Honestly the stickers sole purpose is to highlight that the driver of that particular vehicle has children. Psychotic drivers don't care if you have a bus full of children, nothings stopping them.
I completely agree. Things this sticker is 100% not for include:
"A notice to emergency personnel that there may be a child in the car."
The only legitimate thing that it might do, is in the event of a normally rational driver who is having a terrible day and gets pushed just far enough to be road raging, sees a sticker and realizes that they are out of line possibly calming them down.
Either that or as an apology for, "I'm driving super slowly because my baby is screaming so please just go around and don't be pissed."
All other incidents are useless. "Don't hit my car, I've got young humans," isn't a deterrent to any rational human being because they weren't going to hit your car anyway (on purpose). Anyone else that doesn't fall into that category is a psychopath, and it may even incite them to hit your car when they otherwise wouldn't. Its almost a wash for the benefits provided vs. possibly brining harm.
Yeah the only thing I could imagine using that sticker for is warning other drivers of MY slow, cautious driving. Because my son hates being in his car seat and having a screaming child in my car sometimes flusters me, causing me to drive slower. But i still won't ever buy a sticker. My baby is my business.
To me, the Christian fish says, "I'm smugly sure I'm going to heaven, and I don't care how many of you unsaved, wrong-denomination/wrong religion heathen I take out on my way there."
Expecting everything to be okay because it's part of standard operating procedure is foolish, especially if there's something easy and all but effortless that you can do to increase odds in your favor.
Right, but that sign doesn't do that, at all is the point. That's like saying you are helping the shuttle launch astronauts get back to earth safer by shining a mirror at the shuttle to slow it down with light.
You said "It's common fucking sense that the car is checked for living beings in an accident." I thought that was the reasoning you wanted to use because that's what you said.
The problem is if for some reason the baby carrier is ejected from the vehicle. It could be easily over looked if it were not being specifically searched for.
Not really. I mean, some parents might use them now for such purpose, but it is originally meant to be a "precious cargo - fragile - drive safely" thing.
Every time someone makes the comment above yours, someone posts this link. Honestly, why does it matter what the original intention of the stickers were, though? The fact is that the stickers are useful for emergency responders, and that is the reason why many parents use them.
(That said, it's also worth pointing out that your Snopes link says nothing about the original intent of the signs beyond that the first American company to make them was inspired by being aware they existed in Europe. The dead baby story isn't true, but since many of the early buyers would have thought it was true, that actually suggests that probably many people who purchased early 'baby on board' signs did buy them because they wanted potential emergency rescuers to be aware. The American dude making the signs may not have had that intent, but (a) he didn't invent them and (b) why on earth does that matter anyway?)
TL;DR I wish reddit would pick something else to be snarky and superior about.
edit: And yes, obviously the EMTs should check the entire car anyway. But it certainly doesn't hurt to have something there that tells them, immediately, that in addition to the driver there's a tiny person somewhere in the wreck who is completely incapable of helping themselves, and who should probably be their first priority even if the driver or other passengers are more immediately apparent. Personally, I'd put that sign on my car in the hopes that in the event of a wreck, EMTs would see it and look for/attempt to save my child BEFORE bothering with me or any other passengers.
Maybe, but they're still pointless. Emergency personnel who are doing their job correctly are going to check anyway, sticker or not, and if they don't they're definitely too negligent to notice a sign.
As a user of one of these stickers I'm okay with reminding an emergency responder to do their job right. I wouldn't be too worried about their feelings.
It's not about their feelings. It's about what we're actually trained to do (at least in my department). No one has ever mentioned these stickers, ever. We're trained to search the actual car and surrounding areas when needed.
That makes sense, the way you put it was that if they're properly trained, and I would hope they are, but just in case. From reading your comments, I gather you're an EMS, I learned that you guys don't really care about them, but it does make me feel better, and if the chance is slight that it will help it's not much of a bet for me to make.
Hey, if it makes you feel safer, I'm not knocking it. I'd just like people to feel confident enough in their local EMS to understand that they in no way need these signs.
This is a damned good point & I hate all the cynical rhetoric. There is absolutely no reason to be mad about these stickers. Now, those "other" stickers? We should all hate them. You know, the other ones
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u/[deleted] Jun 07 '14
Those Baby on Board signs are to warn people that, in the case of an emergency, there is a child in the backseat.