Bus wheelchair/pram one- WIBU

[user29863]

All the buses here have both a designated wheelchair space AND a separate pram space. The latter has fold down seats in it for when it's not being used by a pram, the former does not. None of the buses have any space to put a folded up pram at all, and baby is very tiny and too small to sit on a seat alone whilst I fold it. Buses every 20 minutes or so.

So, the situation: I got on the bus first with my pram. Someone was sat in the seats in the pram space so I put my pram in the wheelchair space. At the next stop, someone got on in a wheelchair, so I moved my pram to the pram space. Then someone got on with a large walking frame with a seat on. They said they needed the pram space so I got off. DP thinks I should have stayed on as I was on first. This happened again later in the week except the person to get on the second time was another wheelchair user. Again, I got off.

Before anyone says I need a smaller pram, I usually drive/walk everywhere but my car unexpectedly broke down and has been in the garage this week. It has been too hot to use a baby carrier too.

WIBU or would you have done the same?

I think you did the right thing. Too many buggy/pram users on buses think the wheelchair spaces are primarily for them,and that they very kindly let wheelchair users use them,when it's actually the other way round.

I would move for the wheelchair but wouldn't move from buggy space, unless I was one stop from home or something. The driver shouldn't let people on if no space.

I think you've been a very decent member of society.

Most wouldn't have done what you did, but it was the right thing to do.

Wheelchairs trump prams.

You are a lovely person.

I hadn't given up the pram space.

I used a baby carrier and a very small foldable travel pram. It really saved my life on public transport.

I'm not actually sure if the rules about wheelchairs also apply to walking frames but it sounds like you did the decent thing. I wish busses would stop talking crap about folding down buggies when it's obvious to any idiot most of them don't have any sort of storage space.

You did the right thing. You're a good person and there aren't many.

It’s a tricky one but I think the person already on the bus in that situation shouldn’t have to get off (unless it’s not far from your destination anyway) as you could be stranded there for a long time, whereas the person getting on is either near their home or other place where they are starting their journey - a safe space to wait etc

thank you.

You definitely did the right thing.

Didn't that woman with the large walking frame get on your bus the other week because I'm sure I've read this before ?

Even if technically you don't have to give priority to the wheelchair when you're in the pram space, I think it's clearly the right time to do. Wheelchair users are generally vulnerable and limited in their options in a way that pram users aren't and our society is absolutely shit at accommodating them. Be part of helping to make it a little less shit.

Not unless it was around 2017, which I think is the last time I got a bus with a pram in tow prior to this week!

OP anybody on the bus shouldn't have to get off. What if any of the next ones also didn't have space?
However you could've used a baby carrier - for the short amount of time it would take to fold up the pram, and sit on the bus.

As a woman alone with a baby I wouldn't be getting off at a bus stop in a strange place.

As a disabled person who has faced this problem, I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to you for doing the right thing OP. All too often people think of themselves and their own convenience, rather than how a disabled person is going to manage. What they don't seem to realise is that if THEY get off the bus, THEY can always walk if needs be, but a disabled person in a wheelchair can't, and I'm sure, would be only to happy to walk if only they were able, I know I would!

Sorry, this sounds like I was fishing for 'you're a good person' comments when I wasn't! DP just thinks I'm a pushover for trying to be kind.

Thanks all!

Hmm if it was me and I was in the "pram" space, then no I wouldn't have gotten off for a walking frame or a wheelchair user. Obviously I would if it was actually a wheelchair space I was in. I know everyone is going to say I'm awful but who's got the money to keep paying for more bus journeys? I think TFL let you switch buses on the same fair within a certain time period so I might in London but elsewhere? No. Sorry.
Wheelchair user who's waiting hasn't paid yet, I have.

Also.... Imagine this - you get off. Get on at the next bus - then the same thing happens!
Everyone's giving you kudos for getting off and in this case it was fine. But if people were made to get off on principle, it's obvious that things can become ridiculous very quickly.

To be fair the bus does a route through a lot of suburbs and nowhere is remotely dangerous or isolated, although it is bloody hilly! I wasn't in any sort of danger at any point from getting off.

@user29863 you have restored my faith in people. Thank you for allowing the disabled people to travel on the bus. People like you are very rare, unfortunately.

You did the right thing

Good for you OP
However I agree with PP and get a sling if traveling on public transport with a very small baby.

I don't think anyone who is already on the bus should get off. The bus driver shouldn't let people on the bus when there isn't space - that's their responsibility, and it's a safety issue because it relies on forcing someone else off the bus. I would however let someone in a wheelchair on the bus instead of me if there was only a wheelchair space available and I had a pram, even if I'd been waiting for the bus longer.

Yes you needed to move for the person in the first wheelchair.

The person in the walking frame, why couldn't she use the priority seat and put her frame in front? It was kind of you to do it but I don't think you'd have been wrong not to iyswim. If the bus was full to capacity, no one would demand regular Joe get off because someone at the bus stop wanted his seat. It could have been a sudden downpour and you'd got no rain cover. You could have been rushing to a hospital appointment or to pick up a child.

The person in the second wheelchair, I'm surprised the bus driver allowed that as the buggy spaces aren't as wide (due to the seats) and there's no backing cushion etc.

You did the right thing OP, you put others before yourself which makes you a very decent person, not a mug.