Drivers running red lights at fault for Luas accidents: RPA

MOTORISTS driving through red lights have been blamed for a series of accidents involving Luas trams in Dublin.

Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) chief Frank Allen said he believed a pattern was emerging of drivers ignoring traffic lights, especially at busy intersections on the Tallaght line between Heuston and Connolly stations.

RPA executives appeared before an Oireachtas committee yesterday following four collisions between cars and trams in the past fortnight on the Connolly-Tallaght line. Mr Allen told the Joint Committee on Transport that cars going through red lights were responsible for seven of the 10 accidents to date on the Sandyford and Tallaght lines.

“There is a phenomenon of poor compliance with traffic lights at junctions,” he said.

“People have to observe the red light. Some still see it as meaning ‘only three more cars’.”

He said the problem was not confined to Luas trams as there were 22 accidents so far this year involving collisions with cars at railway level crossings.

He said that total of 10 accidents to date was “a pretty good record” against a background of the 3½ million passengers who have used the light rail system since services began last June.

Three of the accidents resulted in people being hospitalised, although none involved serious injury.

“However, if the pattern of the past 10 days was to continue, we would be very worried,” said Mr Allen.

He told the committee drivers had been instructed to slow down in city areas following recent accidents, while they had also led to a deferral of plans to increase the frequency of services on both lines.

Mr Allen acknowledged that while such decisions based on safety considerations could make the Luas less attractive to commuters, it was “a price worth paying”.

An average of 30,000 passengers use the Red Line to Tallaght daily, with a further 20,000 people using the Green Line to Sandyford, of which around 50% are estimated to be former drivers.

The RPA has promised to review signs and road markings at junctions to see if further improvements can be made.

The committee also heard that a report into the derailment of a tram on St Stephen’s Green last September had revealed the accident was due to driver error.

The chairman of the committee, John Ellis (FF), suggested flashing signals, like those used outside primary schools, should be installed at dangerous junctions.

Fine Gael transport spokesperson Olivia Mitchell recommended cameras at busy junctions to catch drivers who broke traffic lights.

Around 1,000 people to date have been fined 45 for not having a valid ticket on Luas. However, the RPA expressed satisfaction with the overall level of fare-paying compliance.