Disabled seat on buses

[Spidey66]

So about 10 days ago I tripped over a step and broke my arm. I had a cast on for a week, then it was removed but I still have a sling and am in considerable pain.

I took a brief trip to the high street on the bus for cash today. On the return I got on the bus and sat on the disabled seat nearest the driver. As i was on the inside, my injured left arm was against the window so I felt safe as I feel anxious about others bumping into me, or losing my balance at an emergency stop. I feel I am entitled to use the disabled spot as I have a temporary disability, which given I have a sling is obvious.

An older woman sat next to me on the outside of the seat then a much older lady got on and there didn't appear to be a seat for her. I felt dead guilty (damn you Catholic childhood!) and ended up explaining to her why I wasn't able to stand up for her. As it was, she was fine with my explanation and the lady sat next to me offered her the seat.

So is it is OK for a middle age woman to use a disabled seat because of a broken arm? Noone on the bus made me feel bad except myself but I don't know their thoughts!

Exactly

Anyone and everyone is allowed to use the seats, just requested to offer them to anyone who needs them more. Plenty of people with disabilities are perfectly capable of standing on a bus, while plenty without are not.

It wasn't a disabled seat. It was a priority seat, for those less able to stand. I am currently less able to stand without putting myself at risk of further injury which could require surgery. As explained already, this is a real risk due to my current injury and an underlying medical condition (early stages of osteoporosis.) The lady sat next to me gave her seat to the other older lady. So I didn't deprive her of a seat. Yes the lady giving up her seat was older than me, though younger than the other one, but age ain't a disability either. There was no reason why she couldn't offer her seat.

As explained several times, I have temporary trouble standing and keeping my balance on a moving bus due to a broken arm. This is putting myself at further risk of injury, possibly surgery, and a longer and more protracted recovery. I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand. 🙄

I get you, OP. I have a broken wrist and am in a cast and have sat in those seats too. Would be too terrified to move any further down for fear of falling again. And can't hold on properly with only one good arm. So my mobility IS affected.

Osteoporosis can be classed as a disability because for some people it is disabling. Certainly it is a medical condition. You have my sympathies, OP. Don't worry about the naysayers, you were exercising self care and that is a good skill, and often underrated in Western society.

Also, people aren't registered disabled anymore. When you fill out forms they often ask "do you consider yourself disabled?" Because someone with a certain condition could not feel disabled by it, and another person with the exact same condition could feel extremely incapacitated by it.

it's also why, with a few exceptions such as terminal cancer or MS, disability benefits assessments are based on how you're disability affects you .

I do find those lanyards useful. If someone asks me to give up a seat I just point to it usually. I have no way of knowing if a stranger is worse off than me or not, so I just use the seat if I feel I need it that day and if I'm a rare day I don't . I know how my issues affect me, I don't know how a stranger's disabilities or even temporary issues affect them, so I have to go by whether I am able to give up my seat or not

I do wish I was less selfish sometimes and always gave up my seat and took the consequences of falling or being in pain for days and unable to get any work or anything else done as a result but I'm not like that. I do feel a bit guilty about it but I honestly have always been a bit like this so don't see myself changing in my 5th decade

Some of the people berating you on here have made ableist comments on other threads. What you did is irrelevant to them they just want to have a go.

If it's TFL, they're priority seats rather than 'diabled' seats, the wording is "less able to stand than you are" - and there are posters about not all disabilities being visible.
I use the priority seats (elderly ish), but offer the seat if I see anyone less able to stand than I am.

The issue is the confusion with words and people not reading the thread.

It wasn't a DISABLED seat, it was a high priority seat. So not equivalent to the wheelchair space.

Your broken arm has resulted in a temporary disability, little d, in that you are less able to do some things, like stand on the bus.
It has not given you a Disability, big D, you won't be getting a blue badge or PIP and it isn't a certified disability

Therefore you were perfectly qualified to use the seat

Yeah sorry this. Imagine if the elderly lady fell and broke a hip! If I was that paranoid of my arm, I'd catch a cab

You felt guilty because you're a decent person and know it was wrong. Even if it's allowed, doesn't make it morally ok

Seriously, you would not believe what some of us live with daily, year in year out, with chronic, painful, disabling conditions and diseases.

By contrast, you are dealing with an "owie".

I don't think you are particularly unreasonable for using a priority seat - but you may find yourself in a situation where someone else takes priority.

In your shoes (which I wouldn't be as I use a wheelchair), I'd have gone for the nearest non priority seat first that let me put the injured arm in away from the aisle. Then the priority seats if that weren't an option, and then further back as a last resort.

Lets be honest, if you'd broken a leg and were using a wheelchair temporarily, you would be entitled to the wheelchair accessible space.

It is about need and safety, not just permanence of disability.

I wouldn’t worry about it - nobody on the bus was. It’s not that much more to take a taxi where I live. How mad is that !.

Without seeing the other woman it’s impossible to tell if YWBU or not. If she was very elderly and fragile, potentially she could have taken priority, but equally you definitely take priority over others on the bus so I think the right thing is for those completely able to stand to ensure that both of you can sit. I really wouldn’t feel bad about it tbh. There are so many reasons why someone might need a priority seat and you definitely qualify.

So it doesn’t matter if I fell and made my broken arm worse which as explained I was at risk of, having a recently broken bone and in early stages of osteoporosis? I’m no spring chicken myself. I’m nearly 57.

in ‘normal’ times of course I’d have given her my seat, just as I may give it to a younger person who needs it eg a pregnant woman or a young person with a broken foot. Unfortunately on this occasion I had priority. It was the woman sitting next to me who didn’t.

I love the way you have described the situation and you have it to a T. 😉

How do you know the lady wasn't disabled?

I don't, but she gave up her seat to the older lady.

I have had a broken arm, and I have a disabled daughter, please do not compare the two. The fact you consider a broken arm putting you in the same need as my daughter is fairly disgusting tbh, give your head a wobble.

I have said that for a temporary basis, I have an increased need for a priority seat on the bus. That is all. Do not twist my words. I am not saying I should take a space for a wheelchair user. I gave explained that I initially used the term 'disabled space' when in fact I should have said 'priority seat'- on TFL buses there are both, and you do not need to be disabled to need the priority seat.

I feel I am entitled to use the disabled spot

Feelings do not trump facts. The mistake you're making is imagining they might.

If you feel unsafe travelling by bus, don't. (Or wait for a quieter bus with space for you to sit further back). If that's inconvenient, it is, your injury is inconveniencing you, bad luck.

Your argument is the same as that of pavement cyclists; 'I feel unsafe on the road, therefore it's fine for me to cycle on the pavement'. The fact is they are not allowed on the pavement. So their choice is to cycle where they're allowed or choose a legal mode of travel.

In exactly the same way, you're not allowed (or in this case given priority) in the blue badge seats, so you need to work out how you deal with that, without inconveniencing others.

I am not questioning your need for a priority seat temporarily. I am saying please do not compare a broken (and healing as cast off) arm to disabilities. It really is not the same. My daughter is blind, quadriplegic, non verbal, epileptic, has a movement disorder, tube fed as her swallow doesn’t work. Comparing a broken arm to this is fucking self indulgent.

A typical AIBU, where most say yes but still OP arguing their point.

You say to the driver, I have a broken arm and need to sit, please can you wait for me to sit down (not in a disabled seat) and they will.

YABVVU!!

I suspect that the other mistake you're making is imagining that the bus company 'owes you' safe and convenient transport. They don't. If you want private transport, tailored to your needs, call a taxi company and discuss your needs.