Almost every driver in Spain has seen the sticker ‘Baby on board’ on another car at least once. This sign is widespread around the world and serves to alert other road users that there is a small child in the vehicle.
Despite its popularity, few people know the origin of this sticker. Many believe it was created solely for road safety purposes, but its story is far more unusual and tied to entrepreneurial initiative.
According to the Australian National Roads and Motorists’ Association (NRMA), the first ‘Baby on board’ stickers appeared in 1984 in the state of Massachusetts, USA. Real estate agent Michael Lerner faced a problem while driving with his 18-month-old nephew—other drivers were inconsiderate, not realizing he had a young passenger on board.
Around the same time, Lerner met the Bradley sisters, who had already developed a similar sign, inspired by European experience. Seeing the potential, Michael purchased the rights to use their idea and founded Safety 1st, a company that began mass-producing and selling the stickers.
In the first month after launch in 1984, about 10,000 stickers were sold, and soon demand rose to half a million per month. Since then, the sign’s popularity has only grown, and today it is recognized worldwide.
There is an opinion that the sticker is meant to inform emergency services that there is a child in the car, but the police and other official agencies refute this view. The main purpose of the sign is to draw the attention of other drivers and encourage them to be more cautious on the road.
Thus, the ‘Child on Board’ sticker is not only a safety element, but also an example of how personal experience and entrepreneurial ingenuity can lead to the creation of a widely recognized global product.
