Pram on wheelchair friendly bus

I wasn't aware that pram must be collapsed in order to board a wheelchair friendly bus, until a mommy posted an article and even more mommies shared on their unpleasant experiences on that... (I hadn't read any positive comment about it!)

So far, I had removed my comment "For Safety" from the picture of article and un-followed the post as there were far too many bitching without constructive recommendations. Singaporeans just love to complaint... KB would be a more aggressive word but I felt that KB best described the emotion of these mommies now...

And here's my thought on this...

My impression of wheelchair and its user
I am not an expert on wheelchair design but I know it was ridden mainly by bigger kids or adults with difficulties walking. So in some sense, they would be able to control (break/ turn) the chair or even sustain from people or light objects falling onto them, in case of emergency. If not, I am not sure how the wheelchair friendly bus works...

My impression of pram and its user
Pram, in contrast, would be meant for kids below 3 (or 15 kg), with no control over the pram. So if the parents/ caregiver is a KuKu... the child will be totally on his own when anything happen during the ride. And they certainly can't sustain too much when any standing adults/ objects fall onto them...

My impression of bus ride
A few mommies KB-ed that how safe could it be when they have to take care of so many things with 2 hands and no helpers. Surely they would be in such agony when they choose to take a bus ride with so many things to take care of alone, instead of a taxi... So, they made the choice when they were not aware about "No open pram rule" on bus... One of the mommies challenged, "what if I drop my baby? what if the pram hit on other kids? Who will be responsible? PxP?" I have only 1 answer for her... she has to be responsible for it... Everyone, be it you like it or not, the driver would have warned you to collapse the pram before you board... and so, you did (with a very black face and perhaps some arguements) and board the bus... so You have to be responsible for it. Also, I believed those assumptions were based on IF no one gave up the seat for them... Frankly speaking, I would strongly believe that someone would offer the seat to commutator with such strong needs... Even if no one does, the bus driver would have asked for anyone to give up their seats for them.

Bottomline
In a nutshell, caregiver should not over estimate his/her own capability. If you have only 2 hands, do not take care of more than 2 things at a time... More importantly, never compromise safety for convenience and budget, specially when its for safety of someone so special and important to you...

Good Luck, folks! A good discussion is when solutions and recommendations are being talked about. Discussing problems alone, will not bring you anywhere close to your destination...

Anyway, policies are all man-made... as long as someone challenged it, justify it, the expert will validate it.... and new policies will come into place for a better community. There are just too many questions and incomplete policies if you really deep dive... One good example which I had been pondering upon would be... the "new" rule of no smoking in the sheltered area or 500m from sheltered area... then what makes it "right" for coffee shop to allocate smoking zone within the shelter? Can they shit and eat at the same time? Most likely they can but its equally disgusting... That's community... we have to give and take... this planet belongs to nobody... we are all sharing it (not owning it)... so share it kindly and graciously!