to think that wheelchairs should be priority on buses?

[mamadivazback]

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.

But there isn't a solution that will suit everyone though there never can be. More spaces for wheelchairs on buses would be a start but to do that you will loose seats therefore making less space at busy times for other passengers.

Problem is some people are to self obsessed to look outside there bubble at others. I was left to stand on a bus while on crutches a few years back as it was full and nobody offered me a seat - it was at that point I realised some people just don't see beyon themselves which is quite sad really.

If I was on a bus with a pram I would put the pram down to make room for a wheelchair. If I was on a bus and saw a mum struggling to get the Pram down I would offer to help and if the bus was full I would offer my seat.

Hardly rocket science is it?

As I said previously, I had no access to a car until my youngest was 3.
So it's not about having a personal driver on tap, more about realising that other people have needs that are greater than your own. That someone else may be struggling, but for you it may be a year or so, and at key points in your day.
For them it could be the rest of their lives and all the time.
Just fold the buggy or wait for another bus. Or decide that it's a challenge you can't cope with and think of an alternative.

a1980 the car on motability is NOT free. Please do your research properly.

alowVeraWithPurpleTwuntyPants I was quoting a very rude message about disabled people people getting a "free car".

The poster Mumoftwo was the author of the comment that I quoted. I didn't say it. Please learn to READ properly in future or you'll look like a right stupid twuntypants.

a 16 year old who can't walk or weight bare and is in a wheelchair, surely takes priority over a small child that can be carried
see there is no real priority, just one can be lift and held, other can't
easy.

a1980 I apologise for my last post. Got confused. Sorry.

Now I look like a stupid twuntypants as I did't read the next page to see that you'd already figured out that I didn't say that about the disabled car thing and apologised.

Now I'm sorry! Lets be friends still!

I have twins and although they are 2.6 now (hence easier to fold buggy etc by myself), I would not have hesitated to get off to let a wheelchair user on.

YANBU.

Sadly this doesn't surprise me. Buses here have about 6 fold-up seats for wheelchairs, pushchairs, etc, so you should be able to fit a lot of sets of wheels on board. Yet parents frequently sit next to their buggies, thus taking up two folding seats, and refuse to help any other parent getting on the bus by moving their butts off a seat to make room for another pushchair. They just sit there looking on, waiting for a space to magically appear by itself. That usually brings out my sarcastic side.

So you'd have thought that some sense of social responsibility would kick in when it comes to a wheelchair user, but no. i have lost such hopes. Some people are just completely self-absorbed.

So lets not even bother trying to think of anything else that might help the situation.
And fuck everyone with invisible disabilities while we're at it.

excuse me, you can get a free 'lease' on a car, my point was that wheelchair users have more transport options than someone in my particular circumstances at that time.

I got this far before I gave up reading anymore. I left it last night as I had to go to bed.

I've come across severely disabled children in my job as a Pi/ Med neg lawyer. Some of the children I have seen cannot walk, talk, sit up unaided, feed themselves and are doubly incontinent. They cannot do anything and are 100% dependent on their paretns for every aspect of their daily care. Their parents have to spoon feed them, change their nappies, lift them in and out of the bath, etc and they get sod all respite care.

I'm really very sorry mumoftwo that you feel aggreived that wheelchair users have more transport options than you. But you have more options around the house and in daily life in general that you don't seem to be aware you are lucky to have.

The paretns of severely disabled children would likely giving ever having use of a car ever again if their child could walk.

Isn't this a discussion about prams, buggies and wheelchairs and who takes priority when there is limited space for all the vehicles?
Who should fold and move first?

Kungfu - to add to your post, I use buses very regularly. It's extremely rare that I encounter a wheelchair user on the same bus as me, and so far there's always been room for all. The only time I chose to get off early was for a standing elderly lady who needed a seat. So pushchair users really aren't going to be inconvenienced very often, IME.

On a practical note I always carry a spare bag in the buggy so if I need to unpack and fold the buggy, I have somewhere to put my stuff.

isn't there a sign that says wheelchair space goblin?

ProfOffended - you mean which buggy user should move first? I think that's down to conscience and levels of self-absorption. I would gladly offer to go first rather than cause embarrassment to the wheelchair user whilst they wait for the parents to draw lots.

They don't come with a bouncer though2shoes, and if the driver doesn't want to get into an argument with a mother and her enormous child-carrier who may have PND and a CS to recover from, them a little notice may not be enough.
Which is what the thread is about I think.

Which is why other people need to step in and support the person needing a seat. I did this recently for a woman on a train (sarcasm came in very handy once again) and got her a seat. We then struck up a convo - turned out she was fascinating .

I don't think anyone's posted on this thread who wouldn't fold or get off the bus for a wheelchair.

Timewasting - that's coz MNers are, like, better than your Josephine Public, innit?

I am so glad that dd has a free car, she got if for free instead of a bus pass.

These threads aren't about whether or not a buggy should give up the space to a wheelchair.
They start with that question, everyone agrees yanbu etc.

Then someone asks what sort of idiot buys a big-ass non-foldable pram, someone else will try to explain what a distressing time they had trying to get about by bus etc. and it is perceived that they think they shouldn't give up the space, when all they want is their specific difficulties to be acknowledged in a general discussion of accesibility on buses.

Then of course we have had the athletic pregnant woman diversion on this particular thread.

Why can't we discuss improving accesibility on buses for all?
It might prevent this situation occuring so often.

Athletic pregnant woman? I missed that bit. Was she doing cartwheels on a bus? Now that would be impressive.

I think we have pretty good accessibility on buses down here - 2shoes, would you agree? Have you had to use buses here with your DD?

Despite that some people's attitude stinks, and if I'm in a position to do something about it, then I will - whether that means moving along to make room, getting off the bus or shaming lazy-arsed folks into socially responsible behaviour. Sigh. I think the solution here is clearly that everyone needs to become more like me.

SpeedyGonzalez we don't use them, where I am the bus service isn't great and would be full of buggies, so we use dd's free WAV

''I don't think that means that a mother and baby automatically takes second place to someone with disabilities, but if a pushchair can be folded it should be.'

I think for some posters, it is a discussion about whether a buggy should give up space to a wheelchair. You see, in the situation where a huge pram that can't be folded is occupying a wheelchair space, I'd expect the mother to make room or get off the bus.

I'm thinking an MN campaign in conjunction with Maclaren, Buggies for Buses, something like that.
Preventing idiots like me giving Emmaljunga any more money.

APW Speedy was where one poster thought that a 12 mile walk should be possible for most women even if pregnant.
There was some bragging about the robustness of Persons from the North as well.

POG, Posie was playing devil's advocate.