CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
“Stenhouse Drive has been shut to cyclists and pedestrians” (Tram incident)
(6 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Nasty! Hope the guy recovers the trams are going a fair clip on that section.
I do wish the chipwrapper would employ people who'd actually seen edinburgh though...
A man is understood to be fighting for their life after being struck by a tram near Edinburgh Airport this afternoon.Posted 5 years ago # -
Just heard the chap has died. Cycle path and Stenhouse Drive closed by tram stop.
It must have been at one of the level crossings there, the tram is stopped on the tracks east of the tram stop.
Tragic, I've often thought there should be warning lights or something when a tram is approacing the crossings.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I'm down there almost daily.
very few drivers ding their bells on that stretch which has several ped crossing points.
I've given up asking CEC to trim back the tree foliage which hides eastbound trams from westbound cyclists coming down the flyover towards the "main" ped crossing
Posted 5 years ago # -
Recently I've seen too many people walking along on the tram tracks there with their backs to the oncoming trams - and they were all adults, not kids.
Not suggesting that's what happened in this case, though.
An awful thing to happen, and it was rather sobering cycling by the abandoned, empty tram with a single police guard yesterday afternoon.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@threefromleith: Recently I've seen too many people walking along on the tram tracks there with their backs to the oncoming trams - and they were all adults, not kids.
The Saughton incident is undoubtedly awful, and very sad for the deceased and their family & loved ones. We should wait and see what emerges from any formal investigations before apportioning blame in this case.
However, and without pre-judging the actual events of this incident, I would agree that far too many pedestrians seem to take the proverbial when it comes to their behaviour in the vicinity of trams and tram tracks. At Haymarket tram stop (my "local" in that I pass it every day going to and from work) there is almost always someone who decides that it's fine to 'nip' across in front of an approaching tram.
The emergency stopping distance for a tram is roughly twice that of a bus. Steel wheels on steel rail are great for minimising rolling resistance but less good for traction, whether accelerating or slowing down*. They've had some rather odd lamp-post placards up recently which I think were intended to try to get the message across that putting yourself in front of a moving tram isn't a good idea. It took me a while to realise what the intended message actually was, though. Perhaps they were trying to avoid accusations of being too "nanny state" about it. Well, if some people behave like children, maybe a nanny is what they need...
I've mentioned a few times on here people cycling through that tram stop. I thought it was generally recognised by most cyclists that tram tracks are best avoided if possible, and certainly not approached at a shallow angle, which is what you're constrained to do if you find yourself having to try to take avoiding action between two raised platforms. You can't just pedal off the tracks completely when you're between the platforms: you'd have to stop, dismount and lift the bike up on to the platform (or else do the mother of all bunny hops in to the midst of the waiting passengers - nice). All of which is probably why the tram stop has 'no entry except trams' signs at each end...
More weirdly, yesterday evening I noticed an enormous pile of poo between the rails of the westbound track. I seriously doubt that a human had deposited it but I have to wonder at the thought processes of someone who stands by and watches as their beloved pooch strains one out in the middle of a railway line. (Though I can understand why they wouldn't want to pick it up - especially that one, it was a monster.)
* Which is one reason why trams have 'bodyguard' fixtures at rail/street level to try to reduce the risks if someone does fall in front of or under the side of one. Unfortunately there is no practical way at the moment to make such things 100% effective. And if you are hit directly by a tram doing 40mph, as the Edinburgh ones do on the off-road sections, then safety devices at rail level are only really going to be scooping up what's already a very broken human being.
Posted 5 years ago #
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