Another buggy in wheelchair space thread

[MsAR]

I got on the bus at the same time as a wheelchair user was queuing to do so. The driver told the wheelchair user there wasn't room, so I quickly checked and saw it was a buggy and a shopping trolley in the space.

The driver told the wheelchair user there would be another bus in a few minutes and they didn't seem to mind and weren't particularly insistent about getting on.

Was I being unreasonable to step in at this point and tell the driver that the person with the buggy should get off as wheelchairs have priority? He was pretty annoyed when I did, and kept repeating that there wasn't space.

I'm in London, and there are clear signs on every bus stating this is the case. I've often had to get off a bus when a wheelchair needed to get on and would never question if asked to do so.

Would it also be unreasonable for me to complain to TFL? I know I'm being a busy body but the driver's attitude really irritated me! I'd like the mumsnet jury to help me decide what to do, if anything.

I do think there ought to be a ring and reserve option for wheelchair users, a bit like trains. With phones and modern technology surely that would help? So the driver can say yes you can bring your buggy on but in three stops time I am expecting a wheelchair so you can only have the space until then? Might save confusion and foster a sense of it's only being lent to you until needed.

You need to choose a foldable buggy if you're going to be going on public transport with it. They do exist. It's a choice you can make.

It is also not necessary to have all these carry cots and attachments that make it apparently so impossible.

mine was a travel system. I just reclined the buggy part and dd was fine in that. was heavier than a maclaren.but collapsible.

as soon as dd was big enough I got the umbrella fold. not only is a smaller buggy great fir wedging in tiny gaps reducing potential need to collapse. it's also easy to fold with one hand.

by all means have your tank. but at least go on ebay or free cycle fir a suitable buggy fir when you use the bus.

I can't speak for all houses Giles but mine has many safe places I can put my baby while I sort out the pram.
Why would you need to collapse your buggy at the pool or park? I do both with DD and there's been no need.

I'd have cheerfully got off the bus with my pram to accommodate a wheelchair user, but it is unacceptable to have to do so without being given a forward ticket if you've already paid your fare. Imagine having to go 6 miles and being expected to get off two stops later - fine, but not if you have to pay again.

Headofthehive55 - that is a really good idea.

I'd have cheerfully got off the bus with my pram to accommodate a wheelchair user, but it is unacceptable to have to do so without being given a forward ticket if you've already paid your fare

Raise that with the bus company. But you still have to vacate the space.

Totally agree with giving wheelchair users priority. It's the law as well as being morally the right thing to do.

I do wish people would stop saying 'just' fold your buggy though. There's no 'just' about it if you've got a newborn in a pram and are faced with the choice of a dirty bus floor or a sea of blank, impatient faces belonging to people who definitely aren't volunteering to hold your baby...

It's harder being in a wheelchair, no question. But it's not easy juggling babies/toddlers/shopping/angry stares. We bought a second car because using the bus was simply unmanageable if you ever wanted to be anywhere vaguely on time.

Mums with prams can't always fold them and shouldn't have to if the baby is sleeping

So not waking up your baby means that someone without the use of their legs has to wait for the next bus? Nice.

Mums with prams can't always fold them and shouldn't have to if the baby is sleeping

True..they have the choice to get off

Fanjo, raising it with the bus company wouldn't help if you were 5 1/2 miles from home with not enough money for another ticket, similar to a PP's situation upthread.

The driver should be reported. It reminds me of an incident that happened on a bus once, a wheelchair wanted to get on and there was a buggy on already, the driver did not even ask the parent to fold so I muttered to my friend that I would report the driver. Another passenger told me I was wrong, it was a buggy space. My friend told her that it was a wheelchair space, he worked for a well known disability charity and that she should not butt into other people's conversations.

I do wish people would stop saying 'just' fold your buggy though. There's no 'just' about it if you've got a newborn in a pram and are faced with the choice of a dirty bus floor or a sea of blank, impatient faces belonging to people who definitely aren't volunteering to hold your baby

grumpy people will always be grumpy people. let them give you dirty looks.

doesn't anyone. practice folding the buggy on the shop or at home anymore?

there really isn't any need for it to take so long.

I always took a back pack fir the shopping.

too many bags hanging off handles is dangerous anyway amd blocks the gangway which isn't allowed so may well mean you have to collapse anyway even if without them. you fit in the space.

do you all just wait at bus stops fir hours until one that you can get on? at busy times buses are full anyway so chances are pretty slim even if there is no wheelchair user on the bus.

or you could just collapse at the bus stop. if there's a big queue you already know that you may well not get on.

If you were able to state at the point of contract ( when buying the bus ticket) that there was only space for three stops unless you folded your buggy then you have the choice of not paying and waiting.

Unfortunately I think the bus companies allow buggies on board without question as why turn down business in case a wheelchair user might need the space. To them a fare in the hand us worth a potential fare in the bush...

All buses have radios ( I think) it would be simple to organise. Well easier than putting men into space. How lovely it would be for wheelchair users to know there is a space waiting for them?

IT would be something very positive for mumsneters to get behind rather than arguing about folding buggies...

then how the hell do you even manage to leave the house

I get buses during the week as my DH has the car. I have never folded my buggy on a bus or been asked to. Occasionally I've had to wait for another bus if the space is already taken. When getting the bus to drop DS at nursery I have to be on time, as I get another bus to work straight afterwards. The buggy-basket is loaded up with his nursery things, my work bags etc. Folding it really isn't an option. Nor is asking a stranger to hold him while I unload the basket and fold. He's a big, wriggly inquisitive 10-month-old who tries to yank people's hair/pull their glasses/noses/jewellery or climb over their shoulder. When teething he also tries to bite people's fingers and faces. So no, I don't want a stranger holding him on a moving bus! I want to keep him safely strapped into his buggy. And I have as much right to use public transport as the next person. I do use a baby carrier sometimes but I have back problems so can only go short distances with it and only when the pain isn't too bad.

When I have the car he goes into his car-seat while I fold/unfold buggy.
At the pool he sits in his buggy while I get changed. On trains we use the carriage with space for prams/wheelchairs/bikes.

Giles I always knew how to fold my pram... but didn't know how to fold it whilst also holding a baby - because it's physically impossible! Do you put your baby on a bus floor to do this?? Or are you blessed with more than the usual quota of arms?

Again, not saying for a moment that buggies should take precedence, just that for us, the difficulties of using a bus with small children made it worth buying a second car. I'm not making the difficulties up for fun...

SunRoute, you have as much right to use public transport as the next person. However, you do not have as much right to use wheelchair spaces as wheelchair users.

Totally agree augusta.

You don't need to buy any particular kind of buggy is you don't want, you just need to know that the space is a wheelchair space and you get off if a wheelchair user needs it. In the 3 years I regularly travelled on London buses with a buggy I never encountered a wheelchair user needing the space. I often couldn't get on a bus because the space was occupied by two or three buggies (not collapsed) but no bother to me, I just waited for the next bus. In fact, I never saw anyone collapse their buggy.

I think it's worth noting that some people will never expect to use public transport and might be caught out (car breaking down or whatever). There was a couple on the bus once with a massive Silver Cross (not a carriage but a very big pram). My first thought was what a daft buggy to have on a bus, my second was I bet they don't normally use buses and have been caught out. So I helped them jiggle it into the space next to mine. Even then we got both in without having to collapse either.

I just handed baby to the bus driver or a random.passnger. either on the bus or at the bus stop.

I got hundreds of buses a month I had no choice. I ignored the glares, they'd still glare at other peope anyway even though the sheer number of people on the bus meant you had to fight your way through to get to the door.

and I just paid or forward when I could. I'd carry shopping on for others or hold their kids or their kids hand. or send dd1 to hold the kids hand while I helped carry the buggy on or off the bus.

mot all of us are unhelpful I've spent many a journey sat next to someone's kid or witg a pile of someone else's shopping on my lap.

It makes me sad to read that anyone thinks a baby buggy should take priority space over a wheelchair.

Incidentally I just read this thread on my way to work on the bus - I'm in London. A new bus company took over my route a couple of months ago. On the previous buses there was a wheelchair space with a notice that buggies could use it but that wheelchairs took priority. On the new buses it says it is a wheelchair space and the space is clearly marked with a sign and the floor space is in a different colour. There is no mention of buggies.

Fanjo, raising it with the bus company wouldn't help if you were 5 1/2 miles from home with not enough money for another ticket, similar to a PP's situation upthread.

that happens regularly to people who use wheelchairs who can't get on due to buggies being in the space.

raise it with bus company so it doesn't happen. doesn't mean you shouldn't fold though.

i couldnt fold when DD was small, for several reasons. I got off.