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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that wheelchairs should be priority on buses?

620 replies

mamadivazback · 02/08/2011 21:05

My DS and I were on the bus today coming home from the town when I noticed a woman I vaguely know to speak to in the queue behind about 8 people with her 6YO DD who is in a narrow childs wheelchair and her DP with 2 year old son in small stroller so we waved, as you do.

Now the bus was about half full and 2 girls got on with their children in pushchairs, one with a very large Emmaljunga type and the other with a stroller and both children were happily sitting up by themselves and looked to be about 18 months old but neither thought to fold their pushchair when the lady tried to get her DD on, she had taken her DS out so she could fold pushchair and all sit together but the bus driver told her she could not get on as there were already 2 pushchairs onboard so she had to wait behind in the rain for the next bus.

I know pushchairs are entitled to use the bus but I thought you had to fold them if a wheelchair user was getting on and was quite shocked when the bus driver refused her a ticket, I spoke to her later on and she said it has happened a few times and it's just bad luck but I really don't think it's fair.

OP posts:
SparkyUK · 03/08/2011 16:36

I still cringe thinking about an incident a few years ago. I had my PILs in town and MIL is in a wheel chair as she has a rare degenerative disorder. I had my 9moDS strapped to my front in a baby carrier and bordered the admittedly crowded bus at the front and told the driver that they needed to board at the back. There was a woman on with a push chair and the driver told her she would have to fold it up. She refused and got off (fair enough) but as she did she hissed at me "You are unbelievably selfish!" I'm still Shock beyond belief that she could say something so self-centered...

TimeWasting · 03/08/2011 16:36

I'm then not clear why you are telling us it is not impossible. mumoftwo said she couldn't do it, and then you told us you could. Point being?

mum0ftw0 · 03/08/2011 16:41

That's horrible sparky Angry

youngwomanwholivesinashoe · 03/08/2011 16:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 03/08/2011 16:49

Are you Cumbrian too altinkum ? Wink

Walking is after all a low level exercise, I think people are over reliant on cars tbh, it's made them fearful of getting their shoes mucky.

The Keswick to Barrow is a 40 plus mile yearly charity walk/ run. I think the top time for runners is around 4 hours, walkers 8. I'm not entirely sure tho and can't be arsed googling. It's not run by top athletes, just every day people who want to make money for charity.

ChaoticAngeltheInnocentOne · 03/08/2011 16:54

Agree with everything kungfupannda has said.

blackeyedsusan · 03/08/2011 16:54

STOP SHOUTING at each other and SHOUT at bus companies/government/mps wwhoever to make MORE pushchair/disables spaces available.

if so many of you are having a problem then the service is not adequate. shout at the people who have the ability to change something not each other. if pram/disabled/green lobby got together maybe someone would notice and think about the problem.

surely as a country we want to discourage car use and reduce emmisions. wouldn't making buses accessible to both groups of uses be better than one or other opting to use the car?

herbietea · 03/08/2011 16:55

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WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 03/08/2011 16:55

12 miles in 2 hours?!?! That's 10 mins a mile. You'd have to be running!

2shoes · 03/08/2011 16:56

no the pram users will wait until the disabled people lobby for better service and will then just use that.
thing is people only use pram's and buggys for a couple of years, so it isn't something they will care that much about long term.

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 03/08/2011 17:00

I go running and at the moment can run 7 miles in 1.5 hours. There is no way I'd fit in an extra 5 miles into that last half hour. I think you must have miscalculated altkinkum

altinkum · 03/08/2011 17:05

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 03/08/2011 17:06

Actually that's nearly a half marathon!

youngwomanwholivesinashoe · 03/08/2011 17:07

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hester · 03/08/2011 17:07

This thread is descending into pure MN farce Grin

altinkum · 03/08/2011 17:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

spiderpig8 · 03/08/2011 17:13

I haven't used a bus in over 25 years, but I'd say whoever gets on first has priority.It's not more fair to make one group wait in the rain than another.
I am not sure you can always say the pushchair /pram should fold down. Nice if it can but not always possible or safe
1 what if it doesn't fold down?
2 I am not sure how safe it is to be juggling bags of shopping a new baby and a bulky pushchair on a normal seat.

mum0ftw0 · 03/08/2011 17:14

I agree buses should be further adapted to meet more peoples' needs.

Aparently autism has increased by 300% which caused many big tots to 'need' to stay in the pram.
I don't know what else is increasing, but I know the struggle I went through with the space, so it should be changed, without blaming other passangers

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 03/08/2011 17:14

I love it when these threads descend into chaos Grin

mum0 does keep twisting things and contradicting herself tho....she must be hell to live with !

mum0ftw0 · 03/08/2011 17:15

altinkum, i gave up the space to a wheelchair, I just said it was a very difficult time

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 03/08/2011 17:17

But the vast majority of parents don't have kids with an invisible disability.

Nor are they heavily pregnant and ill.

Or disabled themselves.

Or poverty stricken and can't afford a little trolley etc and so in.

They're lazy, selfish gits with hummer prams.

TimeWasting · 03/08/2011 17:18

I see, both of you could have been clearer.

I think I was somewhat blinded by
"There is no such thing as cant, you can walk anywhere in this world, it may take longer, however you set of earlier to get there."
And
"if your not fit enough to walk that time, then tbh, you need to address your fitness levels."

You also went on to say it was 'not hard'.

I'm sure you can see where eveyone's confusion lies.

altinkum · 03/08/2011 17:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

aliceliddell · 03/08/2011 17:18

Yes, someone should complain about it; but I don't want it to be me!(wheelchair user). I want to be able to notify someone like a traffic wardehn system who would have the authority to enforce our 'rights'. Presently, it's all theoretical with the DDA because there is no enforcement. If I want to buy a book locally, I'd complain to - Council (no dropped kerbs), rail co. (no access to platform), bus co. (same as OP), or Council (not enough disabled spaces), disabled spaces inaccessible because no dropped kerbs, bookshops (neither fully accessible). Basically, we're all too knackered for this level of aggravation. We need one phone call, one enforcement officer. With these cuts? Don't hold your breath.

ProfessionallyOffendedGoblin · 03/08/2011 17:18

Why buy a pushchair or a pram you can't fold? (not including sn)
Why get so much shopping you can't carry it, even in a back pack?
I had no access to a car until my youngest child was 3, so I've done all the buses and trains and trams and underground bit. Yes it is difficult and a pain and takes planning.
But wheelchairs should still get priority. I really don't get why this is even being discussed.