page_title: Tram accident
section_title: Analysis and consequences
hierarchical_section_title: Tram accident / Analysis and consequences
caption_attribution_description: Tram seat with rounded edges and impact absorbing materials
context_page_description: A tram accident is any accident involving a tram. Alternatively, any accident involving a tram or a tram system may be considered a tram accident. The latter definition is more commonly used in public safety studies.
  Tram systems are typically considered to be environmentally friendly, efficient and cost effective methods of transport within urban areas. However, safety concerns associated with tram systems - particularly poor maneuverability and long braking distances - cannot be ignored. The research indicates that for each kilometer traveled, trams are 12 times more likely to be involved in a serious accident than a car.
  Limited information on tram accidents exists in scientific literature.
context_section_description: In Sheffield, UK, cyclists appear to be the group at highest risk to be injured in tram accidents, followed by pedestrians and motor vehicle users. In Sheffield, less than one third of casualties had a fracture, and approximately every tenth injured person had a hospital admission. In Gothenburg, the incidence of non-fatal injuries was 3 per million tramcar-kilometres, and the mortality was 0.2 per million tramcar kilometres. Two of 16 fatalities and 1 of 217 non-fatally injury events in 1988 - 1992 were suicide attempts. The most fatal tram accident in Gothenburg happened when a high-speed runaway tram hit dozens of pedestrians and several vehicles. The accident happened after a technician manually released the brakes automatically activated after a power failure.
  The mortality of pedestrians hit by a tram seems to be much higher than the mortality of pedestrians hit by a motor vehicle. Typically most seriously injured people have been caught under or between tramcars. Non-impact absorbing parts at the side of the trams may lead to serious head injuries even at low speeds. In Austria, accidents of children at bus or tram stops were analyzed over a 6-year period. 6 children were injured by trams. Accidents happened while crossing the track, one child ran against a tram, one child was crossing at a crosswalk or looked at wrong traffic lights. Most of the children hit the side of the tram. In addition, 4 children were injured by a car at a tram stop. In Germany, 18 pedestrians with multiple traumas after tram accidents were evaluated with Multidetector computed tomography. The mean age was 36.9 years with a range from 14–92 years. There was a trend for accident events occurring more commonly during the winter months in middle-aged men, often under the influence of alcohol. In this study, leading diagnoses were head (83.3%) and thorax injuries (66.6%). Abdominal injuries (44.4%) were mainly found patients with complex injuries. The most serious injuries occurred when a victim was caught under or between tramcars.
  In the 1990s in Oslo, Norway, tram transport amounted to 3 million vehicle-kilometers per year with approx. 25–30 collisions with pedestrians or bicyclists, 60 accidents with travelers on board the tram or during boarding/leaving, and 600 collisions with cars. In 1982–1995 there were 10 fatalities of the pedestrians, mostly when a pedestrian stepped into the street without noticing the approaching tram, very often against red traffic light. Another common accident was a pedestrian crossing the street so close to the front of a stationary tram that he was not observed by the driver. 30% of collisions with cars happened with stationary cars stopped or parked too close to the tram tracks. 10% of collisions happened between trams and buses, and remaining 60% of collisions happened mostly with moving cars. This report analyzed 200 accident reports. It was recognized that more than half of the collisions between tram and car were caused by errors by the car driver only. 25% of the accidents were caused due to an error by tram driver. 25% of the accidents were caused by more complex causal patterns. About 2/3 of pedestrian accidents were caused by errors of the pedestrian only, tram driver error was very seldom the main cause. For passengers falling in the tram, errors by other road users were an important causal factor, necessitating the heavy braking of the tram. In addition, fewer accidents seemed to happen with older tram drivers and on tracks segregated from other traffic.
  In Victoria, Australia, injuries among adults 65 years and over were investigated. While falls (3382 cases) were mentioned as the major feature of injury, two adults were hit by a car when crossing a road to a tram. In the Department of Forensic Medicine in Bydgoszcz, Poland, 81 autopsies were performed on people who died in accidents involving rail vehicles in 1992-2002. 20% of the victims died in tram accidents, and 80% died in train accidents. The most common reason for death was a multiorgan failure. In tram accidents, 86% of the victims were m
caption: Fireproof, round shaped, flexible and/or impact absorbing materials are used in the tram interiors.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon DIGITAL IXUS 50", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2007:06:29 20:54:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5250", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/8", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:06:29 20:54:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:06:29 20:54:54", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "3", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2592", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1944", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2226", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "11520", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "81000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}