to think not folding a buggy to make way for a wheelchair user on a bus is despicable?

[Zara1984]

Just watching Channel 4 news here and a focus piece on public transport accessibility for disabled people.

Apparently one of the biggest users for wheelchair users is parents with buggies not folding them to make way for wheelchair users. This startled me - surely there are not really parents out there who refuse to fold down their buggies to make way for a person in a wheelchair??? Seriously? What kind of twat does that?

AIBU to think that any parent who does this is not a nice human being?

Does this actually happen???

I saw a disabled person (without a wheelchair) refusing to move to the seats for disabled people the other day, shouting at the poor woman with a newborn in a pram who had politely asked if she could put her pram in the area for prams and would she mind moving to the next seat. 'NO! I'm DISABELD' she shouted.

porthcurnick the driver can give you a transfer ticket which allows you to board the next bus...it's not rocket science and these things have been thought about.

Fanjo, can you explain further please?

This was interesting:

please let the link work

YANBU, especially if the baby is still in the buggy when you fold it, suitably stuns them enough to keep quiet for the rest of the journey, I find.

Brecon yes that Channel 4 was what exactly prompted me to post this thread in the first place! V. interesting. I thought the transport chiefs gave quite fluffly/nondescript answers. The blind lady's arguments were very good I thought.

Am quite mortified that people have been thinking this thread is a wind up and that people have been reporting me to MNHQ I feel like I've been told on to the headmaster for something I didn't do!!!

Poor Zara, we know you weren't doing this deliberately but I am stunned that you've never come across this debate before - where have you been hiding?

Maryz just so you get your list right can I just say I would never have dreamt of getting on a bus with a buggy if I thought for one minute I would find it impossible or difficult to collapse it and stow it somewhere safe. I would do this immediately on entering the bus regardless of whether there was any room to leave it standing.

Thank you.

*It's really more up to people to not be so selfish and to realise a person using a wheelchair cannot fold up their wheelchair and sit somewhere else, however a parent with a pushchair can, but generally doesn't want to because it's too much hard work.

It's basic common sense, surely we don't need a bus driver to explain that.*

Yes, of course - but some people, if given the choice, would choose to be selfish. The message needs to be got across that they Don't Have a Choice. Some people are nice, and would move just because they are kind and thoughtful. Others wouldn't. The point is that they both HAVE to move - it's not about being nice, it's the law.

People need to be told (evidently loudly, repeatedly and in words of 1 syllable): There is not room for both buggies and wheelchairs on this bus. You may bring the buggy on unfolded, but if a wheelchair user needs to get on later, you will need to fold it to make space, because that space is reserved for wheelchairs. Or if you prefer you can just fold it now, before you get on.

Generally when i was younger people were very courteous towards people with disabilites - i know this as bro had Downs.
Now my dad is disbabled - he doesnt get cut half as much slack - and apprenlty disbaled hate crimes are on the rise.

most public transport is appalling, what about train stations with no lifts? cutting off entire towns to people with buggies and wheel chairs - having to give exact change - late buses...buses with no room for buggies or wheel chairs....or enough spaces for the elderly to sit....

GET INTO CARS...GET ON THE ROAD.

hairylemon
YANBU, especially if the baby is still in the buggy when you fold it, suitably stuns them enough to keep quiet for the rest of the journey, I find

Nobody in the disabled folk's camp in the least bit concerned about this post then?
Lets replace baby with disabled child and buggy with wheelchair and see what happens shall we.

wotgoesaround ? who checked in today to see if matters had improved but is now signing out permanently.

Message from the disabled camp - Hairy made an obvious joke. It was funny and silly. Lighten up.

disabled camp

WTAF?

Hmm, lighten up, how ironic ? dare I suggest this response would not have been tolerated if the message had been the other way round.

...,,but it wasnt

*TantrumsAndBalloons.
Disabled camp, parent camp, Mumsnet camp ? it's common English colloquial usage.
What on earth is the problem with that?
How can anyone be outraged at that but let the "joke" pass without comment.
I say again ? These double standards are seriously damaging your moral highground.

What does it mean?

People who think the wheelchair space should be occupied by a person in a wheelchair and not a pushchair?

Or do you mean disabled people? Or carers?

I don't understand.

Maamekin Can you reference where you got told it was a legal requirement to move to accommodate a wheelchair user?

It's just that some swift. googling on my part seems to suggest that while bus companies have a legal obligation to provide a suitable space on a bus, there is nothing in law that says that others need to vacate the space for a wheelchair user, or that a bus driver should remove a non-wheelchair user...

TantrumsAndBalloons

No it wasn't, because regardless of what you (I'm at a loss to know how to refer to you collectively without upsetting somebody) would have people believe reading these threads, the vast majority of people are on your side, and therefore would not have dreamed of saying such a thing.

Sorry, what??

TamtrumsAndBalloons

camp 1 (kmp)
n.
1.
a. A place where tents, huts, or other temporary shelters are set up, as by soldiers, nomads, or travelers.
b. A cabin or shelter or group of such buildings: gathered branches and grasses for a makeshift camp; had a fishing camp in Vermont.
c. The people using such shelters: a howl that awakened the whole camp.
2.
a. A place in the country that offers simple group accommodations and organized recreation or instruction, as for vacationing children: a girls' summer camp; a tennis camp.
b. Sports A place where athletes engage in intensive training, especially preseason training.
c. The people attending the programs at such a place.

1. Military service; army life.

4. A group of people who think alike or share a cause; side: The council members disagreed, falling into liberal and conservative camps

Can someone please summarise so far? I am lost.