to think buses should have 'child priority' seats....

[ThatBloodyWoman]

fitted with seatbelts?

I find it extraordinary that there are such tight controls when it comes to children travelling in cars,yet a parent is expected to get on a bus,and grapple with sometimes more than one small child,sometimes a baby.....

I have reproduced, dammit! Worship me

Alice I can understand how disablist nonsense wears you out.
I really don't think I am being disablist -but I am sorry you get crap treatment on public transport with your dc.

It seems there's a real movement by some on this parenting site of late,that if anyone dares to be concerned about the safety of their children,or tries to suggest stuff that might improve things for parents,they are being entitled,pfb etc etc.
I don't get all the anti children stuff I read lately.

whippy on your comment on why children should get priority on keeping safe...

Because they're vulnerable.Because as adults and parents it is the right thing for us to protect them.

And I am not asking for priority to be offered to them and not other priority groups,or instead of other priority groups,but as well as.

Yes,issues arise over priority seating of any sort.So do we just give up and make it 'survival of the fittest' ? No,we do not.

If they do come in it should be the back 2 rows. Leave the front seats for people with disabilities and the elderly.

AIBU to think that the bus driver should have laid out a red carpet because I am a mother. I have reproduced, dammit! Worship me

I don't think people are being anti child. I think people are fed up with some parents who have the attitude that their child is the most precious of all the special snowflakes and everyone must change what they do to accommodate them.

OP I didn't say you were disablist. I said that I get tired of the disablist shit on here sometimes. If I thought you specifically were disablist, I would have very clearly said so, trust me.

I'm not anti children either (I have 3 of them, so being anti children would be seriously counter productive for me, eh?). I simply don't think it's a workable suggestion and wouldn't be taken up by the bus companies.

There's a difference between concern for safety, and using 'safety' as some sort of unassailable slogan when trying to grab something shiny for your child.

What is the actual rate of under 16s being injured on buses, and what proportion of those happened to children who were standing? What is the scale of the safety issue here? And do RoSPA campaign for this?

I am a mother. I have reproduced, dammit! Worship me

It's not anti-children. It's acknowledging that most children without a disability are perfectly able to stand on bus journeys and younger ones can sit on a lap.

Seatbelts would be unworkable.

You really haven't thought this through

Mythical that makes sense.
Possibly not the absolute back row since thats teenage territory , but yes,at the back of the bus.

Alice yes,I'm sure you get so peed off with the buggies v whellchairs debate.I totally understand that.I was kind of hoping that a safe seating solution for small children might just alleviate the stand off a bit.Don't know.But I'm certainly thinking of in conjunction with,rather than in place of iyswim.

Pipbin I hope you're not dissing my special snowflakes
Mine are old enough now to be safer on the bus than the babies/toddlers/younger children I am more specifically thinking of.

They do. They're called parents laps.

It would be unworkable and would take the place of the parent and child parking threads on Mumsnet for bunfights and ever more ridiculous hypothetical scenarios.

It wouldn't be in conjunction though. What it would do would make those lovely mums with their tank sized pushchairs carrying their little special snowflakes feel that they are utterly justified to hold their place instead of letting wheelchair users have the space on the bus that they fought so long and hard for. IMO it would make that more of a problem, rather than less.

Children are children up to age 18

So all under 18's get a seat and seatbelt yes??

Or is it preferred just the cutesy under 5's get them?

alice

lepetit

If your 2-year-old fell off your lap onto the floor when the bus braked, that would suggest you weren't holding onto them properly.

One rule now coming in which I think should be implemented for child safety on buses - is that if you get on with a buggy, you stand and hold it for the journey (if it isn't folded and stored) not go take a seat and then rip into the driver for braking sharply or other such crap (as I have seen) while the child and buggy go flying towards the doors/other passengers

People argue over seats as it is! I can't get a seat a lot of the time or people talk about me behind my back.
I have hidden disabilities. I could just imagine all the parents telling me to move out the seats as their kids need it more!
Why can't they sit on laps if they're small enough? By doing this less people have seats on the bus too.

No I think there should be many more elderly priority seats.

Travel on buses all the time with my children since they were tiny. Yes its a faff and some drivers, people have been inconsiderate but never to the point where I think this would be a good idea.

Horrified at the number of elderly people hanging on for their life while ignorant able bodied people simply ignore them.

Much, much more dangerous for many elderly people to fall than a small child.

Also common sense dictates that there is simply not a problem with bus safety for children or we would be reading about it. Coaches are a different matter entirely.

Re hidden disabilities, off topic but I think you should be able to apply for a transport priority card which means you are able to confidently ask people to move and the driver would have to back you up.

Def agree with the idea of a transport priority card

Yabu.

Surely that means tubes & trains should need seatbelts?
How would you police it? Where would these booster seats be stored?
How much more expensive would a season ticket be to accommodate this scheme?
What happens if you incorrectly buckled the seat and child had accident?
How many seats per bus? Different numbers for peak times? Etc

Perhaps we should charge a premium charge for people who want their children to have a 'priority' seat and make an adult get up for them.

What we really need is safety seats adaptable for buses/taxis/trains/airplanes etc that parents can transport - perhaps like the travel systems, for their snowflakes and use if they pay for a seat for them.

Not the transport providing them, but the parents

I'm with TrojanWhore, where is the evidence that children are in danger on buses at the moment?

The bus companies aren't just going to provide these seat belts, booster seats etc for free so guess who has to foot the bill? The passengers, the vast majority of whom will think this is a pointless waste of money. It would be nice if all new buses had lad seatbelt to give everyone (not just kids) the option to use them but there clearly isn't a massive safety issue or the government would legislate like in cars.

Lap seatbelt! Don't know what a lad seatbelt is.