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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:
WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 09:39

Really? That's against the law. Didn't know that. Perhaps I need to read the whole thread!

altinkum Still keep thinking about your 12 mile walk suggestion. Before I had my children I used to walk about 5 miles and then my feet would get really sore. Once I was pregnant I couldn't walk very far at all as had SPD and even without that any walk would have taken me about 5 times as long because of the waddling! It really slows you down. I also needed to pee every 15 mins or so which was a pain in the arse. So it was really hard to plan journeys. A bit off subject but my mum was seriously ill at the time and it was 2 buses to get to her and then a 20 min walk and there were no toilets along the route. So if I had to walk I would have had to pee in about 6 bushes along the way!

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 09:48

Just read some of the earlier posts about how people with prams should get off the bus if there is a disabled person waiting to get on . . . I was wondering if you do this and have an Oyster for example, doesn't that mean you have to pay twice? Not saying people shouldn't get off but the cost would be a factor to some.

ilovemydogandMrObama · 04/08/2011 10:14

Agree with Riven. There needs to be consistency, such as all pushchairs/prams should be folded. What I find irritating is having to fold because the space is being occupied by someone with a mahoosive pram, so the policy appears to be whoever gets there first gets priority which is wrong.

manicinsomniac · 04/08/2011 10:25

but eyebrows, they don't have to get off the bus, they choose to. All they are asked to do is fold their buggy. So, if they choose to get off instead, then I guess accepting that you'll have to pay twice is part of the deal. A patient bus driver might let you explain as he could presumably check that they oyster had been swiped in not out.

hester · 04/08/2011 10:27

The point is that you don't HAVE to get off, Eyebrows. You can choose to fold your buggy - getting off is a choice that some of us make because we'd rather pay twice, or walk, than have to juggle baby, buggy, bags of shopping etc on a moving bus.

A woman has as much right to be on a bus with a non-folding buggy as anyone else has to take on a large piece of stuff that will get in the way and take up space that could be used by passengers. I understand a driver can refuse to let someone on who is carrying a table, say, and likely will do so in the rush hour. So a woman who buys a non-folding buggy has to be aware that there may be situations when she cannot have her buggy on the bus.

God, it's a bit of a non-debate, isn't it? I'm very sympathetic to mothers who don't drive and have to cart shopping and kids everywhere on public transport - I'm one myself. It can be tough. But wheelchair users still take priority - legally and morally.

hester · 04/08/2011 10:30

But MrObama, it is crazy to have to fold your buggy if no-one else needs the space. It is seriously difficult to fold a buggy - even a Maclaren - if you've got a supermarket shop loaded onto it and maybe a sleeping toddler. I would be furious if some rule required me to fold it all up just in case.

BUT manners are of course important. If I can see another buggy wanting to get on I will fold. Or, if I have only a few stops to go, I'll get off so that they can get on.

All easy to solve with a bit of common sense and courtesy.

rhetorician · 04/08/2011 10:41

I am just gob-smacked that this thread is still going! If there is space to leave your buggy parked, great (and surely we have all prayed to the Pushchair God that we won't Have to Fold?); if not then you fold; if there is no room, you wait (cursing).

There have been two journeys where a wheelchair user has been on the bus (DD is 2.5 and I don't use the bus that often, finding it easier to walk if the journey is less than a couple of miles). In one case I was already on the bus and the wheelchair user looked like he couldn't get on - I was 3 stops from home and offered to get off. This seemed to be the right thing to do, but it would have been different if I had been 5 miles from home - the bus driver relented and let me stand by the door.

ChristinedePizan · 04/08/2011 10:56

Posie - I can't believe people are too dim not to consider what they need a pushchair for. If you know you're going to be travelling by bus a lot, don't buy a big pushchair. Or if you do, be prepared to be turfed off the bus.

I live in an area with a lot of retired people (near the sea) so there are a fair number of people with mobility problems. Our buses (single decker) have fold up seats both sides meaning there is room for two single pushchairs and a wheelchair.

Perhaps that should be the norm?

ProfessionallyOffendedGoblin · 04/08/2011 10:59

On the spot fines by the bis driver for people who occupy a wheelchair space if a wheelchair user needs it and the buggy/pram user thinks they should get priority and refuses to fold or leave.
If appealing to people's better nature doesn't work, then the law needs to be enforced.

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 11:10

The point is that you don't HAVE to get off, Eyebrows. You can choose to fold your buggy - getting off is a choice that some of us make because we'd rather pay twice, or walk, than have to juggle baby, buggy, bags of shopping etc on a moving bus.

If it wasn't too far home I would ideally rather get off then juggle buggy, shopping, toddler and sleeping baby. Not sure I would feel happy leaving my toddler on a seat (he is too young to trust not to just jump off the bus) and hand over my baby to a stranger while I dealt with the buggy and shopping.

But, that wouldn't often be an option for me as my DD can only walk limited distances plus I have a problem with my feet so often am in pain. So getting off would usually mean waiting for another bus.

Pretty sure that bus drivers can't check your Oyster. I have had problems with my Oyster at tube stations and it's a pain in the arse to sort out.

ThePosieParker · 04/08/2011 11:32

Christine..... Do you live in Britain? Dimness is wide spread, but more worrying is 'me, me, me' attitudes, they're rife.

If our society was more helpful, more friendly I don't think this would be an issue. I wonder when it changed, tbh, what happened?

Riveninside · 04/08/2011 11:47

Strangers on buses rarely do anything to babies you know. Ive handed mine to many people while i folded a buggy - this was back in non accessible buses days.

ThePosieParker · 04/08/2011 11:49

Thing is Riven most people wouldn't ask and most wouldn't offer.

2shoes · 04/08/2011 12:00

Riveninside bet your glad you have a WAV and don't have to do this anymore.
I know I would rather stick pins in my eyes than get on a bus with dd and not be able to use the wheelchair space if the buggy person wouldn't move(sorry we wouldn't be able to get on would we) she would be very upset. so will stick to my free WAV

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 12:06

It's not that I think they will "do" something Riven. It's just that everytime I get on a bus there are school kids (the jumping about screaming, throwing stuff out the windows, swearing etc type), drunks/people who look like they are off their faces on drugs, and very, very old people. I wouldn't be able to guarentee there would be anyone I could ask as you can't ask drunks, hyper antisocial 12 yos or old people. Not being mean to old people at all, just thinking of the one's in my family who no longer have the arm strength to hold onto a wiggly baby and don't feel confident enough to do so. Perhaps they are particularly frail.

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 12:11

Oh and of course of mums who have their hands full with their own kids.

Not that I am saying I wouldn't fold up my buggy or get off the bus, just saying that it's not that clear cut.

Folding up buggy whilst juggling kids and shopping isn't simple or easy. Getting off the bus means you have to pay twice if you need to get on another one for the rest of the journey and for a lot of people that would often be a bit problem. Getting off to walk isn't that simple if (like me) you have a child who can't walk very far and an invisible but painful physical condition yourself.

Whatmeworry · 04/08/2011 12:13

Best I think is to throw off all the passengers, schoolkids, pensioners etc etc and turn the bus over to buggies and wheelchairs.

Sorted :o

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 12:16

I did try that last time Whatmeworry but they objected! Grin

TandB · 04/08/2011 12:19

You don't have to pay twice - you just ask the driver for a refund ticket. You give that in on the next bus. It is the same as if a bus goes out of service or changes its route.

Riveninside · 04/08/2011 12:19

sadly 2shoes I cant drive at the moment so I have a stupid WAV eating dds DLA and still have to use the bus.

WhoseGotMyEyebrows · 04/08/2011 12:24

kungfupannda Really? I didn't think they did those anymore since the invention of Oyster cards?

bananasplitz · 04/08/2011 12:33

i didnt have a buggy or a car when i had my children

had a proper silvercross coach built pram that beautiful but not easy to fold. I walked everywhere. When second child came, eldest would sit on the end of the pram while we walked. Was great. We would walk and talk about what we could see.

I think a lot of kids miss out on a lot by being carted everywhere by car or with mum permanently glued to her Ipod or phone :(

Riveninside · 04/08/2011 13:21

Only London has Oyster as far as I know so here in the rest of the world we get refund tickets and such.

ChristinedePizan · 04/08/2011 13:44

Posie - you're right, there is a shocking sense of entitlement around. Actually it's been around MN quite a lot over the last few days. Community, what community?

ChaoticAngeltheInnocentOne · 04/08/2011 14:24

I don't think people do think about how suitable a pushchair is for public transport when choosing one. My DC were in prams before the introduction of accessible buses and I didn't stop to think about it Blush

I managed though, it was either that or walk, which wasn't always possible. I quickly learned not to do too much shopping to make it easier with bags. Like Riven I quickly learned to ask people to hold baby, while I folded.

I think that this subject should be mentioned, maybe in the books by mumsnet, and other authors? No good relying on pram manufacturers, they don't care so long as they get your money.