A court will decide whether wheelchair users have priority over pushchairs on buses, but how do you decide who is more entitled to the space?

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Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club.

I'm with the wheelchair users on this, I recently witnessed two mothers with prams refuse to move, and then only used the bus for the first ½ mile of the journey. I know the wheelchair user lives at the other end of the bus route ~10 miles away. That again, is a once an hour bus route, and there are other bus routes, from the same bus station stand, that go past where the prams got off, they would have waited at the very most 12 minutes and usually much less.

I'm confused. As a person 'Across the Pond', asking the following questions:

If the Mother gives up her space, does she not have somewhere else to ride? Or does she now have to exit the bus, and wait 1 hour, with her baby(s) for another bus?

If she, after the Decision, has to move/exit, and refuses: What will be the Legal Consequences to her, and what then happens to her children?

That would be the mothers decision, she could collapse the pram and sit with baby on her lap, or leave the bus and wait for next one.

And you have to take into account that these places were made to carry wheelchairs not prams. I have seen notices on some bus's that make it clear that they are for wheelchair use only. Which implies that even if there wasn't a wheelchair on board the driver could still insist that prams do not use the space.

I was never allowed entry to a bus unless my babies' pushchair was folded. Simple. I missed many a bus in awful weather whilst struggling to fold pram and rainhood and juggle baby and shopping. There also had to be sufficient storage room for the folded chair. No problem. (I developed many useful skills doing it :)) Manufacturers of the chairs knew that and designed them accordingly. Since parents have been allowed to swipe at everyone's ankles by barging through the bus using their baby's pram as a battering ram - manufacturers have built them harder to fold and like tanks.

I'm sorry - I'm definitely with wheelchair users on this one. Most don't have someone up to ten times larger than them with them to lift them out and carry them on board. I would worry about a blanket one-size fits all court ruling however. There will be exceptions - mums with twins or several closely-spaced children would struggle... and manufacturers of the armoured people mowers... I mean modern pushchairs... would need to go back to designing something more practical.

edit: as to Clyde's point - Someone who has already paid their fare should be given every opportunity to get to their destination - but if they are taking up space designated for a wheelchair and a passenger in one subsequently needs to board the bus, then the pushchair must be folded (a lot easier to do on a stationary bus with assistance) if at all possible. If a parent refuses to comply, then being asked to leave the bus is acceptable. If they cannot comply - then a judgement decision would be needed to be made by the driver... and er... well... good luck everyone...

Hmm, tough one!

My initial gut-feeling is to favour the wheelchair users, they have enough on their plate already without having to fret over space on a bus.

Also, the size of some prams is ridiculous. I've seen ones that i think i could get in, all 18 stone of me. Trying to get them onto a bus is just inconsiderate.

The bus companies could improve the situation by taking out a couple of seat rows, thus creating a larger space for wheelchairs and prams. It's quite rare that i've seen every seat on a bus taken so the remaining seated passengers could squeeze up quite easily.
And even if the space wasn't always filled with prams or wheelchairs, standing passengers can still use it, so it's unlikely to impact on the bus' carrying capacity or the operators profits (heaven forfend!).

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

When I worked for Sydney Buses, people with prams or strollers had to have them folded up before entering any bus and they were never allowed to use the 2 wheelchair available spaces (these spaces had 3 swing down seats for other disability or elderly passengers to use if no wheelchairs were occupying them).

Cheers.