! Also marks you out as a numpty.

Who could even get worked up about this? 🤣

My SIL is a paramedic and says it's easier for members of the public to give more information
on who could be involved if they see a crash or a broken down vehicle etc. When the public are phoning in the information through to 999 it gives paramedics a heads up before they've even got to the scene. So worth having one.

@changerr

Right, so people believing their own dc is more important than yours makes you angry? How do you manage to get through a si angle day without spiraling into a rage

You can believe anything you like, but announcing it on a twee sign on your car directed towards other drivers is ... irritating! Also marks you out as a numpty.

Sorry, do you mean me when you say "you" here? As I've said, twice I think, I very rarely drive so have no real need of one, so I don't have one. Thank you for the warning though...I think.

You seem terribly bothered that BOB stickers annoy me.

Nah. I’m more perplexed. People’s car stickers make you angry.

And you’ve never questioned that, wondered if there’s a different way to live your life?

My blood pressure is perfectly fine, thank you for those concerned. I'm not at all worked up, outraged or frothing at the mouth. I'm sitting here perfectly calmly. contemplating if I should have another coffee or clean the upstairs bathroom first.

I do like the Ben Elton version. I may get one of those)though probably not as I'm not a fan of putting anything on a car that may obscure one's vision.)

And you’ve never questioned that, wondered if there’s a different way to live your life?

Have you ever considered not being quite so insufferably patronising?

@DoTheMaccaroni

We use one because my OH is a much more sensible driver than most and always obeys the speed limit. If people are annoyed about this (which they often are) they may understand more when they see the baby on board sign. 🤷🏼‍♀️ We don’t have a frilly tacky one though. Hate them.

Again, if people get annoy by a driver who is driving sensibly and lawful and obeying the speed limit, then a baby on board sticker isn't going to make them any less annoyed.

In fact, if this thread is anything to go by, they're more likely to get even more annoyed by it.

Can anyone who thinks it's to alert the emergency services please link to anywhere reputable which says this? Government site? DVLA? Police? Fire service? NHS?

(Someone's SIL paramedic or cousin policeman doesn't count.)

@PinkLegoBrick That is exactly what I always thought they were for but it seems we are in the minority.

There threads come up quite regularly and the myth that it's for emergency service workers gets debunked every single time. It is just not true.

I actually think they may offer some benefit for getting other people to drive safer. Certainly they don't do any harm so even if the benefit is tiny/rare, it's still better than nothing.

For example when I was young and dumb I quite often drove too fast and was impatient on the road. Just out of habit really – I did it without thinking. But seeing a BoB sign might have made me check myself once or twice. Why am I tailing so close getting desperate to overtake? And then back off a bit. Should I have done that anyway? Yes of course. But I was young and dumb.

I too have heard about it being if you're involved in an accident and that some parents may be driving while tired or distracted but I refuse to get on because they annoy me!
No real reason they just do. I'm a miserable cow though and go to that (ridiculous) reason of we didn't have them in my day!

Why am I supposed to give a flying fuck that there is a child on board. Why do I need to know? I'd rather not kill anyone whether they are 8 months or 80.

Just this. Just another example of some parents thinking the world should revolve around them.

The comments about ‘well it helps the police etc know there was a baby in the car if there’s a crash’ are so silly.

A great big car seat and a screaming baby would tell the ambulance there’s a baby in the car, not a crap bit of card which got squashed in the accident.

@PinkLegoBrick

I like them. It's like displaying a badge showing the football team you support or a badge supporting a charity. It just personalises the car a little. Shows you a member of a club. I was so delighted to have babies I couldn't wait to get one (twins on board) for the car.

Yes exactly, they're decoration. I think people are getting up in arms because some are defending their decorating choices with complete nonsense re safety. If you want one, go on ahead but stop making out its for the benefit of the emergency services. I have a sticker on my rear window saying "at least pull my hair" because tailgating annoys my head - purely a decorative choice.

From a mid distance I’d say a yellow sticker is much more visible than a grey car seat.

But it's irrelevant what can be seen from a distance, given that you should drive carefully whether you are or are not aware that there are babies in the other cars are on the road. It only becomes directly relevant if there is an accident or breakdown, in which case paramedics etc are going to come up close to the car anyway so are perfectly capable of seeing a child seat.

I have a blue t-shirt shaped one that says "Small dude on board" and I do not give 2 shits whether anyone else thinks I am twee or thick.

[quote StarchyStanley]@QuestionableMouse, I'm sure that's true! But, in a small number of cases, it may be, that the sign makes a difference. It's been gone through here a lot, so I won't take us back down that road again.

Even if it only makes a difference in one crash a year, or if it never makes a difference full stop, the anger and aggression on this thread are hugely disproportionate. At worst it is something a parent puts in because they're smug / proud of their family or something they WRONGLY think is a safety measure. At best it could make a difference. It is frankly insane that this gets people so angry. How on earth does if effect anyone else? Oh god, I'm forced to LOOK AT A SIGN about BABIES . The horror![/quote]
The other side of that coin is: what if having a sign creates a blind spot and the difference it makes is the difference between having an accident and not having one?