Prams on buses

zaksmum

Just got off a bus which was about half full. A young girl aged about 17 got on with a pram, and the seat at the front of the bus with the wheelchair and pram logo was occupied by an elderly lady with a walking stick.

The girl with the pram stood in front of the old lady and said, "I need to get the pram in there." The old lady said she couldn't move to the back of the bus, then the driver called out "that seat's for prams, you will HAVE to move!"

Poor old dear struggled to her feet and with huge difficulty managed to get to a seat someone else vacated for her. The girl shoved her pram in the seat without even a thank you.

I would have died of shame if I'd expected an old lady to vacate her seat for me when my kids were in prams. I had to either walk or use a fold down buggy. And I think the bus driver was out of order too - doesn't an elderly or disabled person have as much right as someone with a pram to take that seat?

fluffnutter

Depressing isn't it? The old lady didn't choose to be immobile with a stick but that young girl chose to have a kid. I'm all for making allowances for everyone who needs a bit more extra help but personally I feel the rise of the 'Muffia' means that people with prams/pushchairs etc. now seem to have, let's say, a little more than they need or deserve.

It's a choice to have kids. Don't act like you're the most important person in the world just because you've squeezed a kid out of your fanny - most women do at some point.

One thing that interests me - those bits on buses are for wheelchair users or prams aren't they? What would have happened had there been someone there in a wheelchair?

Helix

I don't get the current trend for prams built like 4x4s either, where do these mothers go that they require a pram thats built like a tank. They often don't fit in the bit for prams and wheelchairs and stick out causing a hazard if people need to get off the bus quickly in an emergency. I think they should mark lines on the floor at the front and if the pram sticks over the line they can't stay on the bus, then maybe these mothers will learn to get prams that are a more practical size.

lauraaurora

zaksmum wrote: »

Just got off a bus which was about half full. A young girl aged about 17 got on with a pram, and the seat at the front of the bus with the wheelchair and pram logo was occupied by an elderly lady with a walking stick...

And I think the bus driver was out of order too - doesn't an elderly or disabled person have as much right as someone with a pram to take that seat?

Not an elderly person, no. You stated the logo showed a wheelchair and a pram. The elderly lady had neither. The girl had a pram.

And I'm sorry to say it's people with your attitude who make me very nervous of getting a bus now I have a very young baby and a pram. I've seen how awkward it can be getting a pram on a bus, and the fact that other passengers can have such a negative view of prams just make it an experience I will probably never do.

I understand your point about the elderly lady, but the few occasions I have been on a bus, the passengers always have to do what the driver tells them. Especially with a pram otherwise they get evicted from the bus. So the girl probably had experience of that and knew her pram had to go in the pram slot. And no, she shouldn't have to walk. I'm sure it wasn't too much effort for the elderly lady to move as surely she had to walk to get on/ off the bus/ to her destination etc.

custardy

fluffnutter wrote: »

Depressing isn't it? The old lady didn't choose to be immobile with a stick but that young girl chose to have a kid. I'm all for making allowances for everyone who needs a bit more extra help but personally I feel the rise of the 'Muffia' means that people with prams/pushchairs etc. now seem to have, let's say, a little more than they need or deserve.

It's a choice to have kids. Don't act like you're the most important person in the world just because you've squeezed a kid out of your fanny - most women do at some point.

One thing that interests me - those bits on buses are for wheelchair users or prams aren't they? What would have happened had there been someone there in a wheelchair?

In Edinburgh a wheelchair trumps pram (some double deckers have a pram space and a wheelchair space)
there are also seats at the front with signs for the elderly
you can sit there but i is suggested you give them up for old/infirm
everyone pays a ticket and the bus companies dictate what seats/set up they use

lauraaurora

lauraandclive wrote: »

And I'm sorry to say it's people with your attitude who make me very nervous of getting a bus now I have a very young baby and a pram. I've seen how awkward it can be getting a pram on a bus, and the fact that other passengers can have such a negative view of prams just make it an experience I will probably never do.

And posts number 2 and 3 prove my point. It can be quite nerve-wracking having a child for the first time, getting out and about. Perhaps you can think about that next time you're sneering at someone with a pram?

Helix

lauraandclive wrote: »

And posts number 2 and 3 prove my point. It can be quite nerve-wracking having a child for the first time, getting out and about. Perhaps you can think about that next time you're sneering at someone with a pram?

So its fine for you to cause a hazard by having a pram that is too large? Luckily some bus drivers do refuse prams that are too big, but others seem to allow it and one old lady tripped over whilst trying to leave the bus because of a pram sticking out.

I don't have a problem with prams but buy ones that are a sensible size not built like a tank.

PinkLipgloss

I would like to point out that if a baby is in a "pram" than they are obviously less than 4 months old and it would not be safe, or indeed possible, for the parent/carer to fold it up and sit down with the child.

Even in the case of buggies it would not, in most cases, be safe to have the child walking on the bus (young children do not have a good centre of gravity and struggle to walk or sit on a moving bus and the parent/carer can be of limited help if they are struggling with a folded up buggy).

Reading this thread has made me thankful that I live in Madrid were all buses have a large separated area for a pram/buggy AND a wheelchair (space for both!).

Furthermore, I travel with my pram almost daily and have never had to ask someone to move (there are spaces at the front of the bus for elderly/pregnant/disabled).

kajstring24

lauraandclive wrote: »

And posts number 2 and 3 prove my point. It can be quite nerve-wracking having a child for the first time, getting out and about. Perhaps you can think about that next time you're sneering at someone with a pram?

I don't think the OP is really 'sneering', just making a point of the girl's attitude. She could have asked politely and a thank you wouldn't have hurt.

I get sick in general of people who think that because of their circumstances (age/babies etc.) they have special rights over other people. I've been threatened by a mother before because my bag hit the side of her daughter's buggy. I didn't go anywhere near her daughter, but I did have to negotiate carefully around the buggy because it was encroaching on the gangway. The mother actually said "if you go near her again I'll kill you", I just told her not to threaten me and carried on. When she got off she had a go at the bus driver for parking too far away from the kerb. I get that it might have been a struggle for her, but there's really no need for an attitude like that.

It isn't just mothers of course, I've had people on mobility scooters bump into me in supermarkets, and then tutted at for daring to be in their way. Bloody annoying.

PinkLipgloss

zaksmum wrote: »

I would have died of shame if I'd expected an old lady to vacate her seat for me when my kids were in prams. I had to either walk or use a fold down buggy. And I think the bus driver was out of order too - doesn't an elderly or disabled person have as much right as someone with a pram to take that seat?

I agree that the mother in question was rude - there is no question of that.

However, the OP seems to take issue with the mother demanding the pram area - suggesting (see quote above) that she should have walked or used a fold down buggy which I completely disagree with.

MamaMoo_2

Thankfully, where I live there are buses with space for between 2 and 4 prams (or 1-3 prams and a wheelchair)
They also have between 4 & 6 extra legroom seats for the elderly/infirm.
What p*sses me off is getting on a bus and finding elderly people sitting in the fold down pram/wheelchair area (and clinging on for dear life) because young people are sat in the extra legroom seats at the front, and won't move.
If I get on a bus and the pram seats are full, I will politely ask the person to move. If it's an elderly person, I will also usually ask someone sat in the extra legroom bit who shouldn't be there to move, so the older person doesn't have to go and sit halfway down the bus!
I was on the bus (minus the pram) the other day, and sat in the extra space bit (due to being 37w pregnant) the other seats for the elderly were occupied by healthy looking middle aged people.
An elderly lady got on, and I moved so she could sit down. Not one other person in those seats batted an eyelid.
A pram got on a few stops after, and there were a group of women sat at the front who were refusing to move as they were "here first" (despite there being plenty of seats both upstairs and down) eventually, the poor girl went to get off at the next stop, but the bus driver got out, and told them to move or get off the bus, and he wasn't driving anywhere until they did one or the other.
Cue a round of applause for the bus driver, and the moody looking women moving their fat ar*es upstairs!