Are the tramlines safe when its raining?

[John 11]

I read some statistics on the number of accident caused by tramlines due to wet weather in Sheffield.

 

The figures presented was over a six month period and was very high. Unfortunately I can't remember the source so I won't quote what it was without backing it up but I can tell you the numbers involved were unacceptable.

 

Have you had any bad experience with tramlines due to bad weather or do you think its a case of only happening to bad drivers?

[HxTim 10]

I've been in a car driving on wet tramlines downhill and it was quite scary.

 

Not "going to lose control any second" scary, but I could feel the car planing a bit.

[Cyclone 10]

they are slippier when their wet.

 

So you simply move a few inches to one side or the other.

 

The entire road is only safe if you drive safely.

[Plain Talker 11]

It is my belief that the tramlines are unsafe for a number of reasons:-

 

1) the actual tracks' gauge-measurement, as laid in the road, correspond, almost exactly to the average distance between car-wheels. if your tyres are on one of the tracks, it's odds-on that your otheer tyre will be on the track at the other side.

 

2) there are parts of the track, where the tram lines are either raised above the level o the road, or have sunk, under the level of the tarmacking. if your car or bike (motorbike or pushbike!) comes into contactwith the raised or droped section, you can potentially lose traction and control of your car/ biks.

 

3) the tramtracks ought to have some sort of roughened surface to the part that is uppermost on the road surface. This would mean that the other road-using vehicles have traction when their tyres are touching the tracks.

 

4) in an ideal world, the tram would have been designed as a segregated rail system, as it is near hyde park, and woodbourn road section, towards Meadowhall,and run alongside teh roadway, rather then in the traffic. (this would have had a two-fold benefit. the tramtracks would only intersect with the road-vehicles at junctions where the track crossed the roads, making the carriageway safer for the cars etc, and secondly, the tram would not cause hold-ups in traffic, nor be held up by traffic, making it more efficient)

 

5) An added hazard with the tracks is that because we have only had tram-tracks back in the city for 10 years, cyclists and drivers are not experienced in cycling/ driving with tram tracks. In the "olden" days, the tram tracks were more familiar, every town and city, virtually had them, and folks were used to them. Cyclists knew how to avoid getting their wheels caught in the grooves of the tracks, and accidents were rarer:- today, (yes, even ten years on!) we are still unfamiliar with the tracks and accidents happen frequently.

 

Driving with the tram tracks is a very scary experience, in the wet.

 

Two cyclist friends of mine have both come to grief on the same stretch of track, at Gleadless Townend, the White Lane section, that runs from the Old Harrow Pub, to the Kwik-Save.

 

I cannot remember the weather conditions that my sisters ex-boyfriend's accident took place, so I cannot comment on whether the rails were slippy that day, but, regardless, he came off his bike, and was, sadly, fatally injured.

 

Lately, another friend came to grief, this was in the last couple of weeks of bad weather.

 

He lost control of his bike, because his back wheel locked as he was riding along the track near the White Lane tramstop. he came off his bike, and has damaged his shoulder, (his shoulder was wrenched) and he was bloodied and bruised, and has a "lovely" case of road-rash. he was not wearing a helmet, (because the water was dripping into his eyes from the helmet band, making it more of a hazard to wear than to not-wear it)- he was lucky that he was not more severely injured.

 

he suggests that the signs along the road-sections that say "Beware, slippy when wet" should be altered, to read

 

"Beware! Tracks slippy at all times, lethal when wet!"

 

I agree with him.

 

PT

[MuteWitness 10]

there a nightmare on a bike and some cars still like to drive 1 foot behind you!

[hj dary 10]

Come on chaps, its not that hard!!

 

Drive slightly to the left or right of centre and you will miss the lines.

 

I drive around 30,000 miles a year, mostly in Sheffield and have never found the lines to be a problem.

[Rich 12]

Only problem for me is that the likes of Shalesmoor tram stop tend to flood in heavy rain... Which renders the tracks pretty much useless thus the tram has to terminate there.

[RPG 10]

If you drive safely and not on the rails themselves its perfectly safe, as hj dary says just drive to the left or right of them.

[nozem 10]

Does anyone know of any laws against driving on tram lines that are set in the road as they are in Sheffield.

[mumkin 10]

It's almost a "Darwinian" event when cyclists get caught in the tracks. Surely they must know that their wheels fit snugly into the gape, Surely they know that when the tracks are wet they are slippery.........you'd think so wouldn't you!

[monkey104 10]

Try riding a motorcycle over them when it is wet! It makes things pucker up a little.

I have to make sure I am not accelerating or braking.

Even in my land rover I get a bit of a wobble as I go over them, and I have to go over them as the tracks run parallel to my right turn.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

Does anyone know of any laws against driving on tram lines that are set in the road as they are in Sheffield.

No, but the mostly pre-1960 legislation dealing with 'old-style' trams will still apply.

If time permits, I'll try to locate it and provide a link.