Buggy on escalator

[CassandrasCastle]

is this a huge no no? I did it in John Lewis today because I couldn't be bothered walking all the way to the lifts, and the woman behind me told me to be careful 😬 I told her thanks for the advice, although may have been slightly sarcastic in tone. I've taken the buggy on escalators in the tube etc. as well

Nearly every escalator has signs saying don't.
So why would you?

If you had an accident then the company's insurers won't pay out.

It's pure laziness and rather stupid.

I have taken a buggy on an escalator but never with a child inside. I used to take DD out in the sling and take the buggy on the tube (no lifts).

It's a bit Darwin award, tbh. It is advised against for a good reason, there are signs usually.

We take the tube a lot, where there usually isn’t any choice except to use the escalators, so I don’t believe that a shop escalator is really any different and I use them all the time. the difference between the tube and a shop escalator is that the escalators at the tube stations have a long run on/off area so there is plenty of time to get the buggy stabilised if need be. Although the signs saying no buggies are there and if there are staff you would likely be stopped and challenged.

In a shop you run straight on and off the escalator.

Not a buggy but I have a guide dog who is escalator trained and in general only the London dogs are, and it’s only advisable to take them on the underground because of A, the run-on/off area and b, because the escalators on the tube are inspected twice daily.

And while they are becoming more relaxed now about taking guide dogs on shop escalators it wouldn’t occur to me to do so for the dog’s own safety, even though he loves going on all escalators and has to be encouraged past them in shops.

This should be about the safety of the baby not the convenience of the parent.

If you mean an actually escalator, I don't really even see how you'd manage it, but still none of her business.

But if you mean the trolley escalators then yeah that's fine, they say no buggies but obv I always use them and so does every one else.

On the tube you sometimes don’t really have a choice (I always took a baby carrier if I had a tube trip to avoid this!). There’s a knack to it and it’s quite easy to do it wrong and risk tipping the buggy over. If there’s an alternative way to get where you are going it really is better to avoid it.

I think if you live in London and take the tube, you get used to carting a buggy around on an escalator and then it seems strange that every other non-tube escalator seems to ban them.

Done it once, found it awkward and unsafe, won't do it again.

Having been just about to step on an escalator going up when an elderly gentleman fell backwards there's no way I'd take a buggy on. Same going down. You just don't know if someone has a tight hold.

@AlternativePerspective I don't think buggies are banned on escalators on the tube are they? TFL just say that you should 'take extra care'.

As for the tube in London. I used the steps and I didn't have a buggy. Just no. Scary fuckers those things

You don't take buggies up escalators!

I've never seen anyone with a buggy by the stairs even have to ask - someone will always walk past and grab the other end of buggy and help you carry it up/down. I mean, we won't talk to you in London and have a conversation, but we'll silently help parents shlep their buggies up and down safely.

Tube escalators are very different to department store ones - they are designed with a much longer flat section each end so you get a second or two to get yourself in position. So they aren’t comparable.

I have taken a buggy on tube escalators by myself more times than I can count but wouldn’t in a shop unless really no alternative.

@theworldsastage

You don't take buggies up escalators!

I've never seen anyone with a buggy by the stairs even have to ask - someone will always walk past and grab the other end of buggy and help you carry it up/down. I mean, we won't talk to you in London and have a conversation, but we'll silently help parents shlep their buggies up and down safely.

Personally, I absolutely hate doing this. I feel very unsafe walking up or down stairs holding onto the buggy even with someone else holding the other end. I would always choose an escalator over walking up stairs with a buggy.

SW1amp I have seen a buggy basically do a face plant with the child onto the metal steps from about half way down an escalator in a department store.
The mother had rolled the buggy on first and balanced it on the back wheels, and lost her grip.
The time it took to reach the floor and be pulled up was horrendous for the mother who could do nothing except scream for help from people who were waiting to go up on the other side.
There was no sound from the buggy until it was righted because the baby got such a fright.
The buggy was a 'posh' one rather than a stroller so the frame appeared to held the baby off the step. But I have no idea if the baby bit any of the steps as shop staff took them both off the shop floor to wait for an ambulance.

Aaaah:( auto correct

the baby bit hit any of

But we’re not talking about a handful of steps at tube stations! Get out of the tube at Highbury and Islington say, you have a couple of steps, but then there are escalators only! You wouldn’t get someone to help you up the emergency stairs (not even sure if you’re allowed up them anyway!). Most stations are so far underground you’d have to do 100 steps to get up and down there, especially the older lines. I have no idea how people in a wheelchair get about.

Just google buggy accident on escalator.

None of those parents thought it would be an issue either!

I was immediately behind one that got wedged sideways half way down an escalator. Result was I ended up going over it and falling down the rest of the escalator with injuries from the fall and from my hair getting caught up and ripped out. It took months to recover. Please fold your buggy and carry your child. Or find a lift if there is one.

I've done buggies on escalators on the tube before. Would prefer not to but it's quite common for lifts to be out of order and the staff to be completely hopeless when you contact them asking how the hell you're meant to get out. I took a lightweight one (it's quite difficult to hold onto a heavy buggy and hold the hand rail) and hooked the bag strap on the frame round my wrist so I couldn't lose my grip. The tube in London is hopelessly inaccessible for wheelchairs and buggies.

There's at least one YouTube video of a parent with a buggy on an escalator with disastrous consequences. I won't link it because it's pretty brutal but you can easily find it if you look.

I used the tube escalators with my Yo-yo buggy if there wasn't another option. I once asked one of the station staff on the Victoria line if there was an alternative way of getting down to the platform, and he said no, and that most people were fine using their buggies on the escalators. I was certainly never challenged by any staff for doing it.

The knack was lining up the front wheels against a soon to be rising step on the way up, and doing the same with the back wheels on the way down. So there was always something to brace against.

I have done in the past. It has always been ok thankfully but I do feel uneasy doing it. Like if I suddenly lost control for some reason or other..

But we are in those human error situations all the time. I still get in my car and drive my kids around even though I know there's a chance of a terrible accident.

Would always use a lift if there is one. Or one parent holds baby and the other one holds the pram, if that's an option.

I saw a child with horrendous head injuries and a mother with cuts all up one said at Angel tube station 5 years ago. I was going up and the other one and the buggy fell from the top all the way down. No one could catch it and no one was in front of it. The woman’s scream whilst she tried to get down is seared into my mind. I have no idea what the outcome was, except seeing blood everywhere. If you know that tube station you know how tall that escalator is.
Never will I take a buggy on one, and I’m very vocal with friends and family about it too.

I use a rollator for distance and always use lifts.
There are usually signs warning not to use escalators.

The only exception is a moving walkway which is doable.