To think it is polite for people with buggies to fold them when a bus is busy

[SilverStreak7]

I suppose this will have mixed replies .

I am not talking of prams with sleeping babies in or even the buggies with sleeping toddlers in but those parents whom have a buggy with say a 4 year old in who is awake and who will not fold down said buggy when a single decker is getting very packed .

The other day I was on a bus and two buggies were on there , one had one of those boards at the back where an older child can stand (I do not know what they are called as never had one) , Now, the child was asleep but that is not the issue ,, The Mother watched an elderly lady slowly go by as this board was sticking out , then another pram tried to leave the bus and only at the last minute (after much struggling by the leaving Mother) did she push up the board ! Ive also seen people refuse to fold them up as a wheelchair wishes to get on .

There's quite a bit of room on our buses, can fit four skinny buggies, two big prams or two wheelchairs. I would assume the folded wheelchairs would go wherever the folded prams are supposed to go? Apart from that, I don't know. If there is literally nowhere to put a folded pram though, where is the disabled-non-wheelchair-needing mum supposed to put hers?

i think some people also forget u might have more than one child and u might (most likely) also have bags, things under, over buggy so u cant fold, have the bags a child and sleeping baby/toddler on you.
i am also thinking of the number of people i have seen in London who have taken their sleeping child out of a buggy, had the bag, folded up the buggy, to make more room for a 3rd buggy or more standers. i actually haven't.
i hate going on buses with the buggy and try to avoid it but sometimes u can't (just like u), i always feel like people think i shouldnt be on it, when i have as much right as anyone else. ob i dont get on if a wheelchair is on, i rarely get on if another buggy is on or people are standing in the buggy area. im considerate, but i hate the attitude of people who think people with buggies are second rate citizens (and im a nanny not a parent so its not like i necessarily control the buggy/destination) and if i have a sleeping toddler, school bag, handbag/ toddler bag and whatever else under the buggy, im not going to be folding! i dont take priority over a wheelchair user though (though i dont think its right wed have to get off and pay for another bus, there should be a way where u can get a ticket to use on another bus, what if u had no more money on oyster card when u did in fact have enough to get home. thats what i dont think is fair!

how about the 'its not fair' people campaign for places for folded buggies, onward tickets, drivers who help you fold?
Like we had to campaign for wheelchair spaces. But no, its so much easier to use the wheelchair space. After all, your issue disappears after a few short years.
Parents have a powerful voice, use it. But they didnt, even for the decades when all buses were steps only and you had to fold. It was disabled people who campaigned for step free access and wheelchair spaces.

thing is people are allowed to stand in that area when it is vacant so y cant buggies go there-which they are allowed to and have a right to when it is vacant.

Because its a wheelchair space. For wheelchair users. Who have priority over buggies.

The buses in Edinburgh give you a ticket if you have to get off. I thought it was the same everywhere.

I used to take ds in the carrier or leave him strapped in the buggy. He would never sit still and I decided people would rather hate me for taking up too much space, than have a baby climbing all over them and screaming

"It's not fair." How old are some of you?!
Life with a buggy and lots of bags is a temporary challenge and not nearly as 'unfair' as navigating life with a disability in a very disability-unfriendly society.

I think a buggy user should fold or disembark to make room for a wheelchair user. But not just because the bus is busy.
If they folded and went elsewhere, the non- wheelchair/ buggy area would become busier. Exacerbating the crowding. They might as well stay where they are.

The rule about wheelchair users having priority in my opinion is unfair

Now my head really is exploding! And you are raising the next generation? thank goodness you're in a minority, and let's hope none of you & yours becomes disabled.

But people are assuming here that a wheelchair user has no mobility at all. This is not neccessarily true, if they just can't walk far, they could be more capable of folding their chair than someone with an alternate non-wheelchair-needing disability is if folding a pram and juggling a baby?

Oh FFS!

< head explodes >

Here, Beyond

UptheChimney Beyond is a disabled parent. I understood what she was trying to say, although she put it clumsily.

Where have all these enormous buggies come from? My kids had lightweight buggies that folded down to about the size of an umbrella. Now these SUV -sized things get bigger every year. I swear the one that ran over my feet on a bus last week had a tray for coffee cups.

If you know you're getting on a bus, dont take a huge buggy. Have an alternative foldable one. Simple.

I have a colleague who uses a wheelchair but can fold it and transfer to a regular seat quite easily (and often does). Vacating the wheelchair area might not be so easy for a parent with a child in a buggy and severe arthritis however.

What annoys me a bit (maybe I'm being unreasonable ) is small children who are travelling for free occupying seats whilst fare paying passengers are standing.

I have NEVER got on a bus with an unfolded buggy/ pushchair in my life - in fact it is one of the criteria that I have always had when buying a pushchair - can I fold it one handed? If I can't, I don't buy it! Hardly rocket science is it? If you are going to be using public transport, make sure that you can do so, without any difficulty.

As for a sleeping baby/ toddler having priority over a wheelchair bound adult, I'd far rather take a sleeping baby out of a pram than a sleeping toddler, and neither should have priority over the wheelchair user.

Well I read that as "folding budgies" so am very disappointed by this thread

My friend is in an electric wheelchair, definitely not foldable even if she did make like Lazarus and get up and walk.

We were refused access onto several London buses because of buggies till I read the notice in the area saying wheelchair users get priority. I had to tell the next bus driver that while he huffed and puffed about letting her on while there was a buggy there. The parents were fine about it as we manoeuvred my friend and the buggy so they could share the space albeit a bit squished but my friend loves babies so was happy to gaze at it all journey

This was London where I'd expect everyone to know the rules about priorities.

freewee that's vy poor from that driver.
So horrible for your friend.
I can't imagine someone not moving for a wheelchair user (although I know some ppl are saying it happens)
But I thought the issue was whether ppl should fold pushchairs if it's busy.
And I still say no.....

I cannot believe this is such a struggle for people to understand. Seriously. Wheelchairs first, everything else second. No exceptions, not even if the baby is sleeping.

When DS1 was an infant, I made sure the pushchair was light and portable and easy to fold, as we used the bus regularly. Both DH & I actually practiced folding it and opening it up numerous times in our living room to make sure we could do it quickly and easily (and with one hand). The few times I struggled with folding it (hey, we all have days, right?), there was always someone offering to help - usually elderly gentlemen offering to help with the pushchair and elderly women offering to hold DS1.

Now, of course, DS1 is 7yo and in a wheelchair. He used to be in a Maclaren Major (SN pushchair), but my god the aggravation going out in that thing - if I had 10p for every muttered comment about him being too old to be in a pushchair, I'd be rich! And others saying point blank to me or even to him "Isn't he (or "Aren't you..") a lazy boy, making your mummy push you in a pushchair at your age!!" And my personal favourite - a "lady" saying this to her friend quite loudly "SHE'S got some nerve - parking her kid there - he should be walking at his age - wait until a cripple comes on and watch what happens!" Just absolutely charming! And of course, all things said directly in front of DS1 and loud enough for him to hear - although he senses that people are not being nice to him, he doesn't necessarily "get" the remarks. Yet.

At least with him in his wheelchair now, we just deal with the directly stupid people like the guy at the register at Primark that said very loudly to us while we were simply attempting to pay for some items "So what is wrong with HIM (jerking his head at DS1 in his wheelchair) anyway?" I mentioned that to the manager, as I'm reasonably certain it's not on their "how to make small talk with the customer" handbook, eh?

I'm afraid I've reached the point where I also think it should be all pushchairs folded on entering the bus - unless it's a SN pushchair or the parent pushing the pushchair has disabilities that would affect them folding pushchair and holding baby.

PROUDAS .. I agree there re Children taking seats , ,, , only when bus is busy mind but I always taught my children when on a bus if an elderly person or pregnant lady or disabled person
gets on always offer them the seat .. Sadly, many parents don;t bother to tell their children to stand and let those mentioned sit ..

Yes, I hadn't taken into account SN pushchairs in my original post . Of course, in my opinion, they should have the same precedence as wheelchairs .

-can i just throw children with sn in ordinary pushchairs - before ds was issued his sn pushchair (you do not get a referral to wheelchair services until 3 in this area), it was a real struggle to get him out and hold him, in order to fold. but inevitably we were expected to because if someone came on with a younger baby in a pram/buggy the driver said that it should be me folding because ds was older - despite being floppy and unable to walk.

I ended up buying a 'disabled child' sticker to hang on the chair.

i always fold my buggy if someone needs the space more than me. could be a smaller baby, someone with a double buggy wheel chair user. but buggys should defo have to be folded if a wheel chair user needs the space. bus drivers round here don't help people fold their buggys and whilst your holding a baby and bags at the same time as folding a pram with a bus thats moving is very hard. if your lucky that the driver waits till you are ready you then having people tutting huffing and puffing because your holding the bus up.

Here in london children under 16 travel free. and up to age 19 if in education. i don't think that should mean they cant have a seat. but i think anyone weather child or adult should give up their seat if someone needs it more than them. me and my kids give up seats on the bus when needed. when have the choice i let my kids sit down and i stand. 3 of y children also share a 2 seater.

hazeyjane So right! But it's sad that it even has to be clarified. You'd think this was all common sense.

Agree with ghostpirit

It always baffles me, the number of people who buy buggies they can't fold and take them on public transport

I mean, when you spend £150++++ on a bit of kit don't you think about how you are going to use it? And learn how to? Or is that too much to ask? How do you get it in a car boot? Or on an aeroplane? Or a train? Or is it just on buses that it becomes impossible to fold?