Legal action is being taken by the family of a 19-year-old e-scooter rider who died after being hit by a tram in 2022. Tram Operations Limited (TOL) are being sued for alleged negligence, with the family of Reuben Abakah seeking £200,000 in damages.
The court documents submitted to the High Court in London allege that the tram driver failed to keep a proper lookout or recognised a developing hazard as Mr Abakah was approaching the tracks at Waddon Marsh on the Wimbledon branch. It is said that the driver – who is not part of this legal action – first sounded the warning bell 2.0 seconds before the collision, and the horn 1.4 seconds before it happened. The service brake was applied 0.8 seconds before the collision and then the hazard brake a further 0.1 seconds later. The collision happened at 37mph.
The documents also state that the bell and horn were below the ambient background noise at the crossing. It is also said that the design of the approach to the crossing does not force the user to face the direction that trams are coming from although does have a chicane to slow users before attempting to cross the tracks.
Since the accident the speed at the crossing has been reduced from 43mph to 31mph.
Ben Posford from Osbornes Law said that it “shouldn’t have mattered” that Mr Abakah “didn’t look properly”, adding: “That’s not how health and safety works, and hasn’t done for a very long time. He didn’t look until the last minute and he made an error there. From time to time, people are going to make an error. You have to have health and safety measures in place that account for human error, that account for zoning out.”