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?

sooty theres the differance you do understand wheelchairs come first .

And truth more often than not with a bit of juggling i have often had a buggy parked at end of my wheelchair

nope your point not got lost

it s just been prooved that wheelchairstop trump buggies and if your struggling with a single buggy how on earth would you cope with a double and a bus

see Nota
Im far from miserable in fact im pretty laid back with good sense of humour

THC she's ran out of arguments she can't win

YABU

If you are going to be using public transport a lot then you should chose one that is best suited to the job. That is, one that is easy to fold up one handed (as you have to assume you'll be carrying your child too) and is small enough to fit in a bus space when folded.

Being able to have the pushchair unfolded in the wheelchair space is just a bonus if it is available but you should always assume it won't be free.

You should always buy the pushchair that best fits your needs.

For example, when I had DD I knew I'd need to be able to use a car a lot so chose one that was easy to fold down, was light enough for me to lift up and into the boot and was compact enough when folded to go in the boot.

It;s just common sense.

I still say if you know you are going to be using public transport you need to get buggy that is suitable. It needs to be lightweight, small and fold compactly. Even if it is not your regular one, just one for journeys, however I have seen some great ones, at a very good price, that do all of this, so can be your only buggy.

Choices have to reflect your lifestyle, including on the bus.

Blimey it was not long ago at all that there were no spaces on the bus, for wheel chairs or otherwise. How did any parent ever manage????? And the buggys used to be harder to fold.

x post Hulababy - glad I am not the only one who looks at buggy choice like this.

I cant believe some of the narrow minded crap coming from some people on this thread. I have nursed people with various disabilities who have no choice but to use a wheelchair.I find it shocking that there are some ill informed and even flippant remarks towards wheelchair users some who are vunerable members of our society.DISGUSTING

Some people are so mind numbingly selfish.

dotty

I wa not going to back down becuase as much as she may not like it .the law stands as it is so not going to lose

and funny becuase im not a miserable person at all

Clearly you are ignorant as well as uneducated, try getting around yourself in a wheelchair and understand the basic challenges faced by someone trying to access public transport. Comments like this just exemplify the gross prejudice that disabled people face daily. Your attitude belongs in the the gutter and I feel sorry for your poor child being dragged up with your disablist attitude. Perhaps social services should intervene, so much for diversity Britain.

Thanks to those of you who have registered your disgust with the Op and the other thickos such as NotaStatistic who have posted here. It gives me hope that one day their attitudes towards the disabled will be as unacceptable as any other prejudice such as racism etc. I hope this happens in my son's lifetime and that he will be able to get on a bus knowing that his right to occupy the designated space will be upheld. There is still a very long way to go.

If someone holds your stuff theres no reason not too fold a buggy,

I had a tank of a pram and its a bit more difficult.

I wouldn't feel very comfortable with a baby having to get off for me If I was a wheelchair user.

archemdes I may suggest you get a smaller pram for on the buses and most dont have to get of they just need to fold

Are you talking about a buggy or a pram?

I had a mothercare monstrosity that wasn't going anywhere.

in that case for using public transport you need a smaller one

and like said up page often enough with bit of juggling you can mange both on a bus .I often have a pram parked by my feet and does not worry me

umbrella fold buggys are only £20-£30 to buy good enough for bus journeys

Im still puzzling over the legs vs no legs comment.
Statistic seems to think being in a wheelchair is some kind of lfestyle choice

I managed to fold major buggy with a 2.6 year old in a cast

I mean a newborn pram , you cant expect someone to fold a pram with a baby who cant even support its own head.

Unless of course someone holds them for you.

Cheap prams are not suitable for very young babies.

*cheap buggies

newborns can go in a sling problem solved

Of course cheap buggies are fine for newborns. They dont require giant tanks. And back in the days before low floor buses we all held our newborns and folded a buggy with one hand. How on earth did you think we got about? Or did generations of women sit indoors, trapped. With a newborn. I dont think so.
So yes, someone with a newborn can fold a buggy.

erm why since some seem to think people in wheelchairs shoud fold and a baby lot lighter to hold than me

Archemedes im old enough to remember when buses had no buggy spaces or wheelchair spaces .there was not a choice