Buggies must be folded by law, if a wheelchair user wishes to board

[BerniceBroadside]

I know this can be a hot topic so thought I'd share that stagecoach have new signs on their buses stating that buggies must be folded by law if a wheelchair user wishes to board. Let's hope it's actually enforced.

Slightly off topic but how do wc users deal with the tube in London?

I have never seen anyone or a lift or a space. Does that mean they just can't?

If they can't stand while you fold and are too heavy to lift onto a seat then you just say that they can'tHedgehog

No need for further explanation, no one else's business.

They should definitely have a ticketing system for when buggy users are asked to leave the bus in favour of wheelchair users (which I have no problem about in principle as a buggy user).

What gets me is that bus companies are deliberately ignoring that every buggy user could potentially have to pay multiple fares and that no provision is made for this. It's not fair to penalise buggy users (or their parents I mean!) financially.

Agree with PP saying time and help are also required when travelling alone with folding a buggy. It's part of the whole 'travelling public' concept which a lot of impatient people don't seem to want to get.

hyena it's hardly a fuss if you just get on with it. Do what the rest of us do. Take a back pack for the shopping or get it delivered and choose a buggy you can collapse of you need to.

Hyena because the spaces are there for wheelchairs, if not needed by a wheelchair user then they can be used by pushchairs but it's not expecting special treatment to want to use the space designated for you

I was on a bus in London the other day which had 2 buggies in the wheelchair bay. We got to a stop which had a wheelchair at, the driver opened the doors and yelled out to the people "got 2 buggies, you can't get on." When I called out to the driver that wheelchairs have priority the woman in the wheelchair said it was ok as they needed to go further than the bus was going (it was terminating it's journey as it had been delayed.) That's not the point though is it. I'd been waiting over 30 minutes for the bus to turn up when they were meant to run every 10 minutes, if they'd been waiting a similar time and had the same wait for the next bus that's an hour!

hyena - it's not patronising to vacate the dedicated space for a wheelchair user

Actually hyena I am so offended by your post which you clearly knew some people would be or you wouldn't have 'felt a bit shit' posting it

When I bought my prams and buggies the most important thing I checked for was whether I could collapse it with one hand. That way when I need to use public transport I could hold the baby and shopping in one hand and use the other to collapse and carry the pram.

Sadly I can't do that with an adult who needs to use a wheelchair.

They are Wheelchair spaces that pram users can use when they are not required, they are not pram spaces that can be used by wheelchair users when not required.

It's not always so simple as 'choose a lighter buggy' though is it? Some people have twins, some have DC with a small age gap, some DC in buggies are also disabled, some buggy users are also disabled. It shouldn't automatically be assumed that the buggy users are bringing their 'huge' buggies on to a bus simply due to a sense of entitlement.

Tried that but on a feel occasions have had people questioning and not believing, ended up showing dcs blue badge couple of times when people got irate. Tend to avoid buses if we can now as st more hassle than its wrth.

Surely if someone with a buggy has to get off a bus, the driver would give them a ticket so they don't have to pay to get on the next one? Same as if your bus breaks down and you have to get another one

I have seen this being done.

We all agree disabled people should be treat equally so surely this extends to not giving them special treatment

It isn't 'special treatment'

Wheelchair users are not equal to non wheelchair users as far as getting on buses goes, so by providing an accessible space on the bus, it goes some way to redress the balance.

Also how do you hold a baby and fold a pram? And then there's the shopping blah blah. Would just be easier to get off but that could possibly leave a baby and parent in the cold and rain half way through their journey and if they didn't have anymore money to get another bus they'd have to walk it... You know?

Folding a pram while holding a baby isn't that hard. It was what we had to do before when buses had steps up by the doors and just rows of seats. Cold and rain don't hurt and they can walk can't they? Again, we managed before.

I went to school with a lot of visusally impaired people as our school had a specialised unit. They reiterated time and time again that they HATE being treat differently and to not make any fuss over their disability. They hated being patronised and loved just slotting in with the rest of us

Good or them. Were they wheelchair users?

Btw in case it wasn't clear from my post I have no problem at all with buggy users being asked to vacate the wheelchair space for a wheelchair user. I just think that some posters don't consider that there are a huge range of scenarios, and perhaps people aren't 'choosing' to bring on their huge buggy simply because they feel entitled to.

hyena, a lot of people with disabilities would probably say that they don't want to be patronised or treated differently, but someone who uses a wheelchair has different needs from someone with a visual impairment.

I do agree though that buses with dedicated space for wheelchairs and separate dedicated space for buggies wouldn't be a bad idea.

I know what you mean OhnoGeorge.

But again, twins, small age gaps etc, we all managed before with those scenarios too.

A disabled child in a mcclaren major [disability buggy] should be treated the same as a wheelchair, IMO there should be something on the signs to indicate this. Should also cover parents with a disability with a buggy.

On the whole, people with buggies who object to moving, are just lazy or have the attitude that they should have equal priority to a wheelchair user.

Thanks both that's a bit shit really isn't it because although the tube is a hideous hellhole that turns ordinary people into sociopaths it's also most convenient.

I think we should just ban the sale of all buggies other than the city mini and make them cheaper. 1 handed fold and flick out. Layflat for newborns. Perfect. That'd solve it. :)

I had twins and a 19 month old, as well as a ten year old. One of the twins has a physical disability. We managed.
Now, if she's at a bus stop too long, particularly in the wet and cold hyena she is liable to end up in hospital with hypothermia. As others have said, it is not entitlement, it's not even equality, it is a nod in the right direction. 52 seats on a bus and only one suitable for a user with disabilities. In what way is that 'giving them special treatment'?

Pushchairs can be folded , most people would not be able to get out of their wheel chair and fold it. Why should they have to wait for a bus with no pushchairs, which could be hours around here.

Equality? Some people are so stupid

I think the drivers need to enforce it too though. I was on a bus with DD in a maclaren the other day- it wasn't busy so we just sat in the wheelchair/buggy space. At the next stop was a woman with a big buggy. The driver opened the door and shouted "sorry already got one buggy, no room for any more" and shut the door. I got up and started saying "no wait, I can fold this one, it's fine", and started getting DD out, several people heard me and started telling the driver to wait, but he just drove off Then I realised there would actually have been enough room for 2 buggies even if I hadn't folded it! He was just being lazy.