It appears that trams have a dead man's handle which greatly reduces the risk of runaway trams. Also, the main difference between the operation of trams and trains is that the tram driver is required to ensure that the track is clear before using it whereas a train driver reads the signals to check whether or not the track is clear and safety is designed accordingly.FosseWay wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 12:04It's this that I'm unclear about. Why is a barrier needed at all?
In normal operation, I presume the tram runs along the tracks through the junction, including stopping at both the signal-controlled junction and the tram stop. Just now while the work is going on, there are no trams running through the junction, but evidently they stop fairly close to where the planter is. In any tram system there is always a small risk of mechanical failure, driver illness or deliberate mischief by a driver or passenger that could lead to the tram failing to stop where it should and putting people at risk.
During normal operation (without the planter or roadworks), there is a small chance of something going wrong that makes the tram disobey a stop signal and hit vehicles or pedestrians crossing the junction on green. If it's going fast enough, it may derail and hit the stop shelter or other road users. During the closure, without the planter there, there's a similar small risk of the same thing happening. So my questions are these:
1. Why is the small risk associated with a tram hitting the workforce at the stop considered to be more worthy of mitigation than the same risk of the tram running a stop light and hitting traffic?
2. Why it is considered acceptable to mitigate this small risk - for small it must be not to warrant any mitigation under normal operation - by restricting visibility to road-borne users of the junction (not just cars and cyclists, but pedestrians as well)?
As I say, I must be missing something here, because these questions really shouldn't be beyond someone whose job is to ensure safety on a tram system.
There is of course a risk that the tram driver might be contemplating a spectactula suicide, but how is that different to a bus driver or an HGV driver having similar tendencies?