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???

not take out all seats, but create more spaces for buggies and wheelchairs.

you can have more standing space at the front - which can be used by the able bodied, pushchairs and have seats at the back for the elderly..or those that need to sit down,

i realy dont think this would be beyond a bus deisgn expert.....

the problem is - if there is no pressure on the bus compaines to accomodate people better, they wont change anything.

have read all threads on this subject

main points

there is no way either side is going to agree on this,i think thats been proved

its now getting repetitive

theres even each side trying to outdo each other will medical conditions (competitive sickness) its getting ridiculous

dont you want the thread to die????

CanI, I don't understand, your baby would have a blanket or cosytoes, and a raincover. A wheelchair user wouldn't have these things.

whether you want to throw off a disabled person to make way for yourself - sorry your ...baby...or whether you want to get the next bus to make way for a wheel chair user or whether your a wheel chair user who would simply like to use the space assigned to you - the point is clear - we need more room...

why not harness this incrdible response to all these threads and write to bus compnay and mp about it?

are we just useless sheep in this country who put up with barbaric train conditions - and buses - and tubes etc....because we would rather have a good moan but not to the people who can do something about it?

apathy is the friend of the companies, someone is sitting very pretty somewhere making money out of you and me and yet = we are clearly unhappy with the service being provided!

do something about it!

Elizaregina

I think part of the conflict around this issue comes from the fact that disability campaigners did that. They fought for years with no support from mainstream population to get space on public transport suitable and available to them.

And now they still can't access it because people with huge buggies just occupy that space and feel it is fine.

Maybe the accessible for all utopia may have been achievable if the disability campaigners hadn't been fighting alone.
I agree with you. It would be nice.

I didnt realise that, now we all know dont we thats its an issue so we can all write to the bus companies about it - and our mps! People will be fighting for all sorts of things but if the voice isnt heard it isnt heard.

there are lots of very vocal voices on here - who can add to the cause.

Pagwatch you can not compare CanIHave's comment with a racist comment. She may not have a view you or I agree with but she is not showing prejudice she's saying her child comes before anyone.

I compared her 'honesty' with holding another view which I regard as repugnant.

But fwiw I think I can compare it with whatever I wish. Yiu can if course chose to disagree.

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

Sorry bit late to respond to this, but I will anyway.

I would never post that message the other way round, because that would make me an arsehole, wouldn't it

KellyElly, I thought it was a very valid comparison.

Canihave - it may come as a shock to you but babies don't generally disintegrate if occasionally exposed to the British weather.

We don't do prams. DS2 goes on my back and DS1 walks. We use a brolly if practical but otherwise if I get wet, they get wet.

They have yet to show any signs of melting, but I suppose there is always a first time.

This is epic. Where's the person I was talking to last night about getting your goat on a bus and could it be folded?

goats are clearly able to clamber into the luggage rack and chew any stowed hats/umbrellas

What did able-bodied people do before there was space on the bus or ramps to wheel a pram straight on?

Oh, that's right: they folded down and managed somehow.

these two groups shouldnt be fighting - but working together to get public transport system to make it easier access for all .

its space on a bus that is causing the issue - create more space.

I see no difference between racism and disabalism, I find both repugnant.

Sauvignon as far as I am aware being verbally rascist is a criminal offense. Being a 'selfish bitch' (her words) is not. I don't agree with her btw I just thought the comparisson that was made was disproportionate and unhelpful in this already heated thread.

racism gets more air time.
maybe disabled lobbies arnt doing enough.

if someone in the media makes a faintly racist comment there is a huge backlash...everyone is almost frightened of seeming racist.

however very frequently in the media people make glib derogatory remarks about disabled people...like frankie boyle and jimmy carr and no one seems to care.

where are the disabled groups getting vocal about this?

I have p&t for my two dcs, i believe the wheelchair users needs come before my own as i am perfectly capable of walking off the bus to wait for another, fold (even though it is a pita) or move to the other area if unoccupied.
Disabilist people piss me off tbh, and i would hate to see someone in a wheelchair waiting in the rain because unlike my dcs they have no blanket or raincover.
It is actually people with bloody shopping trolleys that peev me off but thats a whole new thread....

The old routemasters must have been a nightmare

I guess the bendy buses had quite a lot of space in them but they weren't very popular

Here is TFL's take on it

www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/transportaccessibility/1171.aspx

and here is an interesting article on the impact of replacing the bendy bus

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16091997

sad comment about wheelchair users avoiding school rush hour because buggy users won't get off for them