Dramatic footage has appeared on the internet of the moment a tram was derailed in Croydon Town Centre following a car crashing into its side at high speed. The collision happened shortly before 2200 on Sunday 7th February at the junction of Station Road and Wellesley Road during torrential rain as Storm Imogen struck the south of England.
The CCTV footage seems to show that the tram has right way as it was rounding the corner with one other car waiting at the traffic lights for the tram to clear the area. But then another grey car approaches the junction at high speed and unable to stop hits the cab side of the tram – an unidentified CR4000 – with the impact so severe that the tram came off the rails. A firefighter sent to the scene claimed that the tram was moved 15 feet as a result of the collision.
At least four people were injured in the collision including two in the car and two on board the tram but none were reported as suffering from life threatening injuries.
Tramlink services between Reeves Corner and East Croydon were suspended whilst the emergency services first dealt with the incident before the tram could be rerailed and returned to depot. Presumably the RAIB will now be investigating although from the CCTV footage we would perhaps suggest it is fairly clear what caused the collision.
The CCTV footage is available to view at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPxc2ICHupg.
The video does look pretty conclusive doesn’t it! RAIB often don’t investigate RTCs as they are a police matter. I don’t believe that any of the recent incidents involving RTCs in Manchester have been investigated by RAIB.
I am a bus driver in the Croydon area. Intriguingly on Sunday our radios warned us to take extreme care because of two occasions where there had been near misses between buses and trams. Both incidents were at the junction of Wellesley Road and George Street, not far from the crash site, and it was implied that both buses and trams had signals to proceed. Knowing the speed that some vehicles attain on Wellesley Road I would expect bad driving to be the cause but faulty lights can’t be ruled out just yet.
They may look at this as a derailment occurred, although it clearly wasn’t any fault of the Tram or Tramway! The footage is interesting as a second car goes well over the white line!
It looks to me that the second car was chasing the one that crashed into the tram .
Hmmm! Notice how the second car is travelling at a speed that took it over the second stop line, suggesting that it may have possibly been under a green light! Hmmmmmm
Yes, but the third car remains stationary throughout the incident
The presence of the stationary red car in lane two suggests the traffic lights were on red. I think Stuart’s view that the black car was either racing or pursuing the silver one is more likely.
I understand from other sources that the driver of the car that hit the tram has been arrested on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence and another person has been interviewed under caution in connection with the incident.
The driver of the silver car that hit the tram has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving (Article in Croydon Advertiser today). Bailed until April to allow Police investigation.
Don’t forget that there is a stationary car at the lights which suggests they were on red. The first speeding car does not appear to break even when the tram must be in view, mind you cctv can be deceptive
It is possible that the stationary car has a red for a filter, while the other is green. The apparant lack of braking would seem to indicate careless driving though. Perhaps they were racing hence the second car slamming on.
There’s no filter light at that junction in the ‘straight-on’ pair of lanes. There’s only a filter light in the separate lane leading left around into Station Road towards West Croydon station.
The car travelling at that speed which hit the tram had clearly no intention to make that sharp left-hand turn!
This street view may assist:
http://tinyurl.com/jnm2j5r
Well that picture should put to rest any lingering doubts as to who hit who at the junction .
Oh my, I cannot believe that, how could you be such an idiot to crash into a tram!