To think it's common sense to let a w/c user have the w/c spot

[SparkyStar84]

I've just seen the ruling on disabled people getting priority in disabled spots on buses. Isn't that common sense. What kind of person would deny a w/c user the space because 'pushchair'?
I'm a w/c user it makes it easier in a way to get about with children, though I know some w/c users still have a buggy.
This is about the parents who refuse to move, when asked, by someone who might have an appt or something important to get too. Not saying the parent doesn't. But isn't that the point of foldable buggies over great big travel systems?
It just bugs me that people have had to leave the bus because a parent wouldn't move. As a parent with kids of many ages, also remembering times gone by, the purpose of easy foldable buggies is that you can decamp when on the bus.
Do you think it's an issue that buses need to provide buggy spaces too?

fizz no worries

momma I see all your points and hope the legislation just gets more robust.

As ever agree dawn

tiggy spot on post

Carrying a multitude of babies o e-handed on a bus whilst folding a buggy and handing out said babies to strangers does not make anyone a better person than anyone else.

No, but refusing to make the space available for a wheelchair user because you will not fold your buggy does make you a worse one.

tiggytape Perfect summary!

what about the people the use the buggy space for cases or shopping nobody gets them to move to let a buggy on

Which buggy space?

I've never seen a buggy space, can someone enlighten me?

what about the people the use the buggy space for cases or shopping nobody gets them to move to let a buggy on Do you mean the designated wheelchair space?

I wondered if they might mean the luggage rack?

Never seen a buggy space!

Cases buggies bikes and people should not be in s designated wheel chair space.

How hard is that to understand

Our buses have buggy spaces. At the front of the bus, an area with lift up seats with a buggy painted on the floor. People can and do stand there or use them for luggage though and while it would be nice if they moved out of the way for buggies, they're not legally obliged to.

Very much like P&C parking spaces vs disabled bays really...one is a useful thing to have to make getting around with a baby a bit easier, the other is a vital (and legally protected) facility for a person with a disability.

I think bus companies need to change the wording on wheelchair spaces. Ours says something like "this space is for wheelchair users but you are welcome to use it for buggies at other times" I think it should go further and say something along the lines of "this space is for wheelchair users and MUST be vacated when required"

Yes some buses around here have a wheelchair space with a buggy space straight across from it.

Our bus company has a designated wheelchair space, and a space for buggies, cases and shopping trolleys.
The 4 front seats are reserved for people with reduced mobility, the disabled, elderly and pregnant.
And the drivers enforce it.

Some of our buses have buggy zones service. They're opposite the w/c space and say 'please give up this area to passengers with buggies' or something like that. Then there's the w/c space opposite and the 'priority seating' just behind that. Other buses don't have a specific buggy zone but only have single seats, very spaced out on one side with a sign saying buggies or passenger with luggage can go there.

We have them too, but yes as DJ says it is not a 'buggy space', it is a buggy/animals/shopping/pregnant/elderly/reduced mobility/other health need space.

Nicky that's good. I am all for helping parents elderly etc as much as possible although I do think making public transport accessible to wheel chair users should be enshrined and protected by law.

Locally here a taxi driver refused to take a blind man with a dog. He was sanctioned by the taxi company but really he should be prosecuted.

Another excellent post tiggy

On my local bus there IS a pushchair space with a sign stating so. There are no seats - it is literally just a space so not much use to anyone without a pushchair (unless the bus is full and it is used to stand in). You can fit two small pushchairs in there although only one of the large pushchairs some people use.

I think this design is the best as it allows parents an area which doesn't impact on anyone else. If a parent with a pushchair wants to board when there is no space in the pushchair space then they should only be allowed on if willing to fold. Bus drivers should be clear that that will be the only way they can get on. That would keep the wheelchair space free and stop any arguments if a wheelchair user does get on.

As a disabled person albeit not wheelchair user this thread makes me very sad.

Thank god I have a car.

A wheelchair user cannot be carried in a sling or fold up their chair, options a non disabled parent can do.

Im disgusted that first choice even appealed against it.

The ruling doesn't go far enough. There should be fines imposed on the bus companies and those who refuse to move. They'd do so quick enough then.

The space isn't just for w/c users.

Yes it is. If they need it. That's rather the point, isn't it?

Buggy spaces as well as w/c spaces? If you like, provided it's clear that if the bus is full the buggy must be folded, however inconvenient that is for the buggyist and indeed the baby. Just like you can put a bag on the seat next to you but must move it if the bum fills up and it's needed for anotehr passenger to sit on.

The problem is that in every walk of life, there will be people who take great pleasure from flouting rules and creating drama. This has nothing to do with being a mother. The fact that these people are mothers is a secondary issue. They are people who like to break rules