Baby / Child on Board

Das Kitty

I'm undecided about these car stickers. I'm very confident in the safety of my own driving however I'm regularly on roads where there is no hard shoulder and I sometimes get people tailgating me. I'm not a slow driver and a lot of the time those behind have no intention of overtaking it just seems that's their driving style.

Before I had a baby it used to annoy me but now it frightens me to think what could happen if I had to make an emergency stop. There are loose horses and dogs on one of the roads regularly and I have had to make emergency stops in the past.

Anyway what I'm asking is does having one of these stickers make any difference at all? Could it make matters worse?

metrovelvet

I think the main purpose of them is to let the fire department know there is a child in the car, in case of an accident.

You don't see it in Ireland, but many apartments in New York will have a sticker on the door or window indicating there are children living there, as children have been known to hide in closets and under beds and the fire department wouldn't know to look for them otherwise.

On the road, I think they make no difference to other drivers.

PhysiologyRocks

metrovelvet wrote: »

On the road, I think they make no difference to other drivers.

I agree. If someone is a careful driver s/he will be careful even if there is no child in the car ahead.

If someone is generally careless, s/he will not be likely to become more careful because of a sticker.

The problem with them in the event of an emergency is if there is no child in the car and the sticker is left up, emergency services waste time looking for a child that isn't there. Although used correctly, they could be invaluable.

Cat Melodeon

I don't think the stickers make a blind bit of difference to other drivers. If anything, I think they make a certain type of driver act more aggressively on the road, doing all they can to overtake the child-bearing car. In their heads, they're probably thinking along the lines of 'child-in-car = erratic-driver = danger-to-me-and-my-lovely-auto/ability-to-drive-fast', regardless of the actual driving profile of the driver with the child. The stickers are of value if you are involved in a serious crash, although the presence of child seats would also indicate the potential presence of a child.

LegacyUser

As said before, the stickers are not so people will avoid you or stay back. They were developed to allow emergency services know to look for a child in the event of a crash or other emergency.

Here, there are people who have the entire car decked out in them, with individual names and everything. What do they expect other drivers to do?? I don't tail gate, but I couldn't care less what you have in the car. (and I don't mean that as crudely as it sounds, I simply mean it as a fact). Nor does it give a driver an excuse to make a nuisance of themselves on a road by doing 60 km/hr on a 120km/hr motorway - which is an impression that some people are under.

I'm not sure I see the connection with stopping for horses and dogs either - these stickers have no impact on that at all, nor change the fact that you'd have to stop suddenly (I'm confused...)

As far as I can see (as said), they could be an invaluable tool if used properly, but there are too many people around who think they add to the overall interior decoration of a car, right up there with teddy bears on every flat surface and personalised seat covers. All of which are personal choice, but the sticker is slightly different, given the background against which they were developed.

ynul31f47k6b59

The stickers don't make any difference to drivers because they aren't intended for other drivers, they're intended, as mentioned above, to let emergency services know that there is a child in the car in the case of an accident.

I think it's also important to take the stickers down when your child is not in the car, to save time in the event of an accident - fire and ambulance services are obliged to look for a child if they see one of those stickers.

I also agree with Cat Melodeon, the presence of the stickers unfortunately brings out the worst in some drivers. I've never used them at all, to be honest.

Ickle Magoo

I had one up for a while and it made not a jot of difference, so I didn't replace it when we got a new car. Makes sense - the mentality of the kind of drivers who tail-gate and drive dangerously are not likely to think the cargo of the car they are haranguing is any more important because there is a child involved, they tend to have no respect for anyone else on the road - whatever their age. :mad:

CrazyRabbit

If they were used only when children are actually in the car, then I would take note of them and give the car even more space than usual. The reason is that I know children in cars can distract the drivers, causing them to do unexpected things.

As they are currently used, I don't pay any attention. If I see children in a car, especially if they are unbuckled or moving around alot, I will keep extra distance from the car.

As a motorcyclist, this is more to protect me, than the kids.

Das Kitty

Ickle Magoo wrote: »

I had one up for a while and it made not a jot of difference, so I didn't replace it when we got a new car. Makes sense - the mentality of the kind of drivers who tail-gate and drive dangerously are not likely to think the cargo of the car they are haranguing is any more important because there is a child involved, they tend to have no respect for anyone else on the road - whatever their age. :mad:

Thanks for that. It's what I thought anyway but I've had a friend guilting me about it recently, that and every time I drive to my Mum's I have to go on probably the most dangerous road in Galway.

There's a woman at work who regularly brings up these stickers and goes on at how she likes to intimidate people who use them :eek: She frightens me.

Dec.

The main goal of these stickers is to alert emergency services if a child is on board. If the children are not travelling with you i wouldn't bother with them waste of valuable time in an accident.

John C

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

For a driver they make little odds. In the case of an accident, it could remind a rescuer to look for a child.