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 .

When my eldest was young this was the only option and so you folded buggy at the bus stop, picked up baby buggy & shopping before you got on. Baby's under 6 months were in prams and so the mother walked everywhere. When my younger were born I always regarded being able to wheel pushchair on as a luxury!

well..it can be me, I assume?

i would suggest in that case, the people who are considerate and decent, and able would get off, I would hope.

Yes nk walking with the pram is my preferred option.
Less easy with toddler in tow. Thank goodness for buggy boards.

it's not a minefield though, its a matter of having common decency and also respecting the law, and making common sense decisions. Shouldn't be a minefield.

worraliberty "You ask a passenger to help you. As a rule, they're normally only too willing"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Where do you live? Passengers on buses where I live will watch you struggle quite happily >:}

YANBU and I'm amazed and the number of women who claim they can't/ don't know how to fold buggies although I suspected its learned helplessness.

Admiral Have you ever asked outright and been ignored?

I gave no consideration to how easy a pushchair is to fold despite using public transport a lot. I've even used a large coach built pram on buses but the key point is that I always get off for wheelchairs without a second thought. I have sometimes folded to let another pram on but our buses do not have luggage areas to put a folded pushchair into so getting off and walking is my preference. The main town is only 5 miles and I can walk that but a wheelchair user. I have though seen some really inconsiderate parents, I folded my travel system once, left dd in car seat as she was asleep to let a double on while the other bay was taken up with a little folding buggy. 2 mins later child was out of buggy but they still didn't fold

Wheelchair user can't

If your pram doesn't fold, you shouldn't use it on a bus. Its that simple.

Buses have a limit as to how many passengers they can carry and a notice specifies how many standing passengers. If a bus has the maximum number on board the driver drives past bus stops until someone gets off.

A driver isn't going to stop a bus and throw off paying passengers to let anyone on, not even a wheelchair user, if it's already full. I doubt the driver would even notice who was waiting, to be fair.

I have to correct the information I gave about our local buses. There are 4 buggy spaces (drop down seat) and 1 wheelchair space - room for 2 buggies if not occupied. I think that's pretty good.

I can't believe anyone is saying that if a baby is asleep there is no option but to get off the bus! What about, I don't know, WAKING THE BABY? FFS.

Off now before my head explodes.

Everyone will probably have a go at me but I dread having to fold my pushchair - if I have the money I deliberately buy a day saver so I have the option to get off the bus and wait for another if a wheelchair user needs to get on. I have a double pushchair with a 2 year old and a 3 month old, my 2 year old is small for his age and struggles to sit on the seat without falling off when the bus is moving and I don't even know how I would manage to hold my baby and fold a pushchair with my changing bag and shopping at the same time!

The rule about wheelchair users having priority in my opinion is unfair - if you CAN fold your buggy then you do it out of courtesy but making it a rule is dodgy - there are disabilities that aren't visible or don't need a wheelchair that would make folding a pushchair and holding a child very very difficult, such as arthritis or like what I have, a nervous condition that causes my hands and wrists to go numb sometimes. Also, young disabled children often use pushchairs rather than wheelchairs so this is also something to take into account. I think it should just be first come first serve, no room for debate there!

Well, just as well the law disagrees with you then.

If it was first come, first serve, wheelchair users would have no chance of getting on the bus. There are so many more buggies that unless the person with a wheelchair was boarding the bus at the end of the line and was at the front of a queue, they would never be able to come first to get the one spot that they can use on the bus so would never get to travel.

Nooo celia they explode if you do that, well known fact

My legs work fine but I have arthritis in my shoulder so walking instead is easier for me than folding. I fold as a last resort I.e. if the weather is that bad and a reduced timetable means next bus is a long wait.

*outnumbered, please go back and read my dds post. Then think again.

Outnumbered - there is nothing unfair about wheelchairs having priority use of the space, those spaces were created FOR wheelchair users und the disability act. There isn't such thing as a parent with pushchair act so you don't have priority to use the space, but should be thankful that you can use it if not required by a wheelchair user. FFS what did people do before we had accessible buses to accommodate WHEELCHAIRS; even back then people had arthritis etc and managed to get on buses with buggies folded up.

"The rule about wheelchair users having priority in my opinion is unfair - if you CAN fold your buggy then you do it out of courtesy but making it a rule is dodgy - there are disabilities that aren't visible or don't need a wheelchair that would make folding a pushchair and holding a child very very difficult, such as arthritis or like what I have, a nervous condition that causes my hands and wrists to go numb sometimes"

As someone with a similar invisible disability I get where you are coming from, but realistically we have more options than the wheelchair user where public transport is concerned. That's why the rule exists, we can use alternative carrying options (eg slings), we can ask other people for help folding pushchairs. It's not easy by any stretch, I know that all too well. But a wheelchair user has no other options at all.

"The rule about wheelchair users having priority in my opinion is unfair - if you CAN fold your buggy then you do it out of courtesy but making it a rule is dodgy - there are disabilities that aren't visible or don't need a wheelchair that would make folding a pushchair and holding a child very very difficult, such as arthritis or like what I have, a nervous condition that causes my hands and wrists to go numb sometimes"

As someone with a similar invisible disability I get where you are coming from, but realistically we have more options than the wheelchair user where public transport is concerned. That's why the rule exists, we can use alternative carrying options (eg slings), we can ask other people for help folding pushchairs. It's not easy by any stretch, I know that all too well. But a wheelchair user has no other options at all.

"The rule about wheelchair users having priority in my opinion is unfair - if you CAN fold your buggy then you do it out of courtesy but making it a rule is dodgy - there are disabilities that aren't visible or don't need a wheelchair that would make folding a pushchair and holding a child very very difficult, such as arthritis or like what I have, a nervous condition that causes my hands and wrists to go numb sometimes"

As someone with a similar invisible disability I get where you are coming from, but realistically we have more options than the wheelchair user where public transport is concerned. That's why the rule exists, we can use alternative carrying options (eg slings), we can ask other people for help folding pushchairs. It's not easy by any stretch, I know that all too well. But a wheelchair user has no other options at all.

"The rule about wheelchair users having priority in my opinion is unfair - if you CAN fold your buggy then you do it out of courtesy but making it a rule is dodgy - there are disabilities that aren't visible or don't need a wheelchair that would make folding a pushchair and holding a child very very difficult, such as arthritis or like what I have, a nervous condition that causes my hands and wrists to go numb sometimes"

As someone with a similar invisible disability I get where you are coming from, but realistically we have more options than the wheelchair user where public transport is concerned. That's why the rule exists, we can use alternative carrying options (eg slings), we can ask other people for help folding pushchairs. It's not easy by any stretch, I know that all too well. But a wheelchair user has no other options at all.

I have never once been on public transport and not had someone offer to help, or to hold DCs while I fold buggy. Also, if you have a medical condition meaning you can't fold a buggy then you are as entitled to the space as a wheelchair user, just show your blue badge to the driver when you board. Simple.

People said if bus is full...

that might work where service is good, having lived rurally and had to walk 7 miles home along an A road with no footpath in December, with a buggy and trailer thing, I'd say much easier to either use sling or buy a lie back easy fold buggy early on.

In this case bus was full and just didn't stop (last bus was at six!), but same scenario for wheeelchair user if full, and they'd often struggle with a taxi as well ((where I was just broke)