Is the Baby on Board sign still any useful?

We often see the sign “Baby on board” on cars that have newly born babies or toddlers on board. Throughout the years, I saw this sign not only as a reminder to other drivers to watch out, but also as a happy announcement by the new parents that, there is a baby on board.
However, in some countries where the law of a child seat is not enforced, there is always a sad story of a little child jumping around, left alone in the back seats to merciless road incidents. Unfortunately this is not all. In some Middle East countries, I have seen children jumping between the front seat and the back seat, carelessly and totally unsupervised. To make matters worse, whoever is driving is usually busy with their mobiles, one sudden break and a scenario of eminent catastrophe is looming very close by.
The situation gets more complicated when the parents decide to leave the child alone in the car to run for a quick errand.

Different incidents
My description of how horrific this act was, cannot even get close to the tragic outcome of such an act. Time and again we have heard of older children who manipulated the gear, and the car rolled on a sloppy street causing harm to them and others, and how many incidents of babies who were buckled up in their car seats, and who suffocated from lack of oxygen or simply boiled in the sweltering heat when it took longer for the parent to come back to the car!

The Iranian couple
And when one thinks that we have now seen and heard all, along comes the latest news about a couple in Iran who left their child sleeping in their car and went to do something, in their unsuspecting mind, leaving the car running with the air conditioning on, would not hurt the child, little did they know that a running car with open locks, was an open invitation to car thieves. In a tragic turn of events, the car was stolen and the thieves, who turned out to be drug addicts, drove the car to a remote place, stole a few parts, locked the car and abandoned it with the child inside! Later on, when the car was found, it was too late!

Verdict
The story has made big headlines in Iran, a couple of suspects were rounded up, and we are told the mother of the child has completely lost her senses. Too late I’m afraid, nothing will bring the baby back to life, and no reasoning will comfort the bereaved parents who know too well how responsible they were for what happened.
I have no kind words for any such parents, nor will I sympathise in any shape or form with their loss, and I think they should make new signs to indicate “careless parents on board” maybe then, others will truly watch out for children driven recklessly!

TWO CENTS
• Parents who leave toddlers in cars whether locked or unlocked should be charged with child abandonment and endangerment.
• DO not expose the little ones to car hazards or bad elements of society.