Solve a perennial automotive problem by creating a factually accurate “Baby on Board” car sticker!

Background:

Occasionally, people will apply a sticker to the back of their car that says something to the effect of “Baby on board!” This allegedly has a nebulous beneficial purpose in informing other drivers of the presence of a relatively helpless infant in the vehicle, but it also has a major downside: specifically, it is factually inaccurate most of the time!

The Issue:

When the car is parked in a parking lot (or at home in the garage), the statement “Baby on Board” is almost certainly false (Figure 1).

Fig. 1: The average car that has a “baby on board” sticker only has an actual baby on board for <10% of the day (less than 2.4 hours). That means that 90% of the day, the sticker is undeniably factually incorrect!

Proposal:

This is an easy one to fix: the “baby on board” sticker should either be an opaque sign that can be flipped over (Figure 2)

Fig. 2: One approach to fixing the sign is to make it reversible: one sign would say “Baby on Board,” while the other would say “Baby NOT on board.” This would be similar to the flippable “open / closed” signs that are often seen at small businesses.

Another option would be to adopt the system that used to be used for motels, where a sign could say either “VACANCY” or “NO VACANCY” by simply lighting up the word “NO.” This could be achieved by a slidable or flippable additional panel, as shown in Figure 3.

Fig. 3: The word “NOT” or “IS” can be added to this sign to allow it to always be factually accurate.

PROS: Increases the accuracy of signage, which will lead drivers to have increasing trust and faith in humanity.

CONS: It might be slightly annoying to remember to switch the sign, especially if a possibly-howling baby were somehow involved in the situation.

Originally published 2024-10-14.