Perhaps soon to comment - but apparently there is no automatic speed limiter. I reckon most of us could conceptually design a maximum speed limiter that adapts to the zone that the tram is operating in.
What are your thoughts?
The more you make trams less like buses and more like trains, the more expensive they (and their infrastructure) become to build, maintain and operate. So I (a) would want to wait and see the RAIB report into the cause and (b) a cosy-benefit analysis of that or other possible options. And I very much hope we will *not* see the disgraceful post-Paddington politicking which led to the post-Hatfield panics.
Not wholly OT given the way Part P stemmed in part from a "something must be done, this must never happen again" response to one sad event.
And just think of all the accidents involving angle grinders. I bet those would be much reduced if an angle grinder could only be lawfully owned or used by those with a licence to do so, renewable annually after an assessment by an approved body. Probably only cost £150 or so per person per year.
Nevertheless, it would be pretty easy to implement this with a GPS device.
Let's face it. AGs are clearly extremely dangerous. I wonder whether it's that thought that keeps the accidents down?
in a tunnel?
I don't see why not, actually. Slow down to whatever the minimum speed is for the tunnel before entering it, then don't speed up until the GPS signal has been regained.
A combination of GPS and accelerometers, I don't see why?
Eh??? I think you mean the maximum speed. The minimum speed would be zero.
then don't speed up until the GPS
I heard a passenger interviewed today, sounds like it's normally not slow *in* the tunnel, but slows as it reaches the exit/bend, she realised it was accelerating in the tunnel and decided to cling onto the railing.
RAIB chappie said that trams essentially run as buses, not as trains, under control of driver and what he can has in visual range.
It's a tram. It runs through streets with other traffic and pedestrians. As well as on old railway track. To automate it would be a very expensive business. It has a driver who is expected to stick to the speed limits - although it sounds like the timetable they run to is impossible. I've no doubt this will come out fully later.
Automation isn't going to be 100% reliable either. Nothing ever is.
My guess by the pics is it was travelling at more than double the 12 mph limit for that curve.
What is more worrying is the doors on the side which was on the ground must have opened as those killed appear to have been underneath the tram.
If the passengers had been contained within the tram, I'd guess it would only be relatively minor injuries - as it didn't hit anything.
That frankly a driverless train is, these days, probably safer.
So you'd be happy to sit in a "Google car" through Croydon _and_ carry the can if something goes wrong?
Not to mention what'd happen to the timetable.
Probably driver error. Fell asleep? Long hours? Heart attack? Trams used to have a dead man's handle. Dunno if they still do.
En el artículo , DerbyBorn escribió:
A mandatory stop signal inside the tunnel near the exit, before the sharp bend the tram came off. Forces the driver to stop, then when given a green aspect, he won't achieve the speed needed to come off the bend.
Cheap, easy to implement, no expensive mods required, and a SPAD (passing a red signal) is a sackable offence for train/tram drivers.
Yes, apart from the disruption of service and extra wear and tear and electricity.
A barrier on the outside of the bend designed to keep a tram upright while slowing it would probably be a lot cheaper.
EXACTLY right. Other posters are simply wrong.
Agree with that. Am I right in thinking that DLR is just a single line without branches? Much easier to implement in that case.
Yes, that was really very badly phrased. I meant slow down to whatever is the lowest speed limit at any point in the tunnel.
We know from the National Express bus that went on its side near Heathrow, that the window glass breaks. There were some very serious injuries as a consequence - lost limbs, etc, as well as several deaths. Ironically, the driver was distracted, making a safety announcement at the time.
There are numerous ways to avoid that, essentially making the glass stronger or adding bars inside, but these hinder rescue in other sorts of crashes and/or cost a lot. So, AFAIK, none of this has been implemented. Not even a pre-recorded safety announcement.
There's a picture here showing the glass all broken, but the rest of the bus's structure essentially undamaged.
Indeed.
No.
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