Launch of New Luas line celebrated with crash

pork99

Here we go again

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/09/28/story168484.html

seamus

I saw pictures of the very first LUAS crash, and it was obviously the car driver's fault. Yet every time one of these happens, they talk about "marring the image" and "more PR setbacks" yet we get no pictures and no indication of what occured. I'd be pretty sure that most of the time, the fault lies with the car driver, given Irish people's generally poor driving, and the fact that the LUAS can only move on a pair of rails.

Cuauhtemoc

I'm sure others noticed as well, but there seemed to be a Garda presence on every junction on the red line this morning.
Trying to get people to stay off box junctions i suppose...and avoid a crash on day 1 of the new line(too late for that tho)

por

Heard an ad on the radio at the weekend for LUAs safety, it strssed that the tram cannot swerve around a car so it's up to the car driver to aviod the tram, they should drill this into peoples heads.....

sliabh

I think I read somewhere about someone who caused a Tram crash (in Amsterdam) having to pay for repairs to the tram and the cost of the disruption to the city tram service.

I presume their insurance picked this up, but a bill of tens of thousands of Euro can't be good for their premium next year and might be an incentive to people to be more cautious around the trams

Winters

It really is terrible how Irish drivers cant follow the rules of the road. There are nice big bright yellow boxes over the luas junctions indicating your not suppose to sit and wait on them. Yet everywhere you can see drivers driving onto these junctions and sitting there.

The Gardaí have really neglected giving a caution/offence to people in cars on these junctions, from now with the Luas running they should start to enforce the rules of the road a bit more, its not just speeding that kills people you know, idiot driving is also to blame.

If they brought in a law that stated drivers who drive into/infront of a Luas will have to pay for any damage caused, Irish driver might think twice before darting infront of a tram to beat the lights.

enterprise

I travelled from Connolly - Tallaght - Connolly - Jervis this morning on the trams.

A few points:

On the way out to Tallaght - great, no problems what so ever, and yes Gardai at every traffic junction (a sad state of affairs).

Coming back to Connolly, on the Nass Road where the trams share the road with traffic a white van was sticking the side of his van into the tram lane so we could not pass, some long horn blasts made him move (eventually).

Just before Jervis - another white van abandonded at the side of the road but the front corner of it was blocking our path, eventually the driver appeared and moved it.

Irish road standards are CRAP!

BrianD

BreakingNews.ie wrote:

This morning’s collision was the latest in a series of minor accidents that have beset the LUAS system since its launch earlier this year.

Pretty pathetic and lazy reporting from these guys. Speaking of accidents, does anybody recall the incident a few months ago where a German tram operator sent a bill for the repair of a tram, loss of earnings etc. to the next-of-kin of a woman who was run over by the tram. It was established that the "old dear" was at fault and since was gone her estate was liable. Tho womans relative counter sued for the cost of the funeral. Fearing a PR nightmare, the tram operator decided to call it quits.

luckat

There were gardaí on the route on the first day of the Sandyford Luas as well - it's just a courtesy to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, to let them know that the line is in full use now.

Are box junctions actually something you *legally* have to stay out of unless you're turning right? I mean, I do stay out of them, but I thought it was more of a request than a demand, in terms of legality.

I don't find Irish drivers particularly bad - mostly they're actually considerate and sensible. Sure, a certain rudeness has built up lately, and occasional people think it's all right to screech at each other and beep their horns - but this is largely a matter of fashion. In time, no doubt, they'll realise that it's not their responsibility to think about others' driving!

sliabh

enterprise wrote:

a white van was sticking the side of his van into the tram lane so we could not pass, some long horn blasts made him move (eventually).

Just before Jervis - another white van abandonded at the side of the road but the front corner of it was blocking our path, eventually the driver appeared and moved it.

Maybe it's time to start fitting ye olde cow catchers to the front of the Luas:

seamus

luckat wrote:

Are box junctions actually something you *legally* have to stay out of unless you're turning right? I mean, I do stay out of them, but I thought it was more of a request than a demand, in terms of legality.

O_o

You must not enter the box if doing so would result in causing an obstruction. That's it. Actually that's the spirit of it. The actual thing is that you must not enter unless your way ahead is clear. However, you may enter if you wish to turn right, but by doing so, you must not cause an obstruction (for example, if traffic in the road you are turning into is backed up to the edge of the yellow box).

(I'm not saying that for your benefit, just putting some filler in my post )

And yes, it's the law. Otherwise the Gardai wouldn't be out enforcing it.

dazberry

enterprise wrote:

Just before Jervis - another white van abandonded at the side of the road but the front corner of it was blocking our path, eventually the driver appeared and moved it.

I hopped on a Luas at Connelly at lunchtime as far as Jervis - and yes it was a bit mad. A(nother) white van was loading at the side of the road, and when the Luas arrived he had to move to the other side of the road. Problem was that there was a Luas coming inbound, so once the first Luas had stopped, he had to reverse back down the road behind it to let the second one in.

Got the Luas home this evening - didn't seem to be any traffic incidents from what I could see, but bare in mind I couldn't really see much because the tram was so packed.

D.

mackerski

luckat wrote:

Are box junctions actually something you *legally* have to stay out of unless you're turning right? I mean, I do stay out of them, but I thought it was more of a request than a demand, in terms of legality.

Did you think they painted them on for the crack? As a matter of interest, do you have a driving licence? If so, how on earth did you get it?

Dermot

http://www.2pass.co.uk/boxjunction.htm
http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/16.shtml (item 150)
Yes, these are UK-based. No, our rules are not different.

Victor

I saw pictures of the very first LUAS crash, and it was obviously the car driver's fault. Yet every time one of these happens, they talk about "marring the image" and "more PR setbacks" yet we get no pictures and no indication of what occured. I'd be pretty sure that most of the time, the fault lies with the car driver, given Irish people's generally poor driving, and the fact that the LUAS can only move on a pair of rails.

I can imagine the Indo headline. "Car hits wall, two injured. Walls considered dangerous".

luckat wrote:

Are box junctions actually something you *legally* have to stay out of unless you're turning right? I mean, I do stay out of them, but I thought it was more of a request than a demand, in terms of legality.

Maybe they should put signs on them that say "WARNING: DARWINISM IN PROGRESS. STAY OUT OF BOX."

Bee

How long will it take for taxpayers who financed the Luas to realise that for the same money they could have had an underground system with no dangers of being delayed by cars/busses/pedestrians/bikes etc?

The woefully bad engineering of Luas/Road junctions should result in Public hangings.

What a wonderful little country with politicians and planners with brains the size of insects.

Bee

maxheadroom

Bee wrote:

The woefully bad engineering of Luas/Road junctions should result in Public hangings.

There is nothing wrong with the engineering of the road junctions which luas uses. The same system works in many other countries. The difference in Ireland is the appauling standard of driving and lack of knowledge of the most basic rules of the road among our drivers.

P&L

Some people in the RPA suggested using a new red coloured paint instead of yellow for boxes on the tracks.
Maybe the City Council didnt like the idea of introducing another 'standard', understandably in some ways - but it would have made a big and positive difference IMO.

Smellyirishman

Bee wrote:

How long will it take for taxpayers who financed the Luas to realise that for the same money they could have had an underground system with no dangers of being delayed by cars/busses/pedestrians/bikes etc?

The woefully bad engineering of Luas/Road junctions should result in Public hangings.

What a wonderful little country with politicians and planners with brains the size of insects.

Bee

Have you been smoking?

The price would probably have tripled at least to make it underground, why do you think they did not go ahead with the building of a partial underground piece of the LUAS?

Oh and FYI, you will be happy to know that currently the plan is for a stephens green-->airport underground.

Lets see how much thats cost ya and then see if your still saying the same

sceptre

Bee wrote:

for the same money

The what now?

dazberry

[OT - So not to start yet another Luas thread]

A guy from work was telling me his parents were on a Luas on Wednesday night and the tram was delayed due to some "technical" difficulties. The message that came over the intercom was something like...

~Due to technical difficulties this tram will be delayed. This is due to a fight having broken out on the tram in front~ - sigh.

D.

mackerski

P&L wrote:

Some people in the RPA suggested using a new red coloured paint instead of yellow for boxes on the tracks.
Maybe the City Council didnt like the idea of introducing another 'standard', understandably in some ways - but it would have made a big and positive difference IMO.

It would certainly open the door for those fond of Irish jokes:

Q: What does a yellow box junction in Ireland mean?
A: You may not stop on it at all

Q: What does a red box junction mean?
A: You may not stop at all at all.

Dermot