You have likely seen these signs, or perhaps have one yourself, so what is the purpose? And what is a myth?
From NRMA;
The idea was born from the personal experience and desire of one man, Michael Lerner, a former real estate investor from Massachusetts, USA with the vision to keep children safe during car trips.
It all started in 1984, when Michael had driven his 18 month old nephew home for the first time. He did not account for the notoriously busy traffic with motorists tailgating and cutting him off throughout the trip. “For the first time, I felt like a parent feels when they have a kid in the car,” he said.
It was around the same time that he was introduced to sisters Patricia and Helen Bradley. The sisters had seen a version of a safety sign for car windows in Europe and had limited success with marketing the idea back in the United States.
Michael saw a business opportunity in safety signs for car windows and struck up a licensing deal for the rights to the product from the sisters. He founded the company Safety 1st and using his contacts in the retail industry, he started pitching to big department stores.
The first “Baby on board” sign was produced in 1984 and sold 10,000 signs within the first month. The demand ramped up and within nine months, the company were selling 500,000 signs a month.
We have seen the myth shared many times on social media that the signs help emergency services in the case of an accident, prompting responders and making them aware of little ones on board.
Julie-Anne Newman, Acting Sergeant from Victoria Police, says the stickers are unreliable for indicating injured small passengers in a car accident.
“If the police were to sight a sticker such as ‘Baby on Board’ when attending a collision scene, they may keep this in mind however – in the first instance information would be gleaned from the scene, from victims, from witnesses and from police enquiries,”
Mamamia – Here’s exactly what those Baby on Board stickers mean.
So there you have it. These signs are widely used today to warn other drivers to exercise extra caution around cars containing little ones. They are not intended to alert emergency services during an accident.
References
NRMA – BABY ON BOARD – where did it all start?
Mamamia – Here’s exactly what those baby on board stickers mean
Image credit: NRMA
