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Parenting

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Original poster

Is it dangerous to take a pram on the bus?

59 replies

Rob1n · 07/05/2010 10:00

As babies are not harnessed into their pram like they would be in a pushchair, is it safe to go on the bus? If the bus is involved in an accident the baby could be thrown about all over the place. Just occurred to me as I thought we might catch the bus somewhere today as i thought it might be easier, not having to move DS from car seat to pram from pram to car seat etc... What is the consensus on this?

OP posts:

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RibenaBerry · 07/05/2010 10:02

Er, yes, theoretically I suppose. Reality is buses are much bigger than anything on the road, so will come off better in a crash and day-to-day no one worries.

First time mum?

Eglu · 07/05/2010 10:06

Does your pram not have a harness. The carrycot part of our pushchair had a harness.

I wouldn't be too worried about it tbh.

omnimandles · 07/05/2010 10:08

lol. Er use the straps and put the brake on. Statistically probably safer in a bus than a car.

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trixymalixy · 07/05/2010 10:17

Our pram had D rings for a harness for such situations.

i preferred to use one anyway as you could quite easily hang shopping on the back and tip pram up and baby would go flying out.

Original poster

Rob1n · 07/05/2010 10:24

yes, first time mum!
Carrycot does not have a harness, what are D rings?
I get that it's not something people generally worry about, but no-one used to worry about wearing seatbelts in the car either.
Isn't it the case that no-one has really assessed the risk and like anything else, no-one pays much attention until the worst happens?

OP posts:

Pootles2010 · 07/05/2010 10:27

I think you'd be ok, for the same reason they don't insist on seatbelts on buses as they do in cars - they're much bigger, so don't get thrown around as a car would. I would imagine the other vehicle involved would bounce off the bus?!

omnimandles · 07/05/2010 10:32

The issue is not so much the bus then as your carrycot - surely baby could get knocked by something other than a bus and go flying - down a particularly precipitous kerb for example.

Buses in urban areas really dont go that fast - its not the same as in a car at all.

You could always use a sling on the bus and sit down?

trixymalixy · 07/05/2010 10:43

Under the mattress set into the base of my carrycot are two D-shaped rings for attaching a harness to.

RibenaBerry · 07/05/2010 11:45

Hhhm, you see I have a Bee, and you strap the baby in from the start. I've always thought that not being strapped in way iffy, but not because of buses (for the reasons above), but for big curbs, up steps into shops, that kind of thing. Far more likely to cause a fall.

GirlWithTheMouseyHair · 07/05/2010 12:10

omnimandles you have never been on the 159 in south london....

SolidGoldBrass · 07/05/2010 12:14

Oh dear. Sorry OP but what a car-dependent first time mum classic. FWIW some of us HAVE NO CARS and therefore have to take babies in buggies on the bus, like, EVERY DAY. They tend to survive it unscathed.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 07/05/2010 12:14

I was always really wary of DD in her pram. In the end I took the mattress bit out and used the harness felt much safer pushing her up and down kerbs etc.

Alicetheinvisible · 07/05/2010 12:19

I'm with Girlwiththemouseyhair, our park and ride buses remind me of the night bus in Harry potter

It is something that i wonder about everytime a buggy/bus thread comes up. What sort of tests have been done on safety of child in buggy/on lap etc. Just wonder....

Trafficcone · 07/05/2010 12:24

Oh dear. Sorry OP but what a car-dependent first time mum classic. FWIW some of us HAVE NO CARS and therefore have to take babies in buggies on the bus, like, EVERY DAY. They tend to survive it unscathed.

This!!! I've heard some great PFB stuff in my time but this is fab. I could have put reins on mine but one of the bonuses of a real pram or a carrycot of any kind is that the baby is comfy and doesn't have to be bound down by strapping all day.

I've heard of countless babies dying in car accidents, even in carseats. Can't remember EVER hearing of a baby being killed in a 30mph crash on a bus!

omnimandles · 07/05/2010 12:27

would you recommend it girlwiththemouseyhair - could I bring my 6 year old ds and make a day of it? - 'no honest its like alton towers'

I use the bus everyday and have had no problems - even with my MT Techno's dodgy brakes we dont move at all.

GetOutOfMoiWayTories · 07/05/2010 12:29

Lol at SGB. Absolutely spot on.

That's why I always laugh at the hand-wringing on mother and baby parking bay threads. Look, everything is easy in a car. Try doing your shopping, carrying it on to a bus, folding a pram and carrying a baby. That's hardship. Not walking an extra 50 yards because all the dedicated parking spaces have been used up by canny selfish others.

cory · 07/05/2010 14:55

As Trafficcone reminds us, it must mean something that babies and children are frequently killed in car crashes, or in pedestrian accidents, but never on city buses.

mumtotwoboys · 07/05/2010 17:43

I took my little baby on the bus today, he can't be strapped into the pram as I'm using his carrycot matress in there, if I had a spare £60 off lying around I could have the proper phil and ted's carrycot I spose but we don't.
I did prefer to take baby out of pram and hold him securely while on the bus.
In reality walking around of the street and going over curbs is liekly to be more dangerous as there's lots of situations where pram could tip over.
With DD1 His pram tipped over once when he was a few months old and he rolled out, I was suitably hysterical, but he was fine.
Babies bounce remember

mumtotwoboys · 07/05/2010 17:48

Instead of blankets use a snowsuit so baby has extra padding, or you could just tape bubble wrap to him..

TurtleAnn · 07/05/2010 18:31

Firstly, I wouldn't worry, the chances of getting on the bus are slim to none. If you find one that stops rather than just driving past the 'lady with the buggy/pram' you are lucky in London.
Secondly, you are correct, it isn't safe. In fact, in Spain, it is deemed so unsafe, it is illegal to leave your child in the buggy/pram during a bus ride and you are required to hold the child on your lap. But then, in Spain, the drivers wait for you to get the buggy/ pram on the bus, ensure there is a safe space for it and wait for you to be seated with the baby before driving off. This is 'safer' according to spanish research/ test dummies.
Good luck, it is usually 3-4 buses that drive past me at the bus stop before 1 stops and asks me if I will fold my buggy and hold my 1-yr old. Needless to say, I only take the bus to the shops and then walk home dragging the shopping with me.

cory · 07/05/2010 18:55

"Secondly, you are correct, it isn't safe. In fact, in Spain, it is deemed so unsafe, it is illegal to leave your child in the buggy/pram during a bus ride and you are required to hold the child on your lap."

In Sweden otoh, buses are full of unstrapped-in babies in their prams; city buses in Gothenburg have room for at least 3 proper sized prams. And no, you never hear of babies being killed on their buses. So I wouldn't take that Spanish research as final. Maybe because babies aren't test dummies. Or because babies, unlike test dummies, have loving parents hanging on to the pram handle.

sarah293 · 07/05/2010 18:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

DilysPrice · 07/05/2010 19:02

The roads are so much more dangerous in Spain than in the UK that frankly I wouldn't want to take my baby out of the house and onto the pavement at all. Seriously, look up the statistics.

Injuries in accidents are caused by rapid deceleration - buses are so much bigger than everything else (and, in central London at least, usually going pretty slowly), that they just don't come to an instant stop like a sports car would.

CiderIUpAndSetIFree · 07/05/2010 19:18

All this really encourages you to leave the house and use public transport doesn't it

BertieBotts · 07/05/2010 19:31

Probably unrestrained in a carrycot is less safe than on your lap.

But strapped into a buggy rear facing to the direction of travel must be safer than being on a lap. And the bigger and bulkier the pushchair the better, I would have thought. I always use my umbrella fold these days for practical reasons but I do wonder about safety.

However as others have said, an accident is so unlikely, and even less likely to be serious, that I don't worry.

How many people do you know who have been in a bus crash? How many people do you know who have been in a car crash?

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