Some thoughts
Andy B
Wednesday, December 11, 2002 1:10 PM
Over the last few months, I have become
increasingly annoyed over the number of motorists who pass my tram while it is
stationary and passengers are boarding & alighting.
It was once amusing to watch waiting cars take off
as soon as the back door started to shut, but now it is just plain
annoying. These motorists don't know if a passenger is going to step on to
the sensitive step and then step out from the tram - by which time the motorist
would probably be going at a speed at which they would be unable to
stop.
Yesterday morning I stepped out from my tram and
was struck by a car travelling past. After some verbal abuse, the driver
stated that there were no passengers on the road and because I was just a tram
driver there was no need to stop, because I wasn't worth stopping for. (Of
course, I showed much restraint in not putting a point bar through his
windscreen).
I believe the problem comes down to one, or a
combination of, the following three things:
1. Ignorance. The motorist does not
know how to behave when it comes to trams, either due to simple lack of
knowledge or because they may be from out of state or even from
overseas.
2. Arrogance. The attitude of "I don't really care, I am in a hurry
and need to get past". This seems to be particularly relevant to Chapel
St.
3. Inability. The motorist has only
realised that the tram is stopping and has been placed in a position where they
need to make a split second decision: keep going or stop?. It seems to be
50/50, and I can always tell which ones are in this situation and usually will
not report them.
Tram drivers have the option of reporting the
incident to the police by way of a form entitled "Vehicle Passing Stationary
Tramcar (or Wrong Side)". The form itself takes about 10 minutes to
complete, and requires too much information that can readily be obtained without
delaying the service.
The form itself is divided into 3 parts:
Details of where and when the incident happened; details of the motorist and car
and details of what happened.
Once a report is sent to the police, and they are
satisfied that an offence has been committed (see http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/legis/vic/consol_reg/rsr1988290/s1402.html?query=%7e+tram+passing for the relevant legislation) they will issue a warning,
generally if there is an independant witness who can back up your report.
If there is no warning, normally nothing will happen. If the motorist has
received a warning before, they will receive a fine of 5 penalty units and 3
demerit points.
In the space of 2 days, I have submitted 3
reports. In one case, a person was struck (me). It's likely that all
3 will get off with nothing more than a warning. If any do get fined (or
maybe charged) I will be surprised. In 2 years, I've probably lodged over
50 reports, and of that 2 have been fined.
So anyway, to get to the point.
I have decided to make a big issue out of
this. I'm tired of watching passengers dive out of the way of cars who
fail to stop. Passengers themselves do contribute to the problem:
intending passengers walk onto the road when the tram approaches when they
really should be waiting for the tram to come to a stop, and alighting
passengers just bound from the tram not bothering to take the time to
look.
My plan is to lobby my employer, the OHS
representative, the RTBU, the TAC, the state government and whoever else in
order to do something about this.
If someone out there can over some comments,
suggestions or thoughts in order to achieve something successful, please email
me OFF LIST (as this is not really something to be discussed on list) at [email protected]
Thanks
Andy B :D
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