To think that pushchairs should have same priority as wheelchairs on buses?

[SparklyC]

Today - packed bus, I was in the pushchair bit on the bus, another mum got on with a buggy loaded with shopping. People sat in space that could have held another buggy in it didn't get up so both our pushchairs had to go in one space and my pushchair is one of those big all-terrain things! Then bus driver stopped bus for wheelchair user and asked us if either of us could fold down our pushchairs/move? Well, first of all, there wouldn't have been any room for us to sit down with our babies and also have our shopping on our knee or even stored on luggage shelf once pushchairs were on. Also the bus service I travel on has a bus every 4 minutes in the daytime. So the bus driver (who obviously has to be sen to be doing the right thing) got off the bus to tell the wheelchair user that the bus was full, and would he mind waiting for the next one, which he didn't anyway. What does everyone else think? Should we mums with our pushchairs be given the same priority as wheelchairs? Should bus drivers ask other passengers to move so that we can get on, instead of (sometimes) feeling like we are an annoyance and an obstacle to them?

You've twisted alot, its not a case of suiting,
anyone who doesnt understand why I wouldn't want to take a baby/toddler off the bus into heavy rain is frankly a moron.

And again for the fourth time I WOULD HAPPILY FOLD IF SOMEONE HOLDS MY STUFF I CANNOT LAY A SLEEPING CHILD ON THE BUS FLOOR.

I would get off but only because the space is for a wheelchair i would not be happy about it I think the rule should change it should be first come first serve then its fair.
Im heavily pregnant with second child and there is no way i could hold my 15 month old (who will not sit still), the buggy and my shopping!!

My DC is not 6 month old alot bigger that is my point , and its not always simple to hold shopping, changing bad, handbag, baby whilst folding.

What about people with prams who can't fold? Please god don't tell me you'd expect someone to get off in bad weather with a very young newborn , when an adult can just wait another 15 mins or so.

You are all bloody wrong.

THEY ARE EITHER BUGGIES OR PRAMS AND NOT PUSHCHAIRS!

Actually, wheelchairs ARE pushchairs because they are very definitely chairs and they do very definitely need pushing. Whereas Prams are not chairs, they are designed so that the baby lies down, you cannot adjust them into a sitting position. A buggy is adjustable but it's not a chair as it's made only for a child, therefore it is a buggy and a pushchair is a wheelchair.

If you reason with that then yes a pushchair, which is a wheelchair, has more rights than a baby.

Anyway, buggies and prams come with rain covers do they not? I've not seen a wheelchair with a rain cover yet.

Dear God, a baby can get distressed over a million stupid things - and you will have to deal with it.

My love, a baby, crying or not, should NEVER take precedence over a disabled person. A disabled person HAS NO CHOICE in being disabled. They HAVE NO CHOICE in where they can sit, comfortably and safely on a bus. YOU DO have a choice.

To reiterate. First and foremost these spaces are for WHEELCHAIR USERS. If there is no wheelchair user that needs them then pram users can.

(Oh and so what if the weather is bad - what difference does that make? Or are you one of those "my baby might melt" mothers?)

Not the point though really is is a baby is much more likely to become ill,
If an adult is happy allowing a baby to go into bad weather so they can get on a bus is quite lacking morally , wheelchair or not.

When I was on a very crowded bus, I told someone to get up, I then sat in their seat, took baby out onto my knee and put brake on BUGGY which stayed in middle of the aisle. When someone wanted to get off, I just moved the BUGGY as far in as I could and them being able bodied adults were able to negotiate their way past.

If you are stood waiting for the next one, with a rain cover over your BUGGY and an umbrella then what's the big deal about waiting 15mins for another bus? Whereas the wheelchair user gets wet legs and then the next bus comes along with another load of arsey mums who refuse to budge.

a baby is more likely to become ill - don't make me piss myself here!

Do you not have a rain cover? Are you so neglectful as to not have either hood, blanket or rain cover over your pram/buggy? Are you one of these parents whose babies have uncovered feet and are dressed in little vests in the middle of winter?

This is the stupidest thread I've seen in a loooooong time. Well done.

Shall we start a thread on disabled toilets being used as changing facilities?

Archemedes - you do understand that you cant catch a cold from being cold dont you?

...and any decent mother would have a raincover for their child's pushchair buggy (sorry Rhubs) and a blanket to keep them warm.

They don't make raincovers for wheelchairs.
They do make raincovers for buggies.

umm...simple?

LtEve, if you had said "simples" there I would have had to have lamped you.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=wheelchair+in+rain&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=622&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=q0W6DQfMMFgn3M:&imgrefurl=www.metro.co.uk/news/874536-tropical-storm-lee-floods-us-as-barack-obama-pledges-aid&docid=Io_RFgD2q9lZtM&imgurl=img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/05/article-1315242860519-0DB71A8300000578-979678_636x399.jpg&w=636&h=399&ei=7EFXT6KuIoPf8AP5m9z1Dg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=457&vpy=170&dur=282&hovh=178&hovw=284&tx=128&ty=99&sig=101326906265260882453&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=197&start=0&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This is what happens if you leave a wheelchair user in the rain. Whereas this is your standard buggy.

Maryz, you should know by now that nothing and no-one comes before their precious ikkle wikkle darling warling and that everyone else can eat their own poo.

We are older and wiser now and perhaps one day, if they have a personal experience with a wheelchair user, they may think differently but unfortunately statistics show that as a nation we are incredibly intolerant still towards anyone with disabilities or special needs.

'When I was on a very crowded bus, I told someone to get up, I then sat in their seat,'

You TOLD them?
Or you ASKED them?