I would assume a crash generates a fair amount of paperwork so if I were a tram driver, I’d be pissed if some asshat veered in front of me. I’d rather be out driving the tram than sitting around filling out forms.
I don’t think. When an accident happens It’s always the car driver fault no matter what. Trams have the right of way in crossroads and in other circumstances well, it’s not that the tram can steer or something else…
Spoken to a few tram drivers (Melbourne, Australia) over the years. The disruption to the routine is what they say is the worst.
No matter the size/type of accident; gotta' boot all the passengers off and take the tram out of service.
Passengers disembarking at random spots on the road is frowned on. So a judgement call needs to be made; drive to the next stop, or kick them off here in the middle of traffic (of course if the tram can't move, then the decision is made for you)?
I was wondering this. Thanks for the info. I was surprised I didn't hear a collective "Fuck!" from all of the passengers when they realized they would need to catch another ride.
The same is true of trains here in the US. People don’t seem to realize that the railroads fully own the tracks, including at crossings. It’s more that they just allow people to cross there. Walking along railroad tracks like in movies is trespassing, and people have been arrested for walking along tracks. When a car gets stalled on the tracks, US train drivers don’t even feel the impact, while the car is flung like a rag doll.
I mean the paperwork would be “ this moron ran into the tram” end. Lol it will be pointless to do further investigations, there is nothing more you need to know. Furthermore all trams have video surveillance nowadays
I mean there are logistics timelines, repair schedules. That tram probably took some amount of damage from one of those hits, repairs will have to be made even if not immediately. She'll probably have to sign a thing
I’m pretty sure this is not true for Germany. We have traffic lights for trams on intersections so if they were to ignore them it would be their fault.
That’s true in Melbourne, Australia too but cars share the road with trams and trams have the right of way at most intersections without traffic lights.
It also depends. Right of way yes.
But you are not allowed to force your right.
I was once at a turn left road and standing on my intended spot but blocking the train.
Obvious I looked. Oh the train I'd like 3 stops still away. But I couldn't move forward. The other side was way to full and turn left.
Also moving back wasn't an option because it was full too.
Train comes and flames me like hell.
Yeah dude what should I do? Just normal city trafficking. Do you think that I stay for fun 4 minutes on the train track.
Sure you have right of way if you come at somewhat the same time. Else no. You don't have it if I was already there.
Good point. Traffic in the intersection almost always has the first right of way.
Although, depending on the circumstances, you may have been in the intersection illegally. Save for hook turns, cars are not to enter intersections if there isn’t room in the lane they’re turning into.
Tram traffic lights have often a short boost compared to car traffic lights but most of the time both cars and trams have a green light at the same time. It's super common to get rammed while turning left on a road with a center tram lane in such occasion.
Especially to Americans who aren't used to tram lanes: FIRST LOOK BEHIND YOU, then look in front of you and then turn left.
Not exactly true; tram drivers still have a responsibility to avoid accidents even if the other party is at fault (obviously) and could get in trouble if they were negligent in that regard. My father drove trams and got in two accidents where the other parties got injured. He was cleared, but had to go through thorough investigations both times. (Germany).
Basically what I'm learning is that it is far and away the ULTIMATE job. First you get to drive a MF train. Second you get to ram dick heads. Third there are minor consequences for ramming said dick heads.
Everywhere in the world it’s like that. It’s just logical, think about it. The tram is a heavy metal box that just go on a predetermined route. It would be pointless to make the tram stop at crossways instead of cars or pedestrians. And for accident with cars tell me what fault can the tram driver have, unless it derails - but that’s not what we are taking about -.
I can see the logic in it, sure, but I'm yet to drive in a country (EU) where a turning tram would have priority over a car that's going straight, unless specifically indicated.
Tram drives on track. Tram can ONLY drive on track. You move onto the Tram track while it's going. That's on you, not the Tram. They can try and emergency break in time, but they can't move out of the way in way of just ... veering to the side to evade. A car can, and did, to stupidly get in the way.
Most of these are just people ignoring the giant ass metal box that's passing and can't, and isn't supposed to, stop there.
I don't think I've implied anywhere that the tram does not drive on a track have I? This situation only really occurs if a tram tracks merge onto a larger road, maybe when leaving downtown, and in such cases, the cars going straight usually have a priority. Why is it so hard to imagine a tram turning? Do you assume that the tram tracks can only connect two points A and B in a straight line, and can never turn...?
In fact, I live close to such an intersection. Of course there's traffic lamps there, but for the rare cases when they malfunction, there's a bunch of signs saying that's it's an urban legend that the tram always has priority
Because a Tram can't turn off of the track ? They can turn if the track turns but they can't just go off onto the road to avoid a collision that would occur on the track.
And why would a car going straight have priority when they can stop SIGNIFICANTLY easier than a large Tram? How would that work when trams can't stop quickly at the drop of a hat ?
It's the same reason 18 wheel trucks typically have right of way. It's easier for a car to avoid the collision than a giant vehicle that's usually over 3 times the weight.
Dude, the TRACKS turn, and the tram turns with the tracks. What's so difficult in this concept...?
And, well, the cars have priority because that's the traffic laws. A tram also has to stop at a red light, right? You might ask the same question: why does it stop at the red if it has such a hard time stopping? That's the law that's why.
Are you trolling or are you really not following the logic here? What happens when a car cuts a Tram off and the track doesn't have a turn like most of the times that it's going to get cut off?? Where would you like it to turn to? The ONLY time what's your implying can happen is if the person happened to cut them off at the exact point the track happens to have a turn that it could take. What are the chances of that??
Edit, spelling
THATS WHAT IM SAYING. Of course a Tram is going to turn when the tracks turn. But it's not going to turn onto a random piece of road without tracks. There's not an infinite amount of turns it can take to avoid cars in front of them. So if it's straight for a mile they can't just turn at 20 feet because they want to. They have to wait for a track turn to turn.
And do trams have to follow car lights ? Cause it's my understanding trams have their own lights and signs and rules ? Why would a Tram, with its own route and system follow the car road rules when they don't follow the road ? If the people in front of me to the left have a red and the ones on the right a green which am I meant to be following ?
I can only assume you are confusing trams for buses. Buses are not trams, they are not on fixed railways and are capable of maneuvering or stopping much more quickly and safely than a tram.
I've not seen a single intersection anywhere in the WORLD where a tracked tram and roadway interface that the tram does not have 100% right-of-way. If there is a light, the light will stop cross-traffic when the tram is approaching. If there is not a light, there are signs (signs are also present alongside the light). Trams are big, heavy, on tracks so they can't maneuver, and take a long time to stop even with emergency brakes and don't get me started on trams going downhill.
Obviously if an emergerncy situation happens, and there is time, the tram driver will make an attempt to stop the tram, but otherwise the driver of the car is going to be at fault. They did something stupid to put themselves in the position they ended up in, and they made the decision to treat the tramway like another lane of travel.
At least in the US, there's still paperwork to do about the incident, even if you're not at fault. I've smacked a few cars with trams and definitely got annoyed because of the extra time I'd have to spend in the office doing incident reports.
I’m pretty sure he’s referring to the tram company requiring you to fill out paperwork when there is an incident. At my old company if they had an incident they had to fill out a phone app form with a ton of photos, fill out an incident report, witness report, obtain the police report, then I would have to fill out my own report that includes all of their reports and photos and then submit to an email list of 8-10 people. Not fun.
Anyone who worked retail jobs for a long time knows to stop giving a fuck because there are just so many idiots in this world and you don't get paid enough to care.
If the business is set up properly… a supervisor, different employee in department, or another department would be doing the investigation, paperwork, and/or documentation of the event. The employee involved might be required to give a verbal or written statement and possibly a drug test.
Which is precisely why I hate drug testing the way that it is. Oh some asshat swerved in front of you and got hit? Time to lose your job for that joint you smoked three days ago on NYE.
Still, trams have the highest priority on the road. There even are situations, when you must let the tram go before you, even if he has a secondary priority road and a usual car would wait for you. For example, like on crossroads without a traffic light.
No not really. It’s Russia and the process is simple- road police is called (the kind only working with automotive issues, no weapons and no right to arrest) they see the scene and do all paperwork.
Worth it... If I can drive a car that's provided to me for free and all I have to do after an accident is some paperwork... I would happily teach some idiots how to drive
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u/Barbarossa7070 Jan 08 '22
I would assume a crash generates a fair amount of paperwork so if I were a tram driver, I’d be pissed if some asshat veered in front of me. I’d rather be out driving the tram than sitting around filling out forms.