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?

[Whatmeworry]

Buggies on a bus goes round and round.....

[TandB]

What Andrew said.

Of course no paying customer can be evicted from the bus while behaving in accordance with the conditions of travel. But they certainly can be evicted from the wheelchair space and if they choose not to behave in accordance with the conditions of travel (in this case fold their buggy so it does not cause an obstruction) then yes, they can be evicted. Unfortunately most drivers choose not to enforce this.

There is no absolute right to remain on a bus while behaving exactly as you like. If you are disruptive you can be told to get off. If you are drinking alcohol on a London bus you can be told to get off. If you are begging on a bus you can be told to get off. Your travel is always conditional on you abiding by the rules. Unfortunately while drivers are very willing to take a bus out of service to get rid of a drunk or antisocial passenger, they seem less inclined to do so to get rid of someone obstructing the wheelchair access.

It's probably indicative of how the rights of many disabled people are still ignored on a daily basis.

[WilsonFrickett]

Actually, and again this may only be in my transport area, I have seen a bus driver issue a second ticket to allow a passenger to leave the bus they're on and board another one. The space is the space, if someone else is standing or sitting in it then they can be asked to leave and join another bus. Having said that, I've only seen that happen once and I think the passenger was pushing their luck a bit

[LittleMissHumbuggery]

onefatcat People using the wheelchair spot on my local buses get told to move to other seats. If they refuse to do so, they are told to get off as they have refused to continue travelling. The spaces are fitted with signs that inform people with pushchairs that if a wheelchair user wishes to board, their pushchair 'must' be folded/removed.

[HecateGoddessOfTheNight]

Is this a 'joke' thread or the basis for an article or something?

Someone actually thinks that it is so much hassle to fold up a pushchair that a wheelchair user should be left on the kerb?

And the next bus has pushchairs so the wheelchair user is left on the kerb

and the next bus has pushchairs so the wheelchair user is left on the kerb...

Seriously?

Perhaps the disabled person should have you fold up their wheelchair and put them on your knee

I mean - seriously? a baby/toddler in a pushchair?

Can nobody do the whole 'tuck the baby under your arm, fold the pushchair with your elbow and your knee while pinning your toddler against the side of the shelter with your hip' thing any more it's tricky I'll admit, but you just have to learn it!

I can't believe that there are people out there that are so selfish that they look at a person in a wheelchair and think bollocks to them, why should they get preferential treatment...

[gettingeasier]

Hate those all terrain pushchairs , the chelsea tractors of the buggy world totally ridiculous

[nailak]

sugarpqste thank you for your informative posts, they have helped me understand.


I however, still think that due to the large amount of customers that use the bus service with a pushchair, that provisions should be made for them. Bendy buses were great, for example. Why does is the service able to operate without meeting the needs of its users? Only because the users have no other choice. If they could afford a cab or car they would no doubt use it.

[otchayaniye]

i've never owned a pram or pushchair with either child and don't use the car in the week (youngest hates it and i like to use public transport as much as is possible) and manage to get about and go on outings and get shopping.

i have legs that work very well (thighs could crack walnuts after several years of this) but the wheelchair user presumably doesn't.

i see many a jockeying between buggy users (why are they so monstrous with huge wheels like icetrucks?) on the buses' and much sighing and tutting when told to fold them.

some people are so wrapped up in their spoil pfb bubble that a minor inconvenience becomes a 'right'

[Triggles]

I can only assume this is a wind up. Often when taking DS2 on the bus, we have his Maclaren Major, and we still fold that up (unless he is having a particularly bad day) to keep the wheelchair area free.

One would think that in a civilised society people would understand that someone in a wheelchair has more limitations on the bus than someone with a pushchair, but sadly it appears not. If you are not capable of folding up the pushchair, you might want to consider:

• a pushchair that is more "bus friendly" that folds up easier and is smaller
  
• limit your shopping to what you can readily carry with your child (and if you can't, consider other methods of shopping such as online or more frequent trips or simply build up those arm muscles ) Or cut down on what you're carrying in general (instead of handbag, nappy bag, and shopping, try small backpack with wallet in it, so you have a hand free to carry shopping)
  
• if you're having difficulty managing to fold your pushchair while holding your baby, practice it. Sounds silly, but I actually spent a bit of time adjusting and practicing to see what the best way to fold up the pushchair with our baby in the other arm, and it actually can help.

[MissBetsyTrotwood]

Wind up? No? Have my first ever .

[KeepInMindItsAlmostChristmas]

Are you taking the piss OP or are you really this stupid and ignorant
People choose to have children they then choose to get big buggies and go on buses,
I have yet to meet anyone that chose to be wheelchair dependent.

Those spaces are clearly labled for wheelchairs, I take it you can read?
It clearly says that buggies can use them UNLESS needed for a wheelchair.
Stupid rude people like you make me sick

[ShellyBoobs]

This can't possibly be a serious AIBU, can it?

Just in case, though, YAB F U.

[OrmIrian]

Oh no! Really? You can't mean this....

[Kladdkaka]

Of course they should, if not more. Bus companies are businesses and just like other businesses they need to maximise profits by meeting the needs of the majority. There are vastly more parents with pushchairs using the buses than there are people in wheelchairs. It makes sound business sense.

Also don't forget that bus stops rarely have seats these days. A mum with a pram would have to STAND till the next bus came along. The wheelchair user doesn't. Do you have any idea how tiring it can be pushing a baby in a pram?

Plus, if it's raining a wheelchair user can get one of those coverall, zip up, raincover things. Poor mummy with a pram can't, can she?

Disabled people need to realise how flippin lucky they are!

^^

[AnaisB]

I couldn't hold my baby and fold a pushchair at the same time - she is heavy/I am weak (and pregnant). I also can't carry her in a sling for long periods of time. I could ask another passenger to hold her while I folded the pushchair, but what if there was no-one to hold her when I needed to get off. I also couldn't put the pushchair in the luggage rack on my own.

I the OPs situation I probably would have got off the bus, but I think she's been unfairly criticised - I read her post as a "discuss" rather than a moan.

[fantasticfanjo]

My DBIL is a wheel chair user and only catches the bus when he's off to meet his mates for a few beers and he certainly wouldn't assume that he should take priority just because he's chosen to leave the car at home.......

What about a new mum 3 weeks post c section ( therefore unable to lift & fold buggy) and on her way to an urgent appointment, is her entitlement to use the the buggy space any less than a wheel chair user who's chosen to leave their car at home ?

[ChaoticAngel]

It's not a buggy space, it's a wheel chair space.

What I want to know, having read several of this type of thread, is there is always mention of shopping. Why do parents load their buggies up with so much shopping that they can't handle it, along with buggy and baby/toddler?

[SparklyC]

"Stupid rude people like you make me sick"
Sorry that most of you feel the way you do, I think you've got the wrong end of the point I was trying to make. I was trying to say that pushchairs need to have somewhere to go on the bus - this was a one-off, I am usually the first one to stand up and move if I need to.
BTW, I am NOT a selfish person, or any of those other insults you have hurled at me, how can you say those things, very hurtful, you don't even know me. FYI, I have what you could call an all-terrain buggy, it's one of those urban things that I need cos I do a lot of walking taking my son to school. I had an important trip to town to make and obviously I needed to take the bus (I don't drive). Could I have held my baby and folded up my pushchair? I don't think so - she is 6 months old.
Thought there were a lot of sympathetic mothers on here...
Have none of you ever been in the same postion as me?
Thanks for upsetting me a lot.
(I know you'll probably say 'Boo-hoo' on that.)

[TheAvocadoOfWisdom]

Ye Gods! YANOBUUBYADASRTFWACWF

(You are not only being utterly unreasonable, but you also deserve a slap round the face with a cold wet fish).

[TandB]

[climbs behind Kladdkaka's sofa and weeps quietly while muttering 'there is no buggy space - it is a wheelchair space']

[IneedAbetterNickname]

The buses here have wheelchair spaces and buggy spaces. Both have signs saying that priority is given to people with wheelchairs or buggies. It works really well (most of the time).

[cocoachannel]

What is an all terrain pushchair, please?

[TandB]

x-posted with the OP returning to dig an even deeper hole.

No, you're right, OP, we don't know you. All we have to judge you on is your post which makes you sound selfish and entitled.

Yes - there was somewhere for the buggies to go. They could have been folded or they could have got off the bus - your choice.

Your baby is 6 months old - why does that render you incapable of folding a buggy? At what age is a baby compatible with buggy folding? We are regularly told that mothers of newborns can't fold their prams, or that mothers of toddlers can't manage their bigger child. Is there actually any age at which the inability to fold a buggy ceases?

And no, I have never been in the same position as you because I have always exercised my choice as an able-bodied woman who happens to have a child to conduct my daily business in such a way as not to interfere with the rights and entitlements of those who do not have the same range of choices as me.

And yes, OP, boo-hoo. You got your own way on the bus, but that is not enough is it? You need people to endorse your decision and let you feel that you were in the right.