Prams on buses

PinkLipgloss

Agreed Jayne. I have been trying in vain to explain this point. However, it seems several posters are of the opinion that:

- prams should not be on buses at all (all mothers with new borns should only venture out in their immediate vicinity and not travel on buses until their child can walk and the mothers can use fold down type buggies and fold them down with one hand or somehow struggle with baby - *safety concerns anyone?*)

- if someone is using the pram area mums with babies should either wait for the next bus OR fold their buggy down to use (again - safety concerns)


One can't help but wonder why bus companies bothered designing these spaces on a bus at all?

*sigh*

Nicki

katerinasol wrote: »

When I have kids, I'm going to either walk or drive with a pram/buggy. They have wheels for a reason and shedding the post-pregnancy weight certainly won't hurt!

Good for you. If you have a c section though you won't be able to drive for up to 6 weeks, and you will need to go back to the hospital for a post natal check first. Hope your hospital is within walking distance then, as if you don't take your pushchair on the bus with you, you'll have nowhere to put your baby while you are being examined, and you are unlikely to be able to manage to carry your baby and fold your new pushchair on the bus with a raw scar.

PinkLipgloss

Nicki wrote: »

Good for you. If you have a c section though you won't be able to drive for up to 6 weeks, and you will need to go back to the hospital for a post natal check first. Hope your hospital is within walking distance then, as if you don't take your pushchair on the bus with you, you'll have nowhere to put your baby while you are being examined, and you are unlikely to be able to manage to carry your baby and fold your new pushchair on the bus with a raw scar.

Indeed!

And if you happen to live somewhere without facilities within walking distance such as a supermarket - tough!

Suck it up as its not enough for people to have 50 odd seats to choose from - they simply have to use the pram/wheelchair area.

New mothers are just so selfish expecting to be able to use an area designated for prams/wheelchair users. Especially those young mums who are very able bodied. (Although one has to question why this is an issue at all given that surely the issue is the lack of mobility the BABY has - not the mother).

I blame the babies. They should be more respectful of their elders, step out of their prams/pushchairs and make their way to a seated area of the bus.

Sheesh!

mumps

Nicki wrote: »

Whilst the wheelchair logo is sometimes used to mean as a generic symbol for disability, I still think you have misunderstood the status of this space, and the fact that the bus driver, who saw both the mum with the pushchair and the lady with the stick standing before him, and said emphatically that the space was for the lady with the pushchair supports that. In any case, it can't possibly be a generic symbol for disability on a bus or parking space, as no one suggests that the deaf for example can use these slots, and those with serious illnesses cannot.

My MIL got a letter off the bus company stating that the area was for the disabled or prams/pushchairs and that no one had priority i.e. if she was sitting there she did not have to move. She carried the letter with her and produced it when challenged.

mumps

Nicki wrote: »

There's been a lot of talk on this thread about "in my day we folded the pushchair down" but my memory is that in those days (ie when I was a child) the older women supported the younger ones, and would help them out with their other children, smile and be pleasant to them and keep a toddler occupied while mum dealt with the baby. Quite different from sitting sour faced, tutting as the young mum struggles to juggle her children, and announcing loudly that it is her own problem for choosing to have children in the first place! just a thought, but maybe the buses decided to redesign their buses to accomodate unfolded pushchairs in response to the older generation becoming more mean spirited and unpleasant, and those who don't like to see prams on a bus are reaping what they sowed.

I was a teenage mom in the early 70s, I don't remember older women helping me. I lived close to a Salvation Army home for unmarried mothers and I got the same treatment they got even though I was married. I never see older people looking as sour faced as some of those women were. Middle aged men were the most helpful, don't know what that signifies but the young men looked embarassed and obviously I wouldn't have expected elderly men to help me. Sometimes a young woman would help but not often. We couldn't get prams on buses then so folding pushchairs were the only option. We had no choice so just had to get on with it. I don't begrudge young moms the facilities they have now but I do think people should be considerate. I am glad I can drive where I want to go.

mumps

PinkLipgloss wrote: »

Indeed!

And if you happen to live somewhere without facilities within walking distance such as a supermarket - tough!

Suck it up as its not enough for people to have 50 odd seats to choose from - they simply have to use the pram/wheelchair area.

New mothers are just so selfish expecting to be able to use an area designated for prams/wheelchair users. Especially those young mums who are very able bodied. (Although one has to question why this is an issue at all given that surely the issue is the lack of mobility the BABY has - not the mother).

I blame the babies. They should be more respectful of their elders, step out of their prams/pushchairs and make their way to a seated area of the bus.

Sheesh!

To be fair my MIL no issue with the babies, it was the young women who abused her in her last weeks of life she objected to. Well they don't have to worry now, they can have her space she doesn't need it.

DCodd

There seems to be confusion here.

the OP stated that there was a wheelchair sign and a pram sign. A wheel chair sign is the universal signage for disabled. The disabled would get priority over the pram user as there is no legislation in place for pram users.

If there was just the standard wheel chair sign in the space, then the Bus driver was wrong to ask the lady to move before checking that the lady was not disabled. for the sign to mean "only wheel chairs" then the sign would have to carry wording to that effect.

biscit

PinkLipgloss wrote: »

One can't help but wonder why bus companies bothered designing these spaces on a bus at all?

*sigh*

Indeed.

Company A designs space for parents out of courtesey.

Ignorant person B choses not to respect this.

Person C states Person B is being ignorant.

Logicless person D blames person C for the situation Person B caused.

biscit

Alex-Riley. wrote: »

So why did no one else get out of their seat to give it to the lady

Exactly, both the mother and old lady were in need, but the old woman's need could have been satisfied by someone other than the person with equal claim on the space moving.

Nicki

mumps wrote: »

To be fair my MIL no issue with the babies, it was the young women who abused her in her last weeks of life she objected to. Well they don't have to worry now, they can have her space she doesn't need it.

No one is saying that old people or ill people sitting in this space deserve to be abused. I don't think even OP said that the young girl abused the old lady. The issue is whether it is acceptable to ask the elderly to move from that space to give access to the pushchair.

It isn't acceptable to verbally abuse anyone, but a polite request to move into another space does not in my view constitute abuse which has ruined the last weeks of someone's life. I am truly sorry if your MiL experienced anything more extreme than this, but I am also surprised if it was a daily occurence spanning several weeks, as I personally have never seen anything like this happen on a bus, much less regularly.