On Saturday 27 April a taxi stopped too close to the tram line on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre and ended up getting hit causing significant damage to the road vehicle with M5000 3028 also suffering some damage. According to eye witness reports the taxi had failed to stop behind the stop line when the tram passed by. Pictures from Philip Hart of the aftermath of the incident follow.
3028 stopped on Mosley Street following the collision. Note that a small part of the tram lays on the ground alongside.
A close-up showing the damage to the front skirt of 3028.
The damage to the tram was nothing compared to that suffered by the taxi as can be seen in this view. The moral of the story - don't mess with a tram! (All photos: Philip Hart)
It looks rather more like a private hire car than a taxi.
This is not the first taxi to take on a tram and lose. You would think they would learn their lesson!!!
It has always puzzled me that this junction is not controlled by traffic lights. I know that this is unlikely to stop d*ckheads like the driver of the vehicle shown in Philip’s picture, but it might just make a few others pause.
John Stewart may well be right, although the sign on the rear door appears to say “???? Taxi”. However, I’m not sure that, whether it’s a taxi or anything similar, it makes any difference to the abilities of the driver! In my experience, most of them are totally arrogant in ignoring the rules of the road.
NEVER liked taxis or minicabs – just think, you put your lives in these cretin’s hands!
Metrolink trams should be fitted with proper loud tramway gongs, which grab the attention far better than those silly, breathy whistles. That’s why trams everywhere else have gongs, emitting a sound of impact which penetrates semi-consciousness, as in boxing. WHY not Manchester? The consortium “dropped a clanger” but nobody will admit it.
Why? The absence of gongs didn’t cause the tram to overshoot a stop line into the path of the taxi! It is the responsibility of road vehicle drivers to make sure the road is clear before proceeding and give way if required to do so. This idiot could just as easily run into the side of a bus or lorry, or even worse run into a pedestrian crossing the road. In my opinion the Metrolink tram whistles are more than adequate for the job.