Hi John (and anyone else) if you have any photos of the collision, we’d love to see them – pictures@thejournal.ie. Thanks

gees Gavin all the red thumbs for askin for photos??? You’d swear these people objected and no harm they would be the first to stick their heads in for a look. Hate that kind of hypocrisy. This is the media like you are entitled to look for photos.

To be fair, they may well have thought I was a bit opportunistic, which they are more than entitled to think. At the time we didn’t know the extent of the damage or injuries so my request may easily have been seen as looking for disaster porn which was far from the intention. Apologies to those who interpreted it that way.

Check out photo 16 looks like the man hanging up the guinness sign on the wall had a lucky escape . And by the look on his face he knows it too

Thanks for the vivid account! :-/

Evangeline, please ignore the sarcastic below. I do not know you but I am glad you are ok. Take a bit of time out because shock is unnoticeable sometimes and you may feel fine but make sure you take it easy for the day and go to the doctor just to be on the safe side. many people can have injuries and not know it.

rather the sarcastic above I mean.

well Judging by the red thumbs I got Evangeline, these people would rather you got hurt, Sick useless F****d up people.

Distance that should of been

There are blind corners coming from both directions (road and tram track) at that junction. I’m only surprised accidents don’t happen more often there.

Here’s hoping everyone makes a full recovery after today’s accident.

Oh I know the spot well and if approaching a known junction I would slow down and ensure nothing is coming before moving. It’s a well known black spot, I can only assume the truck driver is at fault since the tram follows signals and has less of a chance of stopping.

That’s for the gardai and insurance companies to decide. Shouldn’t be speculating here about it…

But the headline clearly states that the Luas Tram collides with Refuse Truck !!

They did collide – in that, they were both moving and impacted upon one another. That doesn’t infer blame on either party.

sure its human nature to speculate. What kind of a person looks at an accident and can turn their mind off NOT speculating? A robot maybe.

man i hate readers who think they can police the comment section. each to their own.

On a logical point of order, what is human nature is not equated to what is excusable.

@Paul Furey. Yes, 1. Stop breaking Red lights 2. Stop parking in Yellow Box 3. Stop playing chicken with oncoming trams 4. Stop crossing in front of trams when the lights are against you (especially on O’Connell Street junction, everyone waits for the Luas to start moving before crossing. Its amdness at the best of times!

It’s generally not the Luas drivers fault- provided they didn’t break their own stop/go signals then a crash involving a tram is always the fault of the motorist.

The problem is that because there is only o e every 6-8 minutes some motorists think they can break red lights to cross over the tracks. I’d bet my last fiver the motorist always says after the accident ‘he cane out of no-where’, i.e.they didn’t look

Marc above probably knows more about this, but I was under the impression that the Luas cannot be moved forward unless it has the lights?

How many times must we re-engineer to accomodate stupidy?

Motorists, cyclists, and all road-users, for the libe of god, obey traffic-lights!

So all you red thumbs think its ok to drive on bald tyres?

I was wondering when you’d appear. A Luas-related article is incomplete without Sean Mc Avinue whingeing about the “disadvantages of the Luas”.

If people obeyed traffic signals and didn’t walk / drive on to tram tracks without looking, there would be no accidents.

You wouldn’t blame the train if someone drove through a red light on to a level crossing and caused a crash (not all level crossings have gates / barriers).

You can’t just lock the brakes up with so many passengers (some standing) behind you. Would cause massive injuries. Gentle acceleration and deceleration. Could probably stop way shorter if empty.

Sean maybe you should stick with Camel riding……….that seems to be your prefered mode of transport according to your FB page!!

I can assure you I’m not an idiot. The fact that you can’t make your point without resorting to that sort of language reflects more on you than on me.

I was referring to your regular comments on Luas articles where you harp on about “another disadvantage of the luas”. Examples are available here:
http://www.thejournal.ie/luas-red-line-service-disrupted-after-jeep-collision-563051-Aug2012/
http://www.thejournal.ie/luas-accident-woman-hit-blackhorse-503880-Jun2012/

All vehicles must not give right of way to pedestrians and cyclists. That would be insane. A pedestrian or cyclist can’t just walk out in front of traffic. Pedestrians must give way to traffic except at zebra crossings and at traffic lights where the green man is displayed.
Cyclists must obey the rules of the road the same as motor vehicles. They do not have an automatic right of way by virtue of being a cyclist.

I have had my driving licence for many years, drive regularly in Dublin, and never drive on to Luas tracks unless I have a green light and it is safe to do so.

@ Sean. You should probably quit now. Motorists having to give right of way to pedestrians and cyclists??? Where did you find that ‘fact’?? It’s a wonder there aren’t more accidents with people like yourself on the roads.

It’s true. Cyclists and pedestrians are considered fair game for motorists in Ireland.

Lived in a city Germany back in the 90s and Tram accidents were not uncommon. You talk about LUAS like its some weird Irish transport system that doesn’t conform international breaking norms or something?!
It’s a “Citadis” Tram built by Alstom in France. Scores of cities operate this tram and they have accidents too. Breaking distances have nout to do with happened here.

We have had this discussion before. The Luas has a longer braking distance than cars, but it does not drive in the same traffic lanes as cars. Cars must be able to stop quickly because they share lanes with lots of other traffic.

Of course both of your statements are true, but you cannot directly compare the two in this manner. I could just as easily put the following to you:
1. If cars ran on tracks there would be less potential for collisions.
2. The Luas is more visible than cars and other road users are more likely to know that a Luas is approaching because of its visibility, its bell and the traffic signals indicating its approach.

However, these do not infer that cars are dangerous and should not be allowed on the road.

As I pointed out already, trains and cars use the same space at level crossings (some of which do not have barriers or gates). You would not blame the train if a vehicle drove through a red light on to a level crossing and caused an accident. The same principle applies in the case of a vehicle driving on to Luas tracks. The Luas does not share traffic lanes with other vehicles, and therefore other vehicles do not have an excuse for being on a Luas track when a Luas is approaching.

Conveniently refused to defend your ‘fact’ there I see.

The Luas has a longer breaking distance than cars, as do buses, trains, trucks, planes and space rockets.

Yes cars would be in more accidents if they performed like giant loaded vehicles.

Neither rhetorical question really proves anything more than your concession that pedestrians and cyclists do NOT have an automatic right of way.

@Sean McAvinue….. There have been millions of kilometres totalled on the Luas. There have been Millions of passengers carried on the Luas. The ratio of accidents to kilometres travelled is miniscule and I would bet that its the lowest in the Europe if not the World. Yes the stopping distance of a Tram is 3 times that of a motorised vehicle but the majority of accidents on the Luas have not been caused by Luas drivers but have been the fault of car drivers who ignore warnings and dont heed sign posts!!

Sean so maybe ban trains and planes too I think they have longer breaking distance than cars too. Not sure what is your point.

Yes Fizz. If planes and trains or spaceships or rockets as one gobsh**e said make their journey through the streets of Dublin yes they should be banned