'Baby on board' signs

[vilakins]

On the way home from work yesterday, I was behind a vehicle with one of those 'Baby on board' signs suckered onto the rear window. (It was a 4WD too, so that gave it two black marks in my book.) Those signs annoy me because of what they imply, to me anyway. However I have no idea why people really use them, and wondered what others thought, so here's a little poll.

[Edit] The first explanation is the most nearly correct according to the Snopes site. To quote them, "there's a child in the car, so drive carefully". Drivers should drive carefully regardless of who's in the other vehicles. What am I, chopped liver? Yes, potentially.

[Poll #938980]

Comments

[trixieleitz]

Cycle commuting inflates my cynicism.

I like "geek on board", but too many people have the wrong idea (i.e. not the same as mine :D ) about what a geek is. They seem to think geek=dork.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

No one but B7 fans will understand 'Delta on board'; I'd be happy with that.

[kerravonsen]

Actually, that's why I picked "geek on board", because nobody but B7 fans would understand "Delta on board", though I actually like "Delta on board" better...

[grumpoldusenaut.livejournal.com]

The impression those things always give me is option 1, but I have been told that the intended meaning is option 2.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Really? My opinion of the owners rises a little. I still suspect an element of boasting though.

[grumpoldusenaut.livejournal.com]

There was a thread somewhere or other where various people were ranting on the subject of "oh, so you think I'm a careless driver, but I'll drive better because you have your Preciouskins on board, and they're more *valuable* than adults"; someone explained that no, the idea of "back off, baby on board" was *supposed* to be to warn people that the driving of the vehicle so marked was likely to be erratic because the driver had been distracted by screaming, hair-pulling etc. Sort of like L-plates.

At which point the ranters suggested that something a little more obviously "distracted driver" and a little less easy to mistake for boasting and "my Preciouskins is *valuable*" might be a good idea, because the general reaction was the opposite of that intended.

[kerr-avon.livejournal.com]

I missed the whole point, then. My impression was that it was intended, in case of a horrendous accident, to warn rescuers to look for a very small victim amidst the rubble.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I considered that, but so few actually have babies in them.

I've heard about signs you can put on your house to say that there are young children or pets inside. Our cats can always get out though; I'm more worried about us clambering about on the roof then having to drop to the deck from the guttering.

[trixieleitz]

I think I read somewhere that that was the original intent, but yeah, I tend to interpret it as a warning of "driving while distracted". Which I'm sure is technically illegal in many jurisdictions.

[peladonww.livejournal.com]

If it isn't it damn well ought to be! Excuse me if this sounds a little over emphatic but I was nearly swiped off the road yesterday by some bloody woman with two fighting kids in the car driving while yaking on her mobile phone! Luckily for me my car is of a type that tends to have a deep and abiding love for the road so it stayed put when I had to swerve on a wet road, but I want to know why the police aren't pulling the drivers involved over and cautioning them if that's what those signs mean. Wouldn't it be an open admission of driving without due care?

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I've heard it's in case of accident, to alert ambulancemen or others that there might be a baby in the wreckage that isn't obvious to the eye. But I do tend to think they look like boasting.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's a bit counter-productive then if there isn't a baby in the car, and there usually isn't. I once had to borrow a male colleague's company car and it had one of those signs on it. I still suspect an element of boasting in many cases.

[kerr-avon.livejournal.com]

Snopes discusses the origin of the signs. The original intent was to ask other drivers to be more cautious because car accidents are the number one cause of child deaths in the US. Incidentally, the manufacturer who popularized them first saw the stickers on cars in Europe.

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

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

AAARGH! So we're back to number one: babies are more precious than other people. Drivers should treat all other drivers with respect regardless of what age or size they are, dammit.

[kerr-avon.livejournal.com]

No, babies are more *fragile*. A fender bender that might bruise an adult could kill a baby. If car accidents are the leading cause of death for children, I don't think it unreasonable to feel they require extra protection.

[shimere277.livejournal.com]

Huh. I haven't seem one of those signs in years. I see a lot of "{Insert breed of dog} on board." Just like the ovals with country abbreviations are now satirized to have names of bands, rude sayings etc. But I think that the way the sign would be interpreted in urban NY is "Soccer Mom on board," which is why no one posts them anymore!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I occasionally see those dog breed ones, but I see at least one baby on board sign a day. We often lag behind.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I suggest your car's sign should read: "Person subject to road rage aboard." That might make other drivers think twice before cutting you up. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Cutting me up? They cut me off and muscle in front because, I suspect, I leave a bigger gap than most motorists. I might swear a bit at particularly rude occurrences, but I'm not at all prone to violence, not even to the extent of raising a finger or two. Bone idle, me.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

You know that and I know that, but other drivers don't know that. :)

It sounds as though "cut me off" in NZ means what "cut me up" means here in the UK.

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

*KILLSTABSTAB* Argh, those signs always make me want to ram the fuckers. They have even more annoying ones in the UK now, saying "Babe on board" or "Slut on board"! AAAAAAARGH. *rams them with a speeding Dalek*

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've seen 'babe on board' babe once, and a few dog breed ones, but slut? [boggles]

Dalek on board though... Nah. You'd only be able to fit one in a ute.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Most people I think buy them because other people do and they have just had a baby. The accident part just doesn't enter into the equation - they are like fluffy dice.

I've seen a "bitch on board" sign and they weren't talking dog breeds either.
Mind you most cars that regularly have children in them don't need signs you can tell from all the cuddly toys and the cute winnie the Pooh sun screens they have on the passenger windows.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've seen 'bitch on board' too; it made me laugh. I hadn't thought of the fluffy dice analogy, though dice are mainly used ironically here, and the baby signs definitely aren't. So there are a lot of the baby ones in the UK? Shimere said they've almost died out in the US, but I see heaps of them here.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

They tend to be used fairly frequently by young mums or grandparents of the same. If they have that habit in NZ then no wonder they are everywhere after all if the grandparents adopt one too then every baby has at least two or three to its name.