Do you have a "BABY ON BOARD" sign on your car?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I occasionally see a car with a “BABY ON BOARD” sign affixed to it, and I wonder what the driver hopes to accomplish by displaying that sign.

It seems to me that if a baby is properly restrained in one of those carriers, then they are already better protected than most adults; they are wrapped in a form-fitting padded cocoon, and anchored in place by a padded harness that goes over both shoulders, so other drivers need not feel obligated to drive with any more care than they usually do.

Not that they would. I’ve never driven any differently because I saw a “BABY ON BOARD” sign on a nearby car, and I will go out on a limb and guess that most other drivers don’t adjust their behavior either.

Do you have a “BABY ON BOARD” sign on your car? What was your motive for putting it there?

2

I don’t know why people have them either, but I treat them as warning signs.

“WARNING: Driver will be constantly distracted trying to deal with a baby in the back seat and will likely do a lot of unpredictable, borderline dangerous driving. Best keep your distance.”

3

Something a buddy of mine found out cops don’t find funny-putting a “BABY ON BOARD” sign in the back window, strapping an empty baby carrier to the top of the car and travelling down Interstate 5.

4

Never had one, never saw the point. And since my baby turns 30 in September, it’s too late anyway…

5

I’m not the kind of person that’d put anything on his car, but I always assumed that the people who used them see themselves as being extra cautious when their kid is in the car. So maybe they drive slower than they usually do or aren’t as aggressive when turning or merging. They feel like they’re obstructing traffic more than they normally would and hope the sign tempers the reaction of other drivers such that they don’t get honked at/flipped off.

6

I think the idea was supposed to be to alert rescue workers to look for the baby after a wreck, like those window decals stating what pets are in the house or the red dots people used to put on kids’ bedroom windows.

7

I would never put a "Baby on Board ’ sign on my car , there are too many crazy people around that might want to kidnap a baby. Some crazy lady tried to kidnap my sister new born baby right from the hospital .

8

I saw a sign that said “Adults on Board - we want to live, too.” I liked it.

9

I think that’s why they have fallen out of favor.

I don’t get why I’m supposed to value a stranger’s baby’s life more than any other random person’s and more than my own. “I guess I’ll crash into that car now, that guy looks like he deserves it… oh never mind, they’ve got a baby in there apparently, I should slow down and drive right,” thought no one ever.

This reminds me of a question I’ve always wondered about, think I will make a poll.

10

My son is 11, and I don’t think those signs were around any more by the time he was born.

Oh, there were all sorts of parody signs, but no more BABY ON BOARDs. Those peaked decades ago.

11

That would be at least somewhat reasonable, assuming people removed them any time the kid wasn’t in the car, but no it really was created as a kind of request for other drivers to be more careful around the stickered car.

12

Yes, but I recall people giving the more sensible, though still a bit silly, explanation for why they personally used them.

Of course they did not ever remove them even when the baby was not present.

13

Even if that’s 11 days they were still around even if less common. I saw one in the last week or so.

14

And the ones which are permanently affixed (most of them) are utterly stupid.
It would be funny if someone takes a brick and smashes the window of a car with one of these parked in a parking lot on a hot day.

“What are you doing!!!???”

“Rescuing the baby you claim is in the car, of course.”

I also remember them as being a signal to rescuers. Back when they began, kids didn’t have to go into car seats up to the time they were bar mitzvahed, so it was more likely that a kid wouldn’t be noticed.

15

I always read those as “Warning, distracted driver,” but then, I assume that about all other drivers already anyway.

16

How is babby bored?

17

It was a real fad in the 80s. Your baby was your trophy, and you were going to advertise it, GODDAM IT!!! Everyone in the whole GADDAM world was going to be informed that YOU HAD A BABY!!! And they were going to MAKE NOTE OF IT!!!

My understanding (correct me if I’m wrong) is that cops, etc., hate those things because they are required to look for X number of minutes for a baby if there is a car crash and th car has a Baby on Board" sign and no baby is readily seen.

18

With a drill.

19

Those were quite popular when my sons (now in their early 30s) were little. I could only see one point in having them. It would notify someone who was about to steal or tow your car that they should check for a possible child in the vehicle. Otherwise, basically useless.

Besides, I think we (Americans) have abandoned B.O.B. signs in favor of those obnoxious stick figure window clings. Blerrrrg.

20

I’d be very surprised about that. I’ve heard this theory (myth?) a few times before, but never any official word on it, and frankly it doesn’t make any sense - it could, at worst, cause more deaths or injuries than it prevents.

Imagine the scenario: Police respond to a crash, the car is on fire. The cops risk their lives desperately looking for a baby because there’s a sign saying there’s one in the car. The fuel tank ruptures, the car explodes and the cops are killed/seriously injured. Afterwards, it turns out that the baby in question was never in the car in the first place, and was safe and well at home.

As alluded to above, this system would only make any sense if people were required to remove the signs when the baby wasn’t in the car. I’m not saying that a responder wouldn’t at least take a cursory look in the car if they saw the sign, but absent any other evidence I doubt they’d be actually required to spend any time looking just on the basis of a sign.