My DH is usually a good safe driver but when our youngest is screaming he unconsciously speeds up ... I have to remind him to slow down... he apologises and says it's a "stress reaction". So that could be a clue...
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My DH is usually a good safe driver but when our youngest is screaming he unconsciously speeds up ... I have to remind him to slow down... he apologises and says it's a "stress reaction". So that could be a clue...
I actually question whether one of those signs would stay in place during a major accident. We got a couple in some baby expo bags years ago, I think I threw them.
Good point Astrid. I've tried 3 different ones, and all 3 of them kept falling off. I can see what sort of purpose they'd give in an accident, but like Astrid said, I don't think they'd stay on. Emergency services would find the kids in the car before finding the sign.
If your car was that smashed up how likely is it that you will see a small sign?
I looked it up on Snopes and this is what they had to say
:
Home --> Horrors --> Parental Nightmares --> Baby on Board
Baby on Board
Claim: The death of an infant in an automobile accident led to the invention of 'Baby on Board' signs.
Status: False.
Examples
I think it is about time people realised the origin of all those ridiculous "baby on board" signs (and such inevitable copy-cat idiocies as "mother-in-law in boot" and "rottweiler on board").
There was a tragic start to those signs.
Some years ago, there was a car crash in Canada. The police located adult and child members of a family trapped in the crashed car, rescued them and sent them to hospital to recover. The car was towed to an impounding yard, and the following day police discovered a baby's body frozen to death but otherwise uninjured under one of the seats.
A campaign was then started in Canada to alert rescuers to the fact that there was a "baby on board", which needed to be located in the event of a crash. If a baby is not on board, the sign is removed.
[Collected on the Internet, 2003]
Years ago, I heard a story about WHY the signs were created but only once, and I wonder if it is true. The story was that a serious car accident occurred and an unconscious woman was removed from the vehicle. The front of the car was badly damaged and it wasn't until later (vague time frame) that a car seat with a dead infant was discovered under the front dash of the passenger side.
Origins: In the early 1980s, the highways and byways of North America became the showcase for America's latest pet rock, the "Baby on Board" sign. The five-inch, black-on-yellow diamond-shaped signs which became an overnight sensation were usually placed in corners of vehicles' rear windshields with suction cups. Unlike what is implied in the gruesome folklore that has come to be associated with these advisories, their purpose was not to alert rescue workers to the presence of babies at accident scenes; they were instead supplications to other drivers to exercise additional care, reminders that they shared the road with vehicles carrying children.
Though the backstory about an infant who died in a car crash because he wasn't found in time is one that would chill any parent's blood, how these signs came to be is far removed from the lore. There were no dead babies, no horrific crashes.
In 1984, Michael Lerner founded Safety 1st for the purpose of manufacturing "Baby on Board" signs. The inspiration for the signs came not from a deadly accident that took the life of a youngster but from a friend who saw similar stickers in
Europe.
Mr. Lerner himself was occasionally worked into the rumor — some versions asserted this childless bachelor had first developed the ''Baby on Board!'' idea after losing a son or a daughter in an accident.
From its humble beginnings, Safety 1st went on to become a juvenile products marketer with a lineup that included teething rings, potty chairs, and electronic baby monitors — 650 items at all. The company went public in 1993, then was bought by Dorel Industries Inc., its Canadian rival, for $195 million in 2000.
Because few situations or admonitions are deemed so serious that they rule out all opportunity for humor, straightforward "there's a child in the car, so drive carefully" requests quickly spawned a number of parodies, including "Baby Driving," "Warning: Baby is Closer Than it Appears," and the ever-popular "Baby Carries No Cash." It wasn't long before some communities were attempting to bar these parody signs, stating their presence took away from the message conveyed in the original and worked to desensitize drivers to what was meant as a safety measure.
Michael Lerner was similarly displeased by the parodies because he believed they mocked a serious effort to achieve safer roads. ''Our concept was to really improve driver awareness of child safety,'' he said. ''Car accidents are the number one cause of child deaths in the United States.''
In 1986 a study conducted by a Bronx assemblyman's office found humorous plays on the "Baby on Board" sign outnumbered the real thing by five to one.
Barbara "mother-in-law in trunk" Mikkelson
snopes.com: Baby on Board Signs
I was told by the man who installed DD's carseat before she was born that its for if you have an accident, it should be on your back window & on the side your baby/child is sitting so the emergency services can get to them first.
(I must put DS's on.....)
Just my take but I think they should be banned.
"Grandparents on board" - makes me want to ram the car. They are just saying "my kids like shagging and are fertile". This was a peeve from before I had DS, btw. But I still don't like it.
"Princess/Naughty one on board" - excuse me but NO. Your daughter is NOT a princess (apologies if any members of a royal family have this sign up) and labelling your child as "naughty" is a DREADFUL thing to do.
To alert people that you're not driving very well. Stay off the roads. If you hit me because your child is having a tantrum I will be no more or less sympathetic than for any other reason. Pull over and sort yourself out before you hit me, please. That's what I do. But then I can drive and sing the fishie song at the same time, which usually works until I can pull over. I really hate this reason for having the signs up. "Take care, I can't drive and therefore shouldn't be on the road!" Don't be on the road then.
To stop people hitting me. Yeah. Because when they're close enough to read that sign they've already decided to hit me.
Emergency services. Well if a screaming child and a massive car-seat isn't a clue enough I don't know what it. And as other posters have said, often the child isn't in the car all the time - so time wasted looking for a child who is at home/nursery/school/whereever.
I think our sunshade on the side window, one of those ones that slips over, sends a greater message that there is possibly a child in the car, than a little sign. I was a member of the SES 18 years ago and there was not mention of the signs at all when we did our car accident training, but then again they may not have been around much back then.
Bath, Shel can't drive if Jazz is screaming (neither can I but I'm a 'L' plater so I'm not the worlds best driver anyway :p). But I didn't think thats what they were for (thought never occured to me until I read it on here!).
Yeah i kinda have to agree with you on this one :D:
As for the sunshades, they are a great idea (we've bought two) and they should be a good enough indicator for the emergency services aswell as seeing the car seat (if it's still intact of course).
eta - that's such a sad story about where the signs originated from :(
Sorry if I offend anyone with what I'm about to say (no worse than what others have said but just warning you....)
I PERSONALLY think those window sock sunshades should be banned. I had one at some stage & found it blocked my blind spot when checking it & it was really bad in the rain, maybe from sticking to the window when wet but I could hardly see through it. I think its just an accident waiting to happen.
I much prefer the little ones that either stick to the window or slip over the top of the window (a little clip)
As I said, JMO but I will NEVER use them again, big waste of money in my case.
Just out of curiousity....How do others see through them so easily? Checking your blind spot should be done in just a glance & I certainly couldn't see enough through it in a glance, would have to take a few seconds which means my eyes off the road for a few seconds (not very safe at all!)
Just curious...
Have had no issue with driving, the main problem is with parking. Angled spots can be hard to back out safely, especially when it is overcast and nearly night time. Normally though I find my vision is blocked by a larger vehicle (4wd, campervan etc), so it is just plain dangerous reversing anyway regardless of the sun shade. We only have on on the back passenger door. I do understand what you mean though, so no offense taken.:
danielle - I'm the same as you. When we had the XR, I couldn't see through them (they were on the back windows), and it was a lot worse when it rained. When we upgraded to the Rav4, I didn't even bother getting them.
I don't have any problems seeing through mine, but I have a very big 4WD so there is another set of windows behind the back seat windows that I can see through, and they don't create a blind spot for me.
Shoot me now (ducks for cover)...but I hate them...they are pointless as far as I am concerned, and no I am not necessarily any more of a careful driver around cars that have them either.
I tend to agree with Rosehip on this one:
To alert people that you're not driving very well. Stay off the roads. If you hit me because your child is having a tantrum I will be no more or less sympathetic than for any other reason. Pull over and sort yourself out before you hit me, please.
I feel exactly the same way, I bought them when DS was a bub and could never use them especially at sunset and night. I asked the same thing how do you check your blind spot and someone told me they only use their mirrors! Anyway I am starting to use it again on DD's window when I have to but I wear glasses for driving now which has helped and still take it off when I don't need it.:
Yep, I don't understand how people can drive with a crying baby in the car. It's dangerous. Too much of a distraction. Lucky I don't drive then... and as a family we only use the car on the weekends. Even having fighting older children in the backseat of the car is dangerous I think... especially if there is only 1 adult in the car. Although if we didn't drive on the longer interstate trips with a crying baby (mainly did this with our 1st child) then it would have taken us a week to drive from NSW to Victoria if we only drove when DD was either sleeping or quietly content.
ETA: We must be rare people. If we are driving behind a car with a Baby On Board sign DH is more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt if they aren't driving perfectly... we assume that the baby must be crying.
i dont have one because i have dark tinted windows and u cant see it anyway my P plate is displayed on a frame next to the number plate . i have on the Back of My car seat in the event on an accident dd's name age dob blood type next of kin and mine and her dad's details , just for the sake of it .
I just thought they were a cheesy novelty item. I think they are a bit tacky and I wont have one near my car.