Is it dangerous to take a pram on the bus?

[Rob1n]

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: Admittedly I did miss the specifics that you were concerned about a baby in a strap-free pram as opposed to a generic buggy. But strap-free prams were the norm a generation ago and few if any babies seemed to have suffered harm from travelling on buses in them. (Because, you know, a generation or two back, a lot more mums of newborns had no access to private cars).

Your baby will be perfectly safe in the pram on the bus unless it rains hammers or something. But if you are still worried, get a buggy with a harness and use that, for one thing it will take up less space on the bus.

And people wonder why MN has the reputation it does... . Pity any poor innocent sod who decides to ask a question on here at the moment.

'Just because lots of people use the bus with their pram everyday it does not justify it being safe.'

So presumably under this logic, taking cocaine, smoking whatever it is they smoke these days (I'm so old now!) and speeding are also safe. Millions of people do these every day and you hardly ever hear about accidents involving these things. In fact, I hear about more bus accidents in London. In fact, the buses speed down my 30mph house lined street every day, that must too, be safe.

It doesn't make it safe because we have to use the bus, it makes safety worth fighting for. Pram and buggy spaces should be supplied in greater quantity on buses, it should be possible to attach your buggy in a similar way to a wheelchair, drivers should help us, prams should all come with straps as part of their design and all buses in cities should be speed limited to 30 (not 40) mph.
I'd say write to your MP but at the moment I think they have a slightly bigger concern, e.g. the likely September election!

surely 30 years ago the buses had steps and weren't low floor, so you couldn't get on them with an old-school pram.

i was on a bus once, a car pulled out in front of us and the driver braked suddenly. i had time to put my hand out to stop dd1 from going flying from her seat next to me (so we obviously didn't slow down that quickly), but dd2's pushchair turned through 90 degrees on its swivelling front wheel (i had locked one, but not the other, the brakes were on of course) and went flying down the bus. DD2 was fine, but it was a bit of a shock, like i said, i don't think buses can stop that suddenly.

my point is - the bus is safe. imo.

TurtleAnn Sun 09-May-10 21:23:54
"'Just because lots of people use the bus with their pram everyday it does not justify it being safe.'

So presumably under this logic, taking cocaine, smoking whatever it is they smoke these days (I'm so old now!) and speeding are also safe. Millions of people do these every day and you hardly ever hear about accidents involving these things. In fact, I hear about more bus accidents in London. In fact, the buses speed down my 30mph house lined street every day, that must too, be safe."

You do hear quite a lot of people dying because they take drugs and of people dying in car crashes due to speeding. In fact, I'd say not a week goes by without those two featuring in the press. Babies dying in bus crashes though- very rare. This is one case where I think statistics are quite useful.

I'd guess that there are many minor injuries that happen on buses, the type that don't get reported like sprains, concussion, bruising etc

I've nearly fallen over on many occasions, only saved by being able to grab at a pole or whatever. If you're trying to deal with a pram and baby (especially folding/unfolding etc) then you don't have the free hands that you need to stop yourself or your child falling. Okay, maybe not life-threatening, but not particularly safe or pleasant.

ABatInBunkFive Sat 08-May-10 17:08:50
" 'Just because lots of people use the bus with their pram everyday it does not justify it being safe.'

Erm, i think you'll find it does. "

Sorry I don't agree. And I think TurtleAnn's post was meant to be directed to your reply: "So presumably under this logic, taking cocaine, smoking whatever it is they smoke these days (I'm so old now!) and speeding are also safe."

jeananddolly Sat 08-May-10 17:34:11
"You have been harshed a bit OP but using the word 'dangerous' about something many mums do everyday and not always out of choice does tend to get people's back up. "

Ok, maybe dangerous was too extreme a word, but I was talking specifically about prams - the carrycot type that you say yourself you weren't happy about using on the bus.

Thanks for your post VeryHungryKatypillar. I am just an inexperienced and concerned mum thinking too much about things! If I thought about all the other things I do everyday with my baby then I might just decide to sit on the sofa and not move!
But I have concluded that it is best for baby to be strapped in when travelling anywhere.

Not everybody is unhappy using the carrycot type on the bus: I see a lot of them around here, and I used one myself. I also notice that you see a lot of them in northern Europe. I think a baby unrestrained in a pram which its mother is holding onto is safer than same baby on the lap of its mother and (given statistics) far safer than if taken on a car journey by same mother.