Bus Buggy Row

A disabled woman was unable to board a bus after irate mothers with pushchairs refused to give up their space.

Because I use a wheelchair, I frequently experience this issue. I am quite fortunate most of the time; in fact, one woman with a stroller actually got off the bus so I could board, but that isn’t always the case.

A mother once attempted to enter the bus while I was on it. The driver told her that she couldn’t, and she stood at the door, cursing at me and saying that I didn’t appear to be disabled. Duh – wheelchair user onboard.

Some mothers with buggies are quite impolite and think they have a divinely granted right to be there.

I don’t mind so much if it’s a nice sunny day and I’m not in a hurry, then I’m content to wait my turn, but some are in a rush to get to hospital appointments, and if they miss them, they will then have to wait months to get another appointment, and this is precisely what happened to this lady.

Maria Whitefield had been travelling to a hospital appointment on October 17 but found herself in a 20-minute standoff with two passengers.

The audibly distraught 38-year-old tried to embark on the 432 Arriva bus, but she was late for her appointment after being forced to wait almost 20 minutes for the next one.

In footage of the tense encounter, Ms Whitefield can be heard saying ‘wheelchairs are a priority’ – however, her pleas fall on deaf ears.

One mother snaps back, ‘he’s a priority too’ and refuses to budge, prompting the vulnerable wheelchair-user to say, ‘these people are being selfish and will not fold up their buggies’.

She points out that it is ‘not a newborn baby’ in the pushchairs. 

Ms Whitefield said other passengers acknowledged she had priority but asked her to get off as she was seemingly holding up the bus.

By law, wheelchair users have first access to the area, as it is the only place in which they can travel safely.

TfL (Transport for London) has since apologised to Ms Whitefield and reiterated that wheelchair users have first access to the priority area.

The problem is, people who are not disabled don’t appear to comprehend that one day they could be in the same position as this lady, and believe me, it’s not very nice. Not only is it frustrating for the wheelchair user, but it’s also extremely demeaning that another human being should find them problematic.

No one seems to want to assist you. You suddenly become invisible, as if you don’t belong in society, or people just look you up and down like you’re some kind of pariah. It’s like they’ve never seen a wheelchair before or a disabled person before – I’m not intimidated by them, I just feel sorry for them.

The bus driver should have intervened and asked the woman to fold up her buggy or asked her to leave the bus and get the next one, then she might have known what it was like to be late for an appointment.

Christ and our government want us disabled people to go back to work. Can you envision being late for work with all these buggies?

If I had been an able-bodied passenger, I would have pushed the prams out of the way and helped her, but the problem is our younger generation seems so entitled.

In my day, if you had a double buggy, you couldn’t even board a bus, but now we have entitled parents who believe that if they have a child, they’re entitled to be first, have the best, have the most and that everyone else is second class compared to them. Move over, love, be compassionate, and more importantly, just be courteous.