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!

You could ask him to

Completely agree with this , comes across as really ignorant .

I've had a broken arm and I have an actual disability. They aren't remotely the same and piss off with your patronising posts.

I think you are fine to take a seat. If there was another seat available, it might be nice to take that but if you are in a seat and safe and would be injured by moving, then stay put.

as someone said above, on TFL you can get a 'please offer a seat' badge for any reason - temporary or permanent. you do not have to qualify for an official blue badge to need a seat.

OP couldn't walk further down the bus safely. Why do you assume that all elderly women are going to keel over if they walk down the bus? As an ancient type myself I do it regularly without falling.

Why would standing cause more injury to your arm? Do your legs not work?

I also have an actual disability. The point is that OP doesn’t.

The fact that an older lady offer the old lady a seat, yet op sat and said she had to sit there because of her broken arm, speaks volumes.

As someone who has gone flying several times while attempting to get to a seat on a bus (the drivers don’t wait until everyone is sat down) I think you were sensible to sit there and would come under “priority” in my humble opinion.
Public transport (and accessible toilets etc) have become very much a “my disability is more important than your disability” thing with people becoming so petty about this.
@Spidey66 you are temporary disabled. Use the seat if you need it.
(BTW - I am the parent of a child with a disability and is a sometime wheelchair user so I have had to deal with the “issues” that disabled people face).

YANBU to sit in the seat but I think YABU to not give up your seat for the elderly lady if there were other seats available

I'm 9 months pregnant with PGP and really struggling to stand or walk, I sat in the disabled seat on the bus to the doctors as there were no other seats and I still got tutted at and a head shake by the elderly woman sat in the next seat 🤷🏻‍♀️

But very few disabilities are the same as other disabilities. That doesn't prevent them from being disabilities. That's a basic fact, it isn't patronising. If, for example, OP had lost a hand, would you claim that she wasn't disabled just because her disability isn't the same as yours?

The definition of ‘disabled’ involves having a condition that has lasted or is likely to last at least a year. You’re not disabled and shouldn’t be taking those seats from those who are. I really can’t understand why you couldn’t walk a bit further down the bus holding in with one arm. That’s what most people do when they’ve got shopping/ a small child etc!

Suppose neither older lady had a disability? Does OP with her disabled and vulnerable arm get to keep her seat in that event?

Wind your neck in. I have a child with disabilities and I'm insulted you're comparing their disabilities with a broken arm. I'm sure many people with a disability would happily take a broken arm any day! You've no more risk of falling or bumping into others than anybody else unless your broken arm is attached to your foot.

But it's not a disability is it? It's a broken arm

I'm not sure I've ever seen a seat on a bus that is specifically for those who are disabled. It's always worded along the lines of "please give up this seat for those less able to stand" which is always pretty subjective (and really, it should just be the rule for the entire bus - offer your seat to someone who needs it more than you do).
If I was sitting on the bus and saw the situation OP describes, I'd offer my seat to the older woman. I wouldn't think badly of someone with a broken arm for not standing.

I'm very obviously disabled but if I saw you on the bus I would not bat an eyelid as your disability maybe invisible, but as your disability was obvious due to your sling I don't think you had to explain yourself.
A disability doesn't have to be a permanent thing, but IMHO you have a disability that entitled you to sit in those seats as walking to the rest of the bus would/could cause you more pain/discomfort.

And before you ask. Yes. I have had a broken arm in the past. I've also had a broken leg. Yet I STILL wouldn't have plonked my backside down referring to myself as disabled, then not moved for an elderly person, or one with a permanent disability!

Yeah, your not disabled so shouldn't of used the seat. What happens if a wheelchair needed to come on and driver carried on because you were taking a seat and assumed no space.
Lots of people break arms and manage to use public transport.

That is only the definition for Equality Act purposes. It's not a universal definition. Have a look at the definition here, for instance - https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/disability#:~:text=%2F%CB%8Cd%C9%AAs%C9%99%CB%88b%C9%AAl%C9%99t%CC%AEi%2F,learning%20disabilities%20synonyms%20at%20illness

As a matter of interest, if OP was on crutches with a severely broken leg from which it was hoped she would recover within 11 months, would you claim that she was not entitled to the seat?

OP wasn't sitting in the wheelchair space. How could this possibly be relevant?

I also have an actual disability. The point is that OP doesn’t.

The fact that an older lady offer the old lady a seat, yet op sat and said she had to sit there because of her broken arm, speaks volumes.

But being old doesn't mean you have a disability either. Why shouldn't the older woman have moved?

I don't but the op thinks her arm is going to get hurt walking down the bus if it makes her fall....an 80 year old hip in these circumstances would come off worse.

@BungleandGeorge by your theory of a disability lasting “at least a year or more” my daughter who temporarily used a wheelchair after having surgery on her neck shouldn’t have been doing that? Should I have made her get out the wheelchair and walk down the aisle of a moving bus to an empty seat because she wasn’t “really” disabled. Just temporary disabled for a few weeks. She needed to be safe and protected while out and about. The OP needs to protect her arm🙄

This.

It's a recovering arm ...teh old lady should have been given the seat. Outrageous

Oh, FFS, the MN lack of reading comprehension is rife on here. There is nowhere in that post where OP has claimed to be comparing her disability with your child's. And if you haven't noticed that people use their arms for balance and for holding on when standing or walking on a moving bus, I suggest you keep your eyes open.

But the old lady wasn't bothered. Perhaps she was better able to assess that OP probably needed the seat more? As an old biddy myself, this wouldn't bother me.