Bus companies are now not required by law to force parents with buggies to make way for wheelchair users in designated bays on vehicles, senior judges ruled.

As a wheelchair & regular bus user, I have been long affected by buggies & pushchairs being in the dedicated wheelchair spaces, and only a few times has it been a case I've been refused onto the bus because the bus driver "didnt want the hassle" of asking the passengers with pushchairs/buggies to fold them up, as required by law. Now the law has changed so that bus drivers arent required to ask the buggies/pushchairs to move and the wheelchair users will "simply have to wait for the next bus" but why?

Pushchairs & buggies are designed to be folded up so they can be stored and moved around easily. The child in said pushchair or buggy can be either sat on the parent/guardians lap, or on their own seat if old enough, some children seen in these buggies are even old enough to go out without a pushchair/buggy. there are huge luggage spaces that the folded up pushchair/buggy could be placed, or even next to the seats, and even in some cases, such as my own, i have a relatively small wheelchair and a folded up pushchair/buggy can slide next to me, which I do not mind. I cannot fold my wheelchair, it has a fixed frame, and even if it was a foldable one, I cannot stand or walk so could not fold it even if i wanted to. The whole point of those dedicated spaces are for equality so that wheelchair users can use the buses to get around. I do not drive yet & buses are pretty much my only means of transport, especially locally, most taxis do not have wheelchair access, and they are also expensive, and I cannot get on the tube when I go to london (there are very few stops that have wheelchair access, and even from experience the "access" given is not great, Ive been stuck on tubes and in stations before which I can tell you is a terrifying experience!) so where I live, and in most other places, the bus is really my only way to get around other than to "walk" everywhere (I use air quotes as someone always picks up that I use the term "walk" when I cant physically walk...) which is not realistic with distance & especially not in the type of british weather at the moment!

I think this ruling is absolutely disgusting & I hope you will support me in this as well, considering its 2014, disabled access is awful and the last thing we need is for the few things that arent, to be taken away.

more information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-30376446

my blog on wheelchair access: http://bunnyaimee.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/wheelchair-access-wheel-deal.html

my youtube vlog about disability discrimination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CbvFZa5IbE&list=UUcsab8cAE3-v8SW9SVhO7ag