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

999 replies

BerniceBroadside · 19/12/2013 08:33

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.

OP posts:
lisad123everybodydancenow · 23/12/2013 19:02

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SauvignonBlanche · 23/12/2013 19:02

Yes, in some ways this should have been shut down days ago, anyone stupid enough not to see the error of their ways after listening to Dawndonna's lovely DD should be permanently banned!

Trigglesx · 23/12/2013 19:11

They can't link the wheelchair spot to blue badges. Some wheelchair users don't have blue badges. My 7yo doesn't. I suppose if I applied for it, he may get it, but we do alright without the blue badge at this point, so I don't see the need to apply for it.

I know a few others that use wheelchairs but don't have blue badges, as they are not strictly wheelchair bound, however, could not manage to get up on a bus and fold the wheelchair.

Trigglesx · 23/12/2013 19:13

lisad123 that is one of the reasons we moved DS1 from a Mac Major to a wheelchair. The comments we got from strangers in public (especially on the bus) were horrible. Some people have no shame.

Dwerf · 23/12/2013 19:13

I do think there should be some sort of way to recognise disabled buggies and for those with hidden mobility issues to have their needs recognised, I'm not sure how you'd do that without - I can't think of the word, I want to use 'demonise' but that's not right at all, without making an issue of it, a blue badge for buses if you would. A friend of mine was asked to fold up her double pushchair at a circus recently. A circus put on for special needs children. Except it wasn't just a double, it was a special needs double. So even people with experience of special needs obviously don't always see what's in front of them.

Oh, stimagtising. Not demonising (it's been a long bloody day)

Sirzy · 23/12/2013 19:16

I always thought the likes of the McLaren Major were pretty distinctive and it doesn't take a genuis to notice that they are for bigger children therefore likely to be a reason for the use.

I do think some sort of widely recognised pass which parents can show if anyone questions would surely help stop having to fight?

Trigglesx · 23/12/2013 19:20

dwarf the thing is, most children that are small enough to be in the buggies are young enough where they may not qualify for mobility yet for DLA, and that can make it much more difficult to get a blue badge as well.

Perhaps some type of laminated card from wheelchair services?

hazeyjane · 23/12/2013 19:21

Ds was in a standard buggy when we had the worst bus journey (to an opthamology appointment, he was 3, asleep in the buggy, I had to get him out to fold because a lady with a baby in a pram got on, he screamed blue murder for the rest of the journey, when we got to the hospital he was too distraught to go through the appointment, and then we had to get back on the bloody bus.....)

Trigglesx · 23/12/2013 19:23

sorry dwerf silly autocorrect... had to type it through twice this time as it kept switching to dwarf. Hmm

Anyway, a laminated card from wheelchair services that can simply be attached to Mac Major (or whatever type it is) by way of a snap ring or something would be simple enough to show the driver if it becomes an issue.

Dwerf · 23/12/2013 19:24

I dunno Sirzy, I'm a lay person when it comes to these matters. I like to think I could pick out a special needs buggy but I'm guessing many couldn't. I suppose most people will just see a big buggy with a child old enough to walk in it.

Dwerf · 23/12/2013 19:27

Yes, not an actual blue badge, but a badge that says "I'm registered disabled and I have extra needs, please show consideration", something like that.

triggles haha, my name is a mispronunciation of dwarf anyhow Grin

lisad123everybodydancenow · 23/12/2013 19:32

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sparklesandbling · 23/12/2013 20:14

We have a disabled sign on footplate, under footplate and on back of sn pushchair as we were fed up of people of people staring etc

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310673875324?var=610195554632&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

until we need to get a wheelchair it is the best we can do

MiaowTheCat · 23/12/2013 22:44

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SpikeyChristmasTree · 23/12/2013 22:53

I'm sorry for your situation Miaow.

Where has there been a mass slagging off of every single pushchair owner?

MiaowTheCat · 23/12/2013 22:55

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Sirzy · 23/12/2013 22:58

Miaow - the general consensus throughout has been that is parent/child has a medical need to use the buggy then of course they shouldn't be forced to fold - unless suitable help avaiable - which is why people have been discussing some sort of pass to hopefully stop any issue developing as a result of that.

Of course if those who can did fold it would make it easier for everyone!

MiaowTheCat · 23/12/2013 23:00

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Gileswithachainsaw · 23/12/2013 23:00

miaow
As crappy as your situation is you will be in the minority. Not every person getting on the bus with a massive pram will be doing so because of a disability.

We are also pretty unlikely to see a WC get on the bus. I've seen it 3/4 times maybe in 7 years.

However us umbrella fold buggy owners aren't all bad. Some of us do actually collapse our buggy or get of bus early to save those with larger prams or double buggies collapsing theirs. I have done many a time without question because I can easily collapse mine and I don't give a crap if I was first on.

SpikeyChristmasTree · 23/12/2013 23:07

I've just had a quick look and I don't think that was the consensus at all. I think there were some (very understandably) frustrated people trying to explain that having a big pram you cannot fold does not mean you are entitled to use a wheelchair space.

If a person with a buggy has disabilities themselves then that is another issue, the issue on this thread has been people arguing that enforcing the legal right of wheelchair users to access public transport is in danger of making people with disabilities 'entitled'.

The changes to public transport came to late for my parents. My father was already dead and my mother too disabled to leave the house. Accessible public transport would have made my father's life in particular much more bearable, he really didn't get to leave the house much. Should he have had that right taken away from him because someone refused to fold their buggy or get off the bus?

Dawndonnaagain · 24/12/2013 00:03

Miaow the perceived injustice on your part regarding buggies is distressing for you. That's how my daughter feels every single day. That's why there is utter frustration here. I really think you have confused frustration with abuse. I'm sorry for your situation and I hope you get the help you need.

Trigglesx · 24/12/2013 08:57

Miaow the posters that people are getting frustrated at are those that do the "I have a big buggy, I am there first, and I have just as much a right to the space as a wheelchair user" kind of thing.

As long as the person with the buggy is physically able, there is really no reason they cannot fold up the buggy and move for a wheelchair user. The problem seems to be that many (note I said MANY, not ALL) people with buggies feel entitled to that spot and refuse to cooperate, and the bus drivers refuse to intervene.

When DS1 was a baby, I quite happily folded up the pushchair on the bus. Now that he's 7yo and in a wheelchair, I expect other people with pushchairs that are physically able to do the right thing and fold their pushchairs up and move to another seat. Sadly, many are simply not so inclined. It's a lack of common courtesy and consideration (not to mention a complete and utter disregard for rules). It's very much the whole "rules don't apply to me" attitude.

And those that are whinging that they can't hold the baby and their shopping and fold up the chair simply need to grow up. Practice holding the baby and folding the chair if need be (I did this in my living room before even venturing near the bus as I wanted to make sure I could fold the pushchair one handed). Hand the baby to another passenger for a few minutes (always had a number of people happy to hold DS1 in this instance). Ask for help folding if you need to. And limit how much shopping you are carrying or modify how you are carrying things (sling, backpack, frontpack for baby, whatever). In most instances, it can be done with a bit of effort.

extremepie · 24/12/2013 10:33

I know that wheelchair users have fought long and hard to get the one space they have got but I would really like to see buses that accommodate more than 1 wheelchair - I live in a rural area & there is only 1 bus that goes to my village/ds' school, which runs once an hour.

There is also a fairly large elderly population and there have been so many times where I've tried to get on the bus to pick up Ds from school with ds2 in his SN pushchair & I can't get in the bus because there is a wheelchair user already in the space.

I don't mind at all that they are using it just that fact that there isn't room for more than one and since I don't drive the only way for me to pick Ds up from school if the bus is not an option is to get a taxi which I can't afford to do all the time!

It's gotten to the point wherei hold my breath when the bus rolls up until I can see whether or not I'll be able to get on :(

ParcelFancy · 24/12/2013 14:21

Being trapped in the house is awful, Miaow. Please don't let "looks" stop you going out. (Easier said than done I know.)

This isn't really about wheelchairs, is it? Unless your routine coincides with particular wc users like extremepie's or a hospital route, you're unlikely to meet them often (ever?) and you're welcome to the space the rest of the time.

This is actually about other buggy users wanting the space and resenting your large buggy - which you need as a walking aid for your own disability.

Some local councils and bus companies do (paid for) bus passes for people with mobility problems. It's a lot easier to be brave and to get what you need with an official card to show. And it sounds like your health difficulties have gone on quite long enough to count as a disability under the Equalities Act.

If it helps, I used to describe myself as "partially disabled" or "mildly disabled", when there were significant gaps in my capacity but I didn't feel "properly disabled" (whatever that is!).

RebeccaWatchOutMumsnet · 24/12/2013 15:24

Hi all,

Apologies for our lack of clarity earlier, we are working on a skeleton staff as it's Christmas eve.

For folks who are concerned that we are asking you to do our work for us,, Mumsnet is self-policing in that we ask you to report posts that you feel break our guidelines and we will take a look. On threads like this it can be a judgement call and we do sometimes get it wrong.

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