To think it is polite for people with buggies to fold them when a bus is busy

(269 Posts)
SilverStreak7 Mon 09-Sep-13 09:19:14

I suppose this will have mixed replies .

I am not talking of prams with sleeping babies in or even the buggies with sleeping toddlers in but those parents whom have a buggy with say a 4 year old in who is awake and who will not fold down said buggy when a single decker is getting very packed .

The other day I was on a bus and two buggies were on there , one had one of those boards at the back where an older child can stand (I do not know what they are called as never had one) , Now, the child was asleep but that is not the issue ,, The Mother watched an elderly lady slowly go by as this board was sticking out , then another pram tried to leave the bus and only at the last minute (after much struggling by the leaving Mother) did she push up the board ! Ive also seen people refuse to fold them up as a wheelchair wishes to get on .

JamieandtheMagicTorch Sun 15-Sep-13 12:01:05

... but of course, buses are very frequent

JamieandtheMagicTorch Sun 15-Sep-13 12:00:43

In my part of London, I have never seen a driver drive past a wheelchair user. They make the buggy move, in most cases, or ask the parent to fold it.

twistyfeet Sat 14-Sep-13 16:10:17

If Lothian Buses can make parents fold for wheelchair users then so can other bus companies. This way both the wheelchair user and the parent can get home on the same bus. The bus I finally caught, the woman folded her empty pushchair. If she hadnt I might still be sat there as my bus stop was half way between town and where I live. Saturdays are busy obviously so I could have been waiting all sodding day if it hadnt been for that one lady. 90 minutes is fucking ridiculous to wait for a wheelchair space when they are all occupied by buggies. I got so cold in the wind I am now in a lot of pain.
So looking forward to going back out later. Not.

Trigglesx Sat 14-Sep-13 15:49:56

It IS ridiculous. I really think that wheelchair users need to "reclaim" the wheelchair space and pushchairs need to be folded on entry to the bus, unless there are extenuating circumstances (such as disabled toddler in pushchair, SNs pushchair, or disabled parent pushing the pushchair).

twistyfeet Sat 14-Sep-13 15:45:28

I had the great experience today of watching bus after bus pull up and leave without me with unfolded buggies in the wheelchair space I needed. Not one bus driver (First) would ask the parent to fold. Buses every 20 mins so I waited an hour and a half. It was cold.
I am fucking sick of this. Ban unfolded buggies.

This is why I don't ever get the bus. I have 7mo twins and frankly the idea of folding a buggy (even a small Macalren jobbie) with them on a London bus breaks me out in a cold sweat. I live on tons of bus routes but I just walk miles to avoid it. I know I'm lucky to be fit enough (although the first 10 weeks after my c-section, I really wasn't) but I haven't had more than 3 hours unbroken sleep this year and i am still breastfeeding 20 times a day (2x 10 feeds!) so I really can't be doing with any sort of confrontation, even just being asked to move/fold and then having to deal with the embarrassment/hassle of getting off.

On the up side, I m skinnier than I've been in a decade!

Livingtothefull Thu 12-Sep-13 21:17:46

Thank you Tondelay

Yes a few (not many but enough to cause grief) people are horrible....can't rely purely on people's goodwill for my DS rights to be respected. In too many cases, the goodwill just isn't there.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf Thu 12-Sep-13 21:11:45

flowers to you and our DS living

People are horrible sometimes.

Livingtothefull Thu 12-Sep-13 21:05:40

I travel by bus regularly with my disabled DS and frequently encounter problems caused by the selfishness and bloody mindedness of a minority of people, of the kind described here: drivers refusing to let us board because a buggy is in the wheelchair space and just driving off, people refusing to vacate the space or move buggies and luggage, verbal abuse 'why do you have to go on the bus at this busy time of day?' (er, because that's when his hospital appointment is, to prepare him for yet more surgery).

Every time I get on the bus I am apprehensive and fearful in case I have another battle on my hands. It is not pleasant living with stress like this; it would be nice to just travel without having to worry about this stuff, like 'normal' people do.

I DO believe that things are improving as people become more aware of the issues at stake and the level of ignorance falls. Threads like this one are useful IMO as they help raise awareness; as this thread demonstrates, it is just a minority of people who fail to understand that priority needs to be given to the disabled, to enable them to access public transport at all. Unfortunately this small minority is still large enough in number to make things hellish for the disabled and other vulnerable people.

AdmiralData Thu 12-Sep-13 20:39:00

Candy - Yes, I was refused. The bus driver pulled off whilst my baby was still in my arm (he was 4 months old) and the buggy folded up in the other before I had a chance to sit down. Think anyone gave a fuck? Nopes.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf Wed 11-Sep-13 20:25:26

I never said it wasn't difficult. I said I didn't understand why (AB) people couldn't or wouldnt do it and presented this as a reason to not give priority to wheelchair users.

I am fully aware of how difficult it is to travel on public transport with a buggy - I have never owned a car and travelled daily with a buggy on buses and tubes in rush hour for 3 years. It takes a little resourcefulness, practcie and patience but it can be done. For example shopping in a rucksack rather than carrier bags, carrying a sling, etc.

My mother didn't have a car in the rural area we grew up in and managed to carry / supervise 3 kids and fold an old school Silver Cross pram on the weekly bus trip to Tesco. grin they put it in the boot in them thar days. (The prams not the kids)

JamieandtheMagicTorch Wed 11-Sep-13 16:34:57

I would also have got off, if folding was a faff.

There are posters on London Buses specifically reminding people that wheelchairs take precedence.

Wheelchair campaign

MrsOakenshield Wed 11-Sep-13 16:31:38

TondelayoSchwarzkopf - the thing is - it may well be easy to fold, when it isn't full of a sleeping baby, a load of shopping and crammed into a small space on a crowded bus. So I don't see why anyone should have to fold their buggy. They can, however, get off. Which is what I would do, rather than struggle with folding the buggy. Also, not everyone thinks they are going to be using public transport when buying their buggy, or they may have been given it. And believe me, no-one with a small child in a buggy chooses to travel in the rush hour but sometimes it's unavoidable.

Binkybix Wed 11-Sep-13 16:20:04

I'm one of these pathetic new mums who struggle with folding, and I specifically got one that's easy to fold. I just get very flustered blush

But that's my problem - I'd just get off for a wheelchair user. I'd prob not fold on a busy bus, but avoid rush hour like the plague. I need to get some more confidence to fold.

I can't believe there are people who wouldn't make way for a wheelchair user - using a buggy should make someone more empathetic, because you understand more how restrictive it is (for example on the tube). And generally a wheelchair is for life.

Dawndonnaagain Wed 11-Sep-13 15:18:11

Thank You therealamandaclarke the more people that say it, the more come round to their way of thinking.

Therealamandaclarke Wed 11-Sep-13 15:17:18

I should imagine it's extraordinarily difficult dawndonnaagain
Which is why (as I've said, more than once on this thread) I would always make space for a wheelchair user.

Dawndonnaagain Wed 11-Sep-13 15:12:31

It is quite difficult therealamandaclarke so imagine how difficult it is to get on a bus, with your shopping when you're a wheelchair user.

Therealamandaclarke Wed 11-Sep-13 15:09:55

I think it's quite difficult to fold a buggy on a moving vehicle whilst holding a baby, supervising a toddler and preventing your shopping from spilling over the floor.
When folding a buggy to go into the boot of a car one normally doesn't have to perform these additional tasks in a crowded bus.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf Wed 11-Sep-13 13:28:47

It always baffles me, the number of people who buy buggies they can't fold and take them on public transport

I mean, when you spend £150++++ on a bit of kit don't you think about how you are going to use it? And learn how to? Or is that too much to ask? How do you get it in a car boot? Or on an aeroplane? Or a train? Or is it just on buses that it becomes impossible to fold?

Therealamandaclarke Wed 11-Sep-13 11:09:13

Agree with ghostpirit

Trigglesx Wed 11-Sep-13 10:39:33

hazeyjane So right! But it's sad that it even has to be clarified. You'd think this was all common sense.

ghostspirit Wed 11-Sep-13 09:43:31

i always fold my buggy if someone needs the space more than me. could be a smaller baby, someone with a double buggy wheel chair user. but buggys should defo have to be folded if a wheel chair user needs the space. bus drivers round here don't help people fold their buggys and whilst your holding a baby and bags at the same time as folding a pram with a bus thats moving is very hard. if your lucky that the driver waits till you are ready you then having people tutting huffing and puffing because your holding the bus up.

Here in london children under 16 travel free. and up to age 19 if in education. i don't think that should mean they cant have a seat. but i think anyone weather child or adult should give up their seat if someone needs it more than them. me and my kids give up seats on the bus when needed. when have the choice i let my kids sit down and i stand. 3 of y children also share a 2 seater.

hazeyjane Wed 11-Sep-13 09:31:47

-can i just throw children with sn in ordinary pushchairs - before ds was issued his sn pushchair (you do not get a referral to wheelchair services until 3 in this area), it was a real struggle to get him out and hold him, in order to fold. but inevitably we were expected to because if someone came on with a younger baby in a pram/buggy the driver said that it should be me folding because ds was older - despite being floppy and unable to walk.

I ended up buying a 'disabled child' sticker to hang on the chair.

SilverStreak7 Wed 11-Sep-13 09:26:43

Yes, I hadn't taken into account SN pushchairs in my original post . Of course, in my opinion, they should have the same precedence as wheelchairs .

SilverStreak7 Wed 11-Sep-13 09:23:39

PROUDAS .. I agree there re Children taking seats , ,, , only when bus is busy mind but I always taught my children when on a bus if an elderly person or pregnant lady or disabled person
gets on always offer them the seat .. Sadly, many parents don;t bother to tell their children to stand and let those mentioned sit ..

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