Nearly two million drivers in the UK have had accidents due to ‘Baby On Board’ signs and children’s toys that obscure their view, according to alarming new research.
One in 20 motorists says stickers and playtime paraphernalia are to blame for a collision - equivalent to 1.85 million of Britain’s 37 million drivers.
The revelation triggered a warning by road safety charity Brake to cut down on clutter in the car.
Deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said ‘Baby On Board’ signs are useful in alerting the emergency services that a child may be involved in the event of a crash.
‘This help can become a hindrance if drivers display signs when their child isn’t in the vehicle,’ she said.
‘Worse still is the danger that can be posed by drivers obscuring their view by cluttering up windows with lots of signs.
‘Drivers’ priority should always be getting there safely without putting themselves, young passengers or other road users at risk.’
A OnePoll survey commissioned by price comparison website Confused.com found that 37 per cent of parents have displayed signs and four out of five of them believe they improve safety.
But 46 per cent admit doing so at all times - regardless of whether or not their child is in the car - and 15 per cent confess they only have them for their novelty value.
The poll of 2,000 drivers also found that 46 percent of drivers regard them as a hazard and 33 percent say they are tacky.
‘There are benefits and dangers to “Baby on Board” signs. They can offer useful information for paramedics in the case of a crash but having too many novelty items displayed could be a safety issue,’ said a Confused.com spokesman.
研究表明，英国有大约200万名司机曾因车贴和儿童玩具发生过交通事故。这些写有“车里有孩子”等字样的车贴和玩具会模糊他们的视线。
在每20位驾驶人员中就有一位表示，车贴和娱乐设备会导致发生交通事故。英国有3700万驾驶者，按照这一比例计算，持有这种观点的高达185万人。
因此，道路交通安全慈善机构Brake提醒大家清理车辆的相关物品。
该机构的副主管朱莉-汤森说，在发生交通事故时，“车里有孩子“的车贴对提醒应急服务人员事故中可能有孩子受伤来说非常有用。
她说：“但当孩子没在车里时，这种车贴就会帮倒忙。”
“更糟的是，如果车主在车窗上散乱地贴了很多车贴，会妨碍视线，造成危险。”
“司机们首要考虑的应该是，要在不威胁到自己、年轻乘客或者其他路人的情况下安全抵达目的地。”
比价网站Confused.com开展的一项调查发现，37%的父母使用了车贴，其中4/5相信这能使行驶更安全。
但有46%的受访者承认，不管孩子在没在车里，他们都会使用车贴，还有15%承认自己这样做只是因为新奇有趣。
这项针对2000名司机的调查还发现，也有46%的驾驶者认为这种车贴会造成风险，33%认为这样很俗气。
Confused.com网站的一位发言人说：“这种车贴有好处，但也会造成危险。在遇到交通事故时，这种车贴可以为医护人员提供有用的信息，但如果车上贴了太多花里胡哨的车贴，就会造成安全隐患了。”
