Apparently a tram has crashed into something / had something crash into it. Must have hit pretty hard as the front of the tram is looking bad. Seems like most of Sheffield's police force are attending, along with some hefty machinery. West street is closed both ways anyway, about level with Mappin Street.

Anyone have any more news about this??

Just walked down weststeet this morning and noticed all the traffic had stopped - the tram was empty and it looked like there was an accident or something, nearly 30 cops were there too - anyone have more info on this?

30 Police offices attending, no wonder i can never get one when I need just one.

How can you complain,Unners. Don't you know that South Yorkshire Police have just won an award for "CUSTOMER SERVICE", and Tony Blair has given them "TRIBUTES".?? Seems funny, don't it ??

What time did this happen?

There was a collision between a tram and a transit van. I don't think any one was seriously injured, but they were very shaken up. Not sure what time it was, around 10 am I think.

I was there at about 10:30, so im guessing it would have happened about 30mins to an hour before that

Can someone please post if/when they know West Street is clear (assuming it is still not)....

Thanks in anticipation

Its clear, but there are still cops about I think.

Is there any major traffic disruption in the surrounding area?

Doesn't seem to be - all looked ok when I popped out for my lunch about 15 mins ago.

I was on the tram that hit the van - certainly looked like the driver was badly hurt to me; he was thrown out of his van onto the road and wasn;t moving. - Ambulance got there as I was getting off tram. Hope he's ok.

30 cops?? you need to learn how to count.

There a couple of traffic cars near the accident, a copper near bailey court on west street and one next to bailey court stopping cars going up to west street. There were 1/2 dozen cops there at the most and only the traffic cops stayed once the road was reopened.

I thought wrong - apparently there were quite serious injuries.

My friend called the ambulance. He says that the van driver was in quite a bad way and the tram driver was in terrible shock. And also that the van passenger apparently had a screwdriver in his pocket that went into his leg on impact.

Hope they are all ok.

Originally posted by jubby
30 cops?? you need to learn how to count.


Not hard to believe it would need thirty coppers to stop some of the numpty car drivers in Sheffield trying to squeeze past a bad accident on West street. They're totally oblivious to anything but their own selfish purpose, some poor sod lying bleeding in the road wouldn't faze them one little bit.

Originally posted by pussycat
There was a collision between a tram and a transit van. I don't think any one was seriously injured, but they were very shaken up. Not sure what time it was, around 10 am I think. bloody white vans!

Originally posted by NatalieSheff
bloody white vans!

Not the van's fault - I was on the tram and saw what happened. I don't mean to sound snitty, but I don't think that tone's particularly appropriate considering the serious injuries the driver sustained.

yea there were about 20-30 cops at 10.30 yish - maybe u didnt check the ones who were *inside* the tram investigating

Originally posted by NatalieSheff
bloody white vans!

Updated to read........

....Bloody public transport.

Can't see the logic in picking on white vans anyway. Considering how many white vans there are on the road, and how much mileage they do, the percentage of pile-ups they're involved in seems incredibly low.

Hoping the driver and his mate are not too serious.:(

Originally posted by Tets
Don't you know that South Yorkshire Police have just won an award for "CUSTOMER SERVICE"

On a lighter note...who are the Customers here?

The public? Or the local gangsters?

I can just imagine a badass gangster grading them on a scale of 1 to 10 for arrest, interrogation and cell cleanliness!

:hihi:

Originally posted by NatalieSheff
bloody white vans!

in a survey carried out a few years ago it was noted that the majority of white van drivers were one man businesses over the age of 30 and involved in far fewer accidents than car drivers, it is as ever the stupid minority of white van drivers that give all others a bad name, i have driven white vans for about 15 years and never had a crash, my "bloody white van" is in perfect condition and driven properly.
how much driving do you do nataliesheff ???

If you want a topic about 'white van men' then please start one (in fact, I'm sure it's been discussed many times before...)

Back on topic...

Two people have been taken to hospital after a collision involving a van and a Sheffield Supertram.
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police confirmed the transit van driver and a front seat passenger were treated for minor injuries.

The accident happened in West Street in the city centre on Friday morning. The road was completely blocked and was closed for an hour.

Accident investigators are looking into how it happened.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/4425761.stm

In lasts night Star it had a comment from the Police saying the white suddenly braked to turn,and as the trams can not suddenly stop on a six pence(or something light that) it hit the van. So reading between the lines it sounds like the tram was traveling to close the the van.

Originally posted by pj66
in a survey carried out a few years ago it was noted that the majority of white van drivers were one man businesses over the age of 30 and involved in far fewer accidents than car drivers, it is as ever the stupid minority of white van drivers that give all others a bad name, i have driven white vans for about 15 years and never had a crash, my "bloody white van" is in perfect condition and driven properly.
how much driving do you do nataliesheff ???

Calm down dear - calm down!
Nataliesheff was just joking ok- so can we please just calm the hell down.

AND it intrigues me how the driver of the van was thrown from the vehicle? Was he not wearing a seat belt??
Mmmmm very interesting.

If he ever was thrown from the vehicle at all!!!

....the article seems to suggest 'minor injuries' not in keeping with being 'ejected' from a vehicle on impact.....


Let's hope everyone on the mend....eh!!

Originally posted by shieshuk
Let's hope everyone on the mend....eh!!

I Agree!!

story as it was!
Tram following flat back van the van then stops without notice trying to turn right on to a no entry!!
Tram un able to stop! as driver of the van gave no notice he was turning or stopping to turn.The van unable to turn as a bus was coming the other way tram hit van pushed the van into the side of a bus comeing towards it....

Who was at fualt......................



the van driver

What a strange city Sheffield's turning into!
First of all an accident where 2 people are slightly injured and the road closed for a time manages to produce 20 or 30 police officers.
Then on S. F. the whole topic has been discussed from every possible angle for I don't know how long [ 10 days?]
Perhaps Sheffielders have a strange fascination for White vans or perhaps the thought of another street closing down , even for an hour , has sent everyone into hysterics ?

Originally posted by shefflad
story as it was!
Tram following flat back van the van then stops without notice trying to turn right on to a no entry!!
Tram un able to stop! as driver of the van gave no notice he was turning or stopping to turn.The van unable to turn as a bus was coming the other way tram hit van pushed the van into the side of a bus comeing towards it....

Who was at fualt......................

the van driver

I always though that in a 'rear ender', the party who drove into the back of the other is at fault due to not keeping a safe distance between vehicles. Yeah, trams cannot stop on a sixpence but surely the drivers should compensate for this by increasing the gap between them and other vehicles?

Thats how I thought it worked in the eyes of 'da law' anyway. I know I felt completely not at fault when I drove into the back of someone who braked way too sharply for my liking. The police didn't agree though. Neither did my insurance. I learnt a lesson that day, let me tell you...... I was on my way to school for a maths A Level class after all.

Everyone has to stop suddenly without warning at some point; all you need is a pedestrian to walk out in front of you or a car to pull out.
You can't use the excuse that you didn't expect the vehical in front to stop so quickly because sometime they do.
So you have to leave a gap big enough to stop within.
However, I know that if you deliberately slam your brakes on and cause the vehicle behind to hit you then you are at fault.

Originally posted by shefflad
story as it was!
Tram following flat back van the van then stops without notice trying to turn right on to a no entry!!
Tram un able to stop! as driver of the van gave no notice he was turning or stopping to turn.The van unable to turn as a bus was coming the other way tram hit van pushed the van into the side of a bus comeing towards it....

Who was at fualt......................



the van driver

Driving around sheffield you find that many times a day the vehicle in front will brake sharply. It is simply common sense to maintain a sensible distance/speed so that you can stop!
If the damage was as serious as this thread makes out then the van must have been hit at quite a speed so it seems the tram wasnt even close to coming to a stop.

Also i thought brake lights were "notice" of a vehicle slowing/stopping. if he didnt have enough time to stop then it is the tram drivers fault no matter how sharply the van broke.

It is not correct to say Sheffield's Supertrams can not stop on a sixpence. Infact they can! The trams are fitted with seperate braking systems. The first acts on the wheels in a similar way to the brakes on most road vehicles. However the second, far more aggressive braking system uses a system of long flat electro-magnetic brake shoes which are fitted between the front and rear wheels of each bogie and normally travel a couple of centimetres above the track. When these magnets are energised they clamp down onto the running rail, effectively glueing the tram to the track.

It seems to me like the main contributors to this accident were a combination of a momentary lapse of concentration by the tram driver together with a sudden and erratic manouver carried out by the van driver.

you dont expect people just to stop and do a right turn in to a no entry

Originally posted by shefflad
you dont expect people just to stop and do a right turn in to a no entry

I don't see what the fact he was making an illegal turn has to do with it; road users need to maintain safe braking distances, and clearly the tram didn't do this if it couldn't stop in time.

The van could have stopped this quickly if a child had run into the road; if this had happened, the result would have been the same.

Hope all are okay.

Originally posted by Kristian

The van could have stopped this quickly if a child had run into the road; if this had happened, the result would have been the same.

Hope all are okay.

Agreeing with you 100% Kristian.

If the van driver had been stopping sharply to avoid hitting a pedestrian, the tram would have made a bloody good job of making sure the pedestrian got hit anyway with the 'cannon' effect.

When I'm following another vehicle, the last thing on my mind is whether they are going to turn into a 'no entry' sign, or even whether they indicate or not. Their brake lights tell me they're stopping, and why they're stopping is of no consequence, they're stopping...and that's it...therefore, it is MY responsibility to make sure I don't hit them.

I would also trust other drivers to keep back and watch my brake lights in case I need to stop abruptly.

...and, in the rush hour anyway, trams usually have a full complement of standing passenger likely to be thrown about in the event of an emergency stop, so the tram driver has even more reason to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

Tram's generally think they own the road - they just blare their horns if you dare to slow them down. And when the tram has a problem (be it with another vehicle or cyclist or pedestrian), its always the other parties fault in the press.

Hopefully the whole system will be run down (its not being extended) and consigned to the dustbin holding the Student Games promotional material letovers.

:thumbsup:

One thing you all seem to be forgetting! It is YOUR responsibility to maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you! Remember, the brake lights on the vehicle ahead only serve to warn you that the vehicle is slowing down, prior to coming to a full stop. Think about it, when you see the brake lights come on, it is already too late for you to react, if you are too close. I have never seen a Super-tram, but I will bet that the driver is seated high enough to see over most vehicles! If he uses that advantage to assess traffic IN FRONT of the vehicle ahead of his, this gives him the time to react. If he does not care to take advantage of that, too bad.
Shefflad made a comment about 'you don't expect a vehicle to stop for no reason,' or something to that effect. Au contraire!!!! That is EXACTLY what you should expect!! I spend 8 hours a day driving in traffic, and I have come to the conclusion that, whenever I see a situation developing, whether it be another vehicle stopping, turning, or going too fast for conditions, etc, I ALWAYS expect the driver to do something either stupid or criminal, and 9 times out of 10, they oblige. The law in Canada regarding the following vehicle is the same as in U.K., the vehicle at the rear is ALWAYS at fault, regardless of the situation or conditions, (critical in Canadian winters, when the road is usually covered in ice and/or snow).
I spend my time driving considering EVERY other driver to be a raving idiot, about to do something completely illogical, and it usually works out that way!
A lot of countries in Europe still have trams, or streetcars, Toronto in Eastern Canada still does, and I remember when I was in Amsterdam in 1961, the number of accidents involving cars either parking, or running into trams, was unbelievable! It seems like some people still don't understand that the tram 'can't get out of the way'! Hell, that used to happen in Sheffield in the 50's!!
Deja vu, all over again!!

Originally posted by oldtimer
One thing you all seem to be forgetting! It is YOUR responsibility to maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you!..............................

If you read the thread in its entirity oldtimer, I think you'll see that all but a couple of posters have stated that same fact, and agreed with it, already.;)

Saxon51. You are correct!!! Memo to self:- Read the whole damn thing before you shoot your mouth off!!!!

I'm guilty of that myself sometimes oldtimer. The secret is to get in there and edit before the gang catch on.:thumbsup:

I don't know if anyone is interested (probably not!) but I'm just damn nosy so noticed when I was buying my coffee today, that a tram driver in uniform and another guy in a fluorescent Jacket were checking out the scene of the accident in some detail this afternoon. I'm assuming the other guy was either a police accident investigator or an internal one from Stagecoach (or whoever runs the trams).

Originally posted by pj66
in a survey carried out a few years ago it was noted that the majority of white van drivers were one man businesses over the age of 30 and involved in far fewer accidents than car drivers, it is as ever the stupid minority of white van drivers that give all others a bad name, i have driven white vans for about 15 years and never had a crash, my "bloody white van" is in perfect condition and driven properly.
how much driving do you do nataliesheff ??? jesus! chill out little fish, my dad used to drive a white van i was being sarcastic!!!! gees!!!!:gag: ps i do lots of driving thanks;)

This is old news. If you want a thread on white vans or safe driving (I'm sure we've had loads already) then, as I said earlier in this thread (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?postid=362706#post362706) please start one.