Motorists told to obey rules after tram crash
LIGHT Rail bosses are calling on motorists to take more care around tram tracks after releasing figures which show a car collides with a tram about once every six weeks.
A busy Southport intersection was thrown into chaos about 9am yesterday when a car collided with a tram on Scarborough Street.
A man was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition with shoulder and arm injuries.
For about 50 minutes while the scene was cleared trams were halted between Southport and Surfers Paradise North stations with replacement buses running. Witnesses said this wasn’t the first crash they’ve seen.
An almost identical accident happened last August when a 17-year-old had to be cut from her car by firefighters after crashing into a tram at the junction.
“Only a few months ago the same thing happened, a car turned right and didn’t see the tram,” a witness to yesterday’s crash said.
GoldlinQ spokesman Jason Ward said this was the third collision to occur at the intersection.
“Trams have crossed this intersection in Southport almost 500,000 times since operations commenced in July 2014 and this is the third collision as a result of a car disobeying a red traffic signal,” he said.
“Since trams started testing in October 2013 there have been 44 collisions involving motor vehicles,” he said.
“We urge motorists to simply do the right thing and follow the road rules and this type of incident will be avoided.”