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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To find Baby on board car signs pointless and rather irritating.

255 replies

VickyLouT · 27/02/2022 11:57

I just don't get it. What purpose do these signs serve? I totally understand why you might wear a baby on board badge on the tube, that has a purpose. But why a car sign? Are other drivers supposed to be behave differently around you "more safely" or perhaps just be forewarned that you may have poor driving or parking as you may be sleep deprived. Aibu to find this pointless signalling irritating? Maybe someone with one of these signs share why?

OP posts:
anotherheadache · 27/02/2022 15:05

I once saw one that said 'No baby on board feel free to drive like a twat' that made me smile 😆

As someone who works for emergency services I can guarantee you that these signs are not for our benefit. In an accident all seats are checked to see who is in the vehicle, and seriously how many people take the signs out when the baby is not on board.

As a pp has said, I see these signs and assume the driver is likely to be the type of person who is preoccupied with what's going on inside their car rather than watching the actual road.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 27/02/2022 15:12

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

Usually when this is asked someone will come along and say it's so that if you have an accident the emergency services will know to look for a child Grin

Like they actually think that's what they do

I can't help as I have absolutely no idea what they are for.

That’s what my dad told me they were for, @AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair - and I didn’t think to question it for years. Blush
pinkyredrose · 27/02/2022 15:18

I have them. I hope that they encourage idiot drivers to be a bit safer near my car and it’s precious cargo. It doesn’t cause harm but may be helpful

Hmm Don't all cars carry 'precious cargo' ie. human life?

KatharinaRosalie · 27/02/2022 15:19

25, which is when Mumsnet considers children almost old enough to be left home alone.

But only for up to 20 minutes while Facetiming, and they're not allowed to eat, shower, open the door or otherwise move from sofa during that time.

Simonjt · 27/02/2022 15:26

Its just another thing to cash in on new parents who think they need every gadget (something I haven’t escaped, but haven’t bought any pointless signs, wipe warmers etc).

If someone in the emergency services is unable to do their job without a yellow sign on a suction cup I would be very very worried that they were even in that job.

EthelTheAardvark · 27/02/2022 15:40

Nowadays people use them in the hope of discouraging poor driving

That assumes that, without those signs, everyone is driving around as if they were at the dodgems. Seriously, has anyone in the history of driving said to themselves "Goodness me, they've got a baby on board sign, I'd better not go through that red light/stop speeding/look in my rear mirror occasionally"?

sleaf · 27/02/2022 15:43

What about the 'Cats/Dog on Board' signs?

WeDontShutUpAboutBruno · 27/02/2022 15:47

Doesn't everyone have variations of these in case they crash, we all know the fire brigade look for signs rather than actual casualties.

Earlier today I put my "overweight, tired and frumpy mum on board" sign up, alongside "slightly desperate man that frumpy mum is currently shagging" sign, just in case we got into an accident, they need to know there's 2 of us in the car.

Snaketime · 27/02/2022 15:49

They are so that emergency services know to look for a baby in the event that the car seat (plus baby) have been thrown from the car.

Simonjt · 27/02/2022 15:51

@Snaketime

They are so that emergency services know to look for a baby in the event that the car seat (plus baby) have been thrown from the car.
Yet the flimsy sign has magically stayed in place, and somehow the read window is intact!
MrSnowmansCarrotStickNose · 27/02/2022 16:15

DH felt the same untill the drive home from hospital with dc1 and someone was driving to close behind him for his liking. We detoured to Halfords. Each to their own.

user5898533 · 27/02/2022 16:24

@lochmaree

we have one 😬 I didnt realise they were so hated! I am a careful driver, obey speed limits and we take other safety precautions re car use - up to date car maintenance, erf seat for DS, secure dog guard to prevent stuff flying into the cabin from the boot (no dog!), cabin kept as clear as possible, first aid kit, window smasher and seat belt knife in the car, seat protector with built in crash tested screen holder for DS. I'd also like to do the advanced driver course but haven't got the time at the moment.

so I genuinely thought that the sign might add a bit of extra info about who could be in the car!

Tbf, literally no one else cares who is in your car
user5898533 · 27/02/2022 16:26

My friend has a 'no baby on board, please hit me' sign in hers Grin

HunterHearstHelmsley · 27/02/2022 16:27

Really? To be saying if you have children you are a shit driver. OK then.

That's clearly not what @Mariposista said. Where's that thread about being obtuse?!

An aggressive driver won't back off because of the a sign. A good driver won't need to. Emergency services aren't going to use that as an indicator. So what's the point? I tend to take them to mean "I'm not paying full attention" and an awful lot of other people think the same. I'd be mindful because I'd be worried about the sign owners erratic driving, not my own.

Uttoxerly · 27/02/2022 17:08

My friend has a 'no baby on board, please hit me' sign in hers grin

😂😂😂

Madmaxxy · 27/02/2022 19:43

I must say, have noticed fewer cars purposefully ramming my car since I've got one Wink

OnlyAFleshWound · 27/02/2022 19:55

@juliainthedeepwater

Is the subtext of this whole thread basically an argument between people who think kids’ lives are more valuable than adults’ lives and people who don’t think they are?

Wouldn’t it be more interesting and authentic to just straight up have that argument? It just seems such an obtuse and disingenuous way to come at an interesting philosophical question.

No, it's not.

If anything, it's about how easy it is to get people to do something, even if it involces spending money, without thinking about it just because "everyone else does", becasue it makes them feel special, and/or they misunderstand how important they are to random strangers.

Sunsetzs · 27/02/2022 20:14

The idea that "nobody" cares who is n your car is just false. The majority might not, that doesn't mean nobody exists who might behave differently if they thought a baby was in the car.

I've had someone begin to get aggressive on the street outside a park, and then when they noticed my child looking over "oh sorry, didn't notice the child", and storm of muttering. Why would it suddenly never happen in a car?

vesperlindor · 27/02/2022 20:34

and/or they misunderstand how important they are to random strangers.

Totally this...so many times I'm driving behind someone with a 'little princess on board' sticker and I'm thinking why, why would you think that I care (any more than I do in general about the safety of all other road users) it's not like I'm thinking 'oh I was going to just ram my car into the back of yours or drive like a cunt but now I won't because LITTLE PRINCESS IS ON BOARD'

Tbh the fairly business like 'baby on board' ones don't annoy me too much at all it's the twee pfb ones from the live laugh love brigade that make me cringe.

Libraryghost · 27/02/2022 20:44

Little Prince or Princess on board literally makes me want to vomit. self important cnuts..

VestaTilley · 27/02/2022 20:44

My DF (an excellent driver) always said the same as you, OP, and I agreed.

But I have anxiety. When I became a Mum I needed to do little things (for myself more than anyone else) to help tell myself things would be ok. So we had a plain Baby on Board sticker in the back of our old wreck of a car when DS was a baby.

My DH also isn’t a particularly good or attentive driver (I’m learning) so frankly I wanted to do anything I could to help other drivers think more and keep their distance while my DS was in the car. I don’t regret it.

Sammysquiz · 27/02/2022 20:47

Those ones shaped like a tshirt which say ‘Little Prince On Board’ obscure so much of the back windscreen. The Little Prince in question would be far safer if the driver didn’t have restricted visibility.

Sammysquiz · 27/02/2022 20:51

My friend is a paramedic and he says these signs can be helpful if the car is a proper wreck

Bollocks! How did the sign survive this wreck? If the emergency services actually did find them useful they would be shouting ‘please remove them when the baby isn’t in the car’ from the rooftops. But they don’t, and that’s because the signs are meaningless.

christmascrazylady · 27/02/2022 20:58

They are the same as those stick figure family's that people put on their back windows make me want to throw up. Sadly to me they are an advertisement to predators to follow me home because they now know I have little children

De88 · 27/02/2022 21:04

Never had one of those tacky signs so not sure myself, I always make sure I leave loads of room for opening car doors for babies anyway having one myself. Maybe it's for that?

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