I have to admit, tongue in cheek, that I am one of those parents who battled my conscience on whether or not my car needed a baby-on-board sticker. Which was weird because before the baby was born, I always imagined how cute it would look to have that sign posted on my rear window.
My son is turning seven this year.
My reservations stemmed from two things. One was that the baby came with so many unwarranted expenses I saw purchasing that thing as a waste of money. Second, my idea of a fancy sign was watered down when I looked around baby shops and the ones I found were, to say the least, boring.
But even as I was moving from one baby shop to the other looking for the sign, I honestly had no concrete reason as to why I needed it. To begin with, I was in the school of thought that believes the sign is meant to inform other drivers to be less reckless around that particular car because in the back seat is a future leader.
Secondly, it would serve as my cushion in the event I decide to drive slowly by alerting fellow motorists that I do not have the luxury to overspeed as they do.
If you are a regular driver on Kenyan roads, then you will attest that most of these cars scuttling up and down are driven by buffoons, with half of them having gotten driving licenses through the backdoor. To them, no road sign is a deterrent to their gross incompetence, including one about a baby on board.
You will also be shocked to learn that when I did a social experiment by asking fellow parents and motorists with the sign why they had it pasted on their cars, they believed it was a legal requirement. In other words, the sign was there just in case cops stopped them and demanded a bribe over its absence.
I would, however, learn later that the sign comes in handy in the event of an accident, as responders to the scene are made aware that somewhere in the wreckage could be a toddler strapped in a baby seat. Or thrown out on impact and lingering somewhere within the vicinity.
In other words, they should concentrate on saving the little one first then the adults after.
One of the medics I interviewed regarding the sign told me that the problem with most ‘baby on board’ sign is that they are permanently stuck on the car. Which means the car roams around with it to pubs and strip joints when the baby himself is tucked somewhere in a crib. That is to say that in the event of an accident, the responders waste valuable time looking for a baby who is not on board, eating into the driver or passenger’s chances of being helped.
So, to have the ‘baby on board’ sticker or not?
If you ask me and speaking as a parent, it is a necessary sign that every car with a baby inside should have. It should be made compulsory. The problem with our market is that some of these things are aped from the West and become a craze without the public being sensitised on how they work.
It is a grey area in our highway code that probably needs to be addressed and a proper code developed. This would include directions on what age range a baby should be for the motorist to need the sticker as a compulsory requirement. About the medic’s concern, the sign can be detachable so that the parent removes it when he or she is headed on rendezvous minus the baby.
My son is turning seven this year and I have not had the sign for a day. Somehow, God continues to see us through all the road trips we’ve had as no rogue motorist has tried to bump us off the road. That does not negate my earlier position that every motorist who hits the road with a baby in the vehicle should have the sticker and that fellow drivers and medics should be sensitised that the sign is not a decoration.
