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.

I don't quite get how the disablist posts still need to be reported today? the thread was locked for a day? Were they not read at all by MNHQ?

Watch your tone, Dwerf. Don't want to get suspended, do we?

I'm not interesting enough to get suspended Gobby

What I mean is, I don't understand why MNHQ having taken the fairly drastic step of locking the thread and shutting down discussion for a day - ample time to examine the thread in detail - these posts were still there?? Despite the statement that disablist posts are not tolerated?

That is why I am very interest in the definition of a disablist post, what is and isn't acceptable? Once we are clear about what is meant by 'disablist' all things should flow from that.

Yes Amberleaf crossed posts with you....I don't understand why it is necessary to report them now. If they are deemed disablist they should have been taken down.

HQ have just deleted the posts I highlighted.

Bet mine goes then. Ooh my first deletion!

Wheelchair space with a bar, blocking access unless you have a key, issued with your blue badge.
Buggy users can campaign for an additional area, which means the company might have to take out several seats.

At this rate, the only option buses will have is to ban buggies unless folded, a pita.

Disabled spaces are for disabled people. No argument.

No disabled person will begrudge you using the space for your buggy, kids, luggage, knitting, whatever when they don't need it.

People don't HAVE to get the reasons for the law and rules. They just have to obey them. If they are interested enough they can research the basis for the law and contact charity helplines and ask for information to help them with their ignorance,

Failing that, they could start a campaign for provision for their own needs.

Welcome to Mumsnet Dwerf . It always baffles me that some people can't get their head around this simple concept .

Yes SilverApples blocking access altogether for all but wheelchair users may be the way to go. Either that or, when someone refuses to vacate the space for a wheelchair user the bus is grounded until they do, or the police are called.

The law is the law and it should be enforced. I am not prepared to rely on other peoples' good and sense of decency; in far to many cases it is just not there and so my DS is denied his rights time & again.

...other people's goodwill & sense of decency

My first suggestion was blue badge and tazer, but then I thought about an unattended toddler in a buggy and I felt a sense of responsibility.

Starlight - that might be the kick in the pants some people need.

A warning from bus companies that there will be a, say 6 week, trial period, and if there are still refusals to give up the space, all unfolded buggies will be banned for good.

I reckon people will start thinking about the issue a bit differently when it affects their own interests.

It's sad,like I said I get the bus 4 times a day during the week with my buggy,I see acts of selfishness at least once a day.Young people sat in the elderly spaces and refusing to move when a frail,elderly person gets on,the bus driver rarely waits until they are sat down before they set off at breakneck speed.I've only ever been on the bus a few times when a wheelchair user has boarded and there's never been an issue but each time the bus was quiet.Its common for pram users to refuse to move to accomadate another pram etc.Ignorance is everywhere,its the norm now.It's rare you see someone happily accomadate someone who is more in need.

Have your say - I always believed the seats at the front where for people with mobility problems not just the elderly?

Yes they are! On the buses up here though (arriva) the sign next to the seats at the front just say please move for the elderly.It makes no difference though what the sign says,people don't move anyway! I bet I can count on one hand the amount of times someone has moved for someone more in need.If they have moved its because the person needing to sit there has asked them to move themselves.It seems like no one gives a shit anymore.The entitled and shitty comments on this thread are common in real life.

I have 3 young kids close in age. For a long time I used a double. Often, due to the size and complexity of our party the bus driver would refuse us on if the bus was full/had other buggies, especially around school pick up times.

Sometimes we would have waited ages in the hail, with kids cold, hungry and screaming.

One particular time, after a long wait we were joined by a wheelchair user. To say I was pissed off about that was an understatement, but what could I do? I don't have the right in law to make representations about why my needs might trump theirs, and nor should I. For all I know, getting this bus, at this time is the only way they could access independence.

Neither the baby in the pushchair or the person in the wheelchair can walk . The baby has someone to carry them. Bit harder for the disabled adult.

Thanks JadedAngel for your hard work in weeding out the offensive posts. Let's see if they are removed....I kind of expected though, when the thread was closed down to be looked at, that that was what would be happening. It was disappointing to see them still up there.

It is such a shame as MN has the potential to be such a great force for good in reinforcing perceptions of what is acceptable and changing attitudes.

The original post was a statement btw not a question....what these 'contributors' fail to grasp is that we are not having a debate any more about who has the right to the wheelchair space, it has been confirmed and enshrined in law that it belongs to the wheelchair user. The question now is how that legal right should be enforced.

What a fucking depressing thread! How can people be so ignorant as to compare being a wheelchair user with putting a baby in a buggy?

Gobsmacking isn't it? SauvignonBlanche :(

The only good thing is the amount of people who have stepped in and fought against the ignorant posters.

I do think that the official mn stance has been quite dissapointing. Considering they have just had a campaign about helping raise disability awareness you would have hoped they would do more to stop discrimiation on their own boards.