Motorists blame car stickers and signs – such as ‘Baby on Board’ – for collisions, new research has claimed.
A OnePoll survey, commissioned by car insurance comparison site Confused.com, showed one in twenty motorists believed such signage was the reason for accidents.
The poll of two thousand drivers claimed 46% regard the signs as a hazard and a third find them tacky.
Road safety charity Brake claimed the research showed the helpful signs could become a hindrance if used when children are not in the car.
Chief executive of the charity, Julia Townsend, said the signs assisted emergency services in knowing children were in the vehicle during incidents, but that they should not be used when infants were not in the vehicle.
The research suggested nearly half of all motorists that display such signage continue to use it when children are not in the car.
‘Drivers’ priority should always be getting there safely without putting themselves, young passengers or other road users at risk,’ she said.
A spokesperson for Confused.com agreed with Ms Townsend on the usefulness of such signs for emergency services, but said ‘too many novelty items could be a safety issue’.
