car signs that say 'child on board'

[Paul-F]

car signs that say 'child on board'

Are these politicly correct, why should we be more protective of children?

[ZiaAries]

[Gypsum Salt]

It all depends.

There’s no bloody difference between announcing that there’s a child on board or there’s a gay on board or a Jehovah’s bloody Witness on board or an obese person on board.

But if the child is driving I sure as hell want to be aware of it.








Gypsum

[Guest]

car signs that say 'child on board'

Are these politicly correct, why should we be more protective of children?

They were introduced originally when a child nearly died after an accident. It was so buried that the resue services didn't notice it was there.
The problem is that most folks leave them fitted even when there's no child in the car so no one takes any notice anymore.

[ZiaAries]

I haven't seen one that say child on board, I've only seen the ones that say "Baby on Board." I didn't know about the origin of this sign. Thanks guest.

Yes, they deserve priority. We have handicap plates/signs for the handicap in the US. It should be the same for babies as neither of the two can help themselves out of an accident on their own. They will need assistance from another stronger person.

Screw PC comments.

[Laura-Lily]

I had wondered why people had those baby or child onboard signs until I read that they were intended to help the emergency services locate any children in the event of an accident.
However when I mentioned this to my brother, who is a fireman, he said that's rubbish. They are not for that reason. He said people just want other drivers to be careful near their car. Emergency services always check thoroughly for any casualties, and the addition of a sigh would make no difference to how they do their jobs.
http://the-world-in-focus.com/blog3
http://richards-world.the-world-in-focus.com
http://zeitgeist.the-world-in-focus.com

[Moira Mac]

These signs are the bain more than the help of emergency services!
People don't take them out when there is no child on board, it doesn't make the driver any better as they are more likely to be distracted, and if there is a serious accident that knocks out the driver, they have to look for a person who may not have been 'on board' in the first place.

Also with some of these signs, like others, in the summer if the suckers that hold them onto the window are clear, the heat from the sun turns them into virtual magnifying glasses and they are known to start fires within vehicles.

[minigirl]

car signs that say 'child on board'

Are these politicly correct, why should we be more protective of children?

They were introduced originally when a child nearly died after an accident. It was so buried that the resue services didn't notice it was there.
The problem is that most folks leave them fitted even when there's no child in the car so no one takes any notice anymore.

yes, i've heard that one too - but here's what snopes.com (a site that is dedicated to exposing urban myths) has to say about it:

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.

[Guest]

My car has "Show dogs in transit" signs on it, i put them there to show other road users that if they speed or are drunk and drive into me, they arent just hurting me..but also my dog, it works as i see them slow right down when they come close, and stay back the correct distance.

[CKLUVER]

As a new mom I can tell you that there are two excellent reason to have this sign. First, if you are in a serious accident, paramedics know to look for a child in the wreckage. Second, the sign alerts other drivers and the state patrol that you qualify for the car pool lane. One of my friends recently rec'd a letter from the Dept. of Transportation saying that someone had reported her using the car pool lane without anyone else in the car. Now she has to deal with having the violation removed from her record. Her back windows are a bit tinted, plus the sun shades we all put on the back windows obsure the view of a car seat and toddler in the back.

[Sharon den Adel]

^ Sounds like a fair ideal in theory.

[Guest]

I haven't seen one that say child on board, I've only seen the ones that say "Baby on Board." I didn't know about the origin of this sign. Thanks guest.

Yes, they deserve priority. We have handicap plates/signs for the handicap in the US. It should be the same for babies as neither of the two can help themselves out of an accident on their own. They will need assistance from another stronger person.

Screw PC comments.

You need one that says "Big winging baby on board"

[minigirl]

i saw one today that said "show dogs on board". maybe i should get one that says "shopping on board"?

[Zaphod]

Why is it though that the car that races across the stop lines causing you to have to make an emergency stop always has a 'Give my baby a chance' sticker?

If they were that concerned about there childs welfare they would be taking the train instead.............................