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!

Only disabled seats I've seen are fold up ones that also fit a wheelchair.

Also if you have a cast on, you are hardly going to break it again.

Same here. I have had a badly broken arm. In fact, five years on and it is still a non-union fracture and dependent on its metal plates.

Such an injury does make holding on on a moving bus or train very much more difficult even though you can't see it and wouldn't be entitled to a blue badge for it.

You were fine to use the seat. When mine was still in large casts I used to, and have occasionally since when I am in pain and afraid of being flung around, which could cause further injury.

Genuinely - on the buses you get, do people leave these seats totally empty unless they themselves need them due to a disability? That isn't how it's worked on any bus I've been on. They're left empty if there are other options, but people don't stand rather than use them. And then they move if necessary.

This. YABVU and precious.

I'm disabled. It's fine for you to use the priority seat. You have an injury and need a seat where you can position yourself safely. I can't understand why others are criticizing you for this.

It's fine. Your balance is all out of whack when you're strapped up plus there's a risk of adding injury to existing injury if you do become unsteady. So yeah you should use seats towards the front of the bus.

Op said there were other seats in her reply.

A broken arm is not a disability, it's a temporary inconvenience

I’ve had a broken arm and now I’ve got disability. You’re being completely unreasonable.

You cant drive if you have a broken arm! WTF?!?

I think you were fine OP

Being old is not necessarily a disability. And the other lady got up, so clearly she wasnt disabled either.

And with only one good arm, it can be really tricky to navigate a moving bus in search of a seat, without falling over.

Are you seriously contending that falling on a recently broken arm is not going to hurt it?

I had rather a spectacular fall when I tripped on the pavement recently but my hip remained in one piece, and that was a more violent fall than anyone is likely to have on a crowded bus where other people tend to break your fall. I'm not 80, but sadly I'm not that far off. So no, it's not inevitable that the 80 year old would come off worse.

Its a temporary DISABILITY! Yes, temporary. But a disability all the same. Same as a broken leg/foot/knee injury/whatever!

A little compassion goes a long way doesn’t it?
Different matter altogether but last week I was on a bus and saw an elderly couple, she had a broken arm and he was trying desperately to wedge her into a corner as the bus was so busy - while able bodied primary age children sat on the seats. Very sad.

What if there were 3 “elderly” ladies? Would the rest of the passengers make them fight it out to see who is the most “disabled “ of them to decide which 2 get to sit down?
Also elderly doesn’t = disabled.
Plus I have never seen seats on public transport called “ Disabled Seats”. They are usually called “Priority Seats”. You don’t have to be disabled to sit in them.

Casts are often large and extremely uncomfortable. You can't hold onto poles, handles and straps easily with a cast on, so hard to safely steady yourself.

There are priority seats and there are the folding ones in the wheelchair space on most buses. They are there for those who need them.

Sorry but you are not disabled with a broken arm. I would feel like a fraud.

It's not your catholic upbringing making you feel guilty it's the fact you're not disabled and sitting in a sables seat you know you are wrong.

Urgh it's like impairment Top Trumps on here.
Op is a vulnerable passenger and should use the relevant seats if she needs to.
She isn't sitting in a space allocated only to disabled people, she's using a seat designed to make life a bit easier for people for whom travelling is hard either always or currently.

Yes it is. My son is actually disabled and out life is often made ten times harder by entitled people like you with a temporary inconvenience. Our lives are hard enough at the best of times without people like you

Yes a seat for those less able to stand. I'm in London. TFL have seats for those less able to stand. I would include pregnant women and those with a small child in that and have given them up for them. They're not disabled either but are less able to stand up or move around the bus. But there you are MN have spoken, and iabu.

I have Cerebral Palsy.. I've just seen your following post... Could you be any more entitled!
If you were that worried you should've used a taxi

I'm a disabled person and unfortunately even with the seat on the bus I barely ever get it for teenagers etc sitting on it. It's fine I shuffle elsewhere but it would be nice to sit on a seat meant for us. You didn't have any right to the seat you could have sat between 2 normal seats so you didn't get knocked. Even with my disability I would try my damned hardest to move if an elderly person came on also as I was brought up right. But you won't like that answer as your coming across as a snotty entitled woman.

You were fine to sit there until someone who needed it arrived. They did and you still didn't move. That's where you became unreasonable. There's no reason you couldn't have moved to a different seat when you realised someone more in need was there.

I wouldn't have the brass neck to sit in a disabled seat with a broken arm , I mean c'mon .

Disability is defined in law. There is no such thing as a "temporary disability " no matter what you or MN posters think. But then it never comes as a surprise the number of people on this site who think that facilities for people with disabilities are unfair unless those without disabilities can also use them.