by Sara McGinnis posted in Parenting

"I think it is about time people realized the origin of all those ridiculous 'baby on board' signs," one story about the origin of Baby on Board signs begins.
It continues:
"There was a tragic start to those signs.
"Some years ago, there was a car crash in Canada. The police located adult and child members of a family trapped in the crashed car, rescued them and sent them to hospital to recover. The car was towed to an impounding yard, and the following day police discovered a baby?s body frozen to death but otherwise uninjured under one of the seats.
"A campaign was then started in Canada to alert rescuers to the fact that there was a 'baby on board,' which needed to be located in the event of a crash. If a baby is not on board, the sign is removed." Or perhaps you heard this one"
"Years ago, I heard a story about WHY the signs were created...The story was that a serious car accident occurred and an unconscious woman was removed from the vehicle. The front of the car was badly damaged and it wasn?t until later (vague time frame) that a car seat with a dead infant was discovered under the front dash of the passenger side."
Tragic, right" Take a deep breath and enjoy a sigh of relief -- these tales simply aren't true.

Surprisingly, the urban legends surrounding Baby on Board signs get two things wrong: their origin story and their purpose.
The real story, according to Wikipedia...
A ver...