Prams on buses

Mupette

custardy wrote: »

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

In Bristol the Pram trumps wheelchair..

a few years back i tried the bus, got filthy looks by the pram brigade as ours had wheelchair signs and i ask to park myself in there,

and times where i am in the disabled bay and get told to get off by some pram brigade because their baby should be there

Esqui

The low floor areas should be made available for prams or wheelchairs. I don't think one should trump the other, but if it's a foldable pushchair, then I would consider it advisable to fold it down if a wheelchair or non-foldable pram needs the space.

As for asking an old lady to move from the seat, this I see no problem with. But was there no-one sat nearer the front of the bus who could have given up their seat for her to move to?

VikkiiKawaii

BlueAngelCV wrote: »

But why did you need to sit there because you were nauseous/tired? The whole point is that they are larger for people who need extra space.

She probably didn't need the extra space but might have needed to be at the front of the bus so she could get off quickly if she was going to vomit, as I did a lot in the first trimester especially while on public transport or in cars.

Abbafan1972

When my kids were little, unfortunately I've been on the receiving end of this and got on the bus with the pram to find the buggy zone taken up by other people and they just look at you and don't move, despite there being seats elsewhere on the bus. The buggy zone is there for a reason, so that your pram doesn't block up the aisle.

I don't condone the mothers behaviour for one second, a polite please and thank you wouldn't have hurt.

What's all this bulls**t about "it's your choice to have kids". So you would turn round and say to the mother, "it was your choice to have kids, now find somewhere else to sit I'm staying put".

Bollox.

zaksmum

Whenever O/H and I take the grandkids out we take the folding buggy and O/H folds it and carries baby too. If we had a pram that could not be folded we wouldn't take the bus.

MamaMoo_2

zaksmum wrote: »

Whenever O/H and I take the grandkids out we take the folding buggy and O/H folds it and carries baby too. If we had a pram that could not be folded we wouldn't take the bus.

Good for you.
Around here we have buggy areas and I use them. My son won't sit still out of the pram, and when the bottom of the pram is filled with a nappy bag, raincover, toys, blanket etc, it'd be a pain in the ar*e to singlehandedly empty and fold down the pram, whilst carrying my son, and being pregnant. Then I'd have to find somewhere to put the folded pram, as there are only two small areas for baggage that will fit 3-4 bags of shopping, certainly not a pram. And one of those areas is usually filled with a basket with copies of the 'Metro' newspaper in.
Just as I move out of, or avoid, the seats that are reserved for "the elderly and less able" (even though at 37 weeks pregnant I consider myself 'less able' than some) people need to learn that seats that say "for wheelchair and pushchair users" are precisely that.
That elderly lady could have sat in many different seats, the pram however, could only fit in the pram space.

Nicki

zaksmum wrote: »

Whenever O/H and I take the grandkids out we take the folding buggy and O/H folds it and carries baby too. If we had a pram that could not be folded we wouldn't take the bus.

The fact that you choose to do this does not however make the vast majority of parents who choose to do it differently wrong though.

I would also suggest to you that travelling with 2 people makes your situation easier. It's not just the issue of carrying baby, baggage and folding up the pushchair on the bus singlehandedly which is difficult, but more so the getting toddler, baggage and pushchair safely off the bus on a busy road, and keeping toddler safe whilst you unfold the pushchair again and get baby back in.

There are around 56 seats on a standard bus, and one or two places for a pushchair. If the general public, including elderly people, cannot bring themselves to sit in the 54 or so seats which don't impede access to the pushchair space, then I would argue that it is they rather than the parents who are selfish and inconsiderate.

rustyboy21

custardy wrote: »

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

What trumps a wheelchair? lol

custardy

rustyboy21 wrote: »

What trumps a wheelchair? lol

a crash I suppose

Doom_and_Gloom

AsknAnswer2 wrote: »

I use public transport daily and every day I see other people who cause a stink when a passenger requires the use of a seat that is clearly signed for them and not the person who is sitting in it.

I use the bus quite a bit and use my wheelchair most of the time. I have before had to ask someone to move out of one of the fold out seats in the wheelchair area (I don't usually talk to people I don't know but I would not have been able to 'park up' otherwise) and they moved without hesitation. As I was reversing into the space, as you have to do, someone sat in the same damn seat I had just moments before asked someone to move out of :mad:. I couldn't believe it and said for them to move (no I was not exactly polite but the bus was on a slant and unfortunatly for me going down in the direction I had to reverse in so stopping when I relised someone was there was not easy!). I then get a load of abuse from them saying they didn't know! !!!!!! I was reversing into the only spot on a bus for a wheelchair in a wheelchair, how didn't they know? They b!tched about me until they got off a few stops later.

The other one that gets on my nerves is when I get on a bus and a child is sat in one of the fold out seats in the wheelchair spot. I ask them nicely to move as I need to get into the area and they start crying as they want to stay there. The parent with them then has to move them and the child continues to cry. This results in the parent giving me dirty looks until I or them get off as if to say "you caused this, my child is crying because of you". My partner thinks it is bad parenting to allow a child to sit in that space and I have to admit I am inclined to agree. Young children should really be at the parents side on public transport and the parent is always sat on the other side of the bus or a few seats behind where the child is.