This is the Age of the Tram
To many, the Blackpool Tramway is a charming throwback to bygone days. Not only is it one of the world’s oldest electric tramways, it is the last surviving first-generation tramway in the UK. Nostalgia is one of Blackpool’s most lucrative commodities, with many visitors trying to revisit the holidays of their youth or recreate them for their own children so no wonder then that Blackpool Council want to expand the tramway beyond the promenade and have already begun extending the tracks through the town towards the railway station. But when accidents occur, as they did at the 2019 ‘Ride The Lights' event when a 14-year-old boy got stuck under a tram leaving him in a critical condition, it seems logical that we should pause and ask ourselves whether we should be moving backwards by expanding this Victorian method of transportation or moving forward with something much safer.
At the hugely popular (and otherwise brilliant) ‘Ride The Lights’, Blackpool promenade is closed to cars for a few hours so that cyclists of all ages can cycle the full length of Blackpool Illuminations a few days before they are officially switched on for the season. If you have taken part in this annual event, you’ll know that the road on that night is absolutely rammed with bikes. Although it is intended as a gentle ride and “not a race” it’s actually really difficult to ride amongst so many other cyclists all going at different speeds and requires one hundred percent concentration. Take your eyes off the road - for example to look at the lovely illuminations - and you could so easily collide with someone. You can understand why cars have to be banned, so why on earth are the trams, which at various points do run on the road alongside cars, still running during this event?
This is something that should concern everybody who walks, drives, or cycles in Blackpool at any time - trams can collide with you. More worryingly though, it will always be your fault. Yes, you heard me right. Trams are never to blame. How so? Because the Highway Code says so - or rather it doesn’t say that they are.
The Highway code mentions trams very briefly, and everything it says about them is a warning to other road users:
The Highway Code
300
You MUST NOT enter a road, lane or other route reserved for trams. Take extra care where trams run along the road. You should avoid driving directly on top of the rails and should take care where trams leave the main carriageway to enter the reserved route, to ensure you do not follow them. The width taken up by trams is often shown by tram lanes marked by white lines, yellow dots or by a different type of road surface. Diamond-shaped signs and white light signals give instructions to tram drivers only.
Law RTRA sects 5 & 8
301
Take extra care where the track crosses from one side of the road to the other and where the road narrows and the tracks come close to the kerb. Tram drivers usually have their own traffic signals and may be permitted to move when you are not. Always give way to trams. Do not try to race or overtake them or pass them on the inside, unless they are at tram stops or stopped by tram signals and there is a designated tram lane for you to pass.
305
Always give priority to trams, especially when they signal to pull away from stops, unless it would be unsafe to do so. Remember that they may be carrying large numbers of standing passengers who could be injured if the tram had to make an emergency stop. Look out for people getting off a bus or tram and crossing the road.
306
All road users, but particularly cyclists and motorcyclists, should take extra care when driving or riding close to or crossing the tracks, especially if the rails are wet. You should take particular care when crossing the rails at shallow angles, on bends and at junctions. It is safest to cross the tracks directly at right angles. Other road users should be aware that cyclists and motorcyclists may need more space to cross the tracks safely.
As you can see, everything about trams in the highway code (which all road users should have read) is a warning of some kind. If you collide with a tram, the legal stance is that you must have ignored the warning. The two most specific phrases that confirm this are “always give way to trams” and “always give priority to trams”. Not sometimes. Not even when traffic lights tell you that you have the right of way. Always. We have spoken to a number of people who have been in a collision with a tram whilst driving a car and they all had the same experience. When their insurance company wrote to Blackpool Transport for their insurance details and their take on the accident, all they got back in the post was a blown-up photocopy of the page with the words “Always give way to trams” highlighted in fluorescent marker, and nothing else. How utterly arrogant. But the law is allowing them to be so.
Of course, trams, like most forms of public transport, are safer to travel in than cars, statistically speaking. They don’t crash as often (that’s because there are fewer of them than cars) and there are more people travelling safely on them so the numbers are always going to be on their side. Still, if you’re the one person unlucky enough to collide with it, you’re not going to fare so well. Even if you come out alive, you’re paying for it.
We’re not anti-tram - they do have a charm - but trams travelling through the streets are a terrible idea. Also, the Highway Code urgently needs revising. Despite numerous revisions to the text of the Code, the rules around trams have remained pretty much the same since the days of the old-fashioned trams which didn't have such great brakes. If a child ran out in front of one of those old things, they couldn’t have stopped in time even if they slammed the anchors on right away, so fair enough, it was safest to give way to them.These “Heritage Trams” are still running on weekends and bank holidays, so we do need to be cautious - but for the majority of the time the modern replacement trams run, and these are quite different. New trams accelerate and travel much faster, but they do have better brakes. They also have traffic lights controlling them at various places (such as around Anchorsholme Park). In many ways, they are more like buses, and they don’t really deserve the free-pass to race around at high speeds without fear of reprisal that the ancient Highway Code gives them. The Highway Code shouldn’t just cover trams, it should apply to them too.
Take care around trams. Don’t trust traffic lights that say you can drive across the path of a tram, because the Highway Code says they don’t have to obey the same lights as you and they may just slam into you. Teach your kids how to behave near tram tracks. Write to your MP and tell them that you are not happy with the fact that trams don’t have to obey the Highway Code, even though they do travel along the same roads. But most of all, remember: This is the aaaaaaage…. of the tram.
At the hugely popular (and otherwise brilliant) ‘Ride The Lights’, Blackpool promenade is closed to cars for a few hours so that cyclists of all ages can cycle the full length of Blackpool Illuminations a few days before they are officially switched on for the season. If you have taken part in this annual event, you’ll know that the road on that night is absolutely rammed with bikes. Although it is intended as a gentle ride and “not a race” it’s actually really difficult to ride amongst so many other cyclists all going at different speeds and requires one hundred percent concentration. Take your eyes off the road - for example to look at the lovely illuminations - and you could so easily collide with someone. You can understand why cars have to be banned, so why on earth are the trams, which at various points do run on the road alongside cars, still running during this event?
This is something that should concern everybody who walks, drives, or cycles in Blackpool at any time - trams can collide with you. More worryingly though, it will always be your fault. Yes, you heard me right. Trams are never to blame. How so? Because the Highway Code says so - or rather it doesn’t say that they are.
The Highway code mentions trams very briefly, and everything it says about them is a warning to other road users:
The Highway Code
300
You MUST NOT enter a road, lane or other route reserved for trams. Take extra care where trams run along the road. You should avoid driving directly on top of the rails and should take care where trams leave the main carriageway to enter the reserved route, to ensure you do not follow them. The width taken up by trams is often shown by tram lanes marked by white lines, yellow dots or by a different type of road surface. Diamond-shaped signs and white light signals give instructions to tram drivers only.
Law RTRA sects 5 & 8
301
Take extra care where the track crosses from one side of the road to the other and where the road narrows and the tracks come close to the kerb. Tram drivers usually have their own traffic signals and may be permitted to move when you are not. Always give way to trams. Do not try to race or overtake them or pass them on the inside, unless they are at tram stops or stopped by tram signals and there is a designated tram lane for you to pass.
305
Always give priority to trams, especially when they signal to pull away from stops, unless it would be unsafe to do so. Remember that they may be carrying large numbers of standing passengers who could be injured if the tram had to make an emergency stop. Look out for people getting off a bus or tram and crossing the road.
306
All road users, but particularly cyclists and motorcyclists, should take extra care when driving or riding close to or crossing the tracks, especially if the rails are wet. You should take particular care when crossing the rails at shallow angles, on bends and at junctions. It is safest to cross the tracks directly at right angles. Other road users should be aware that cyclists and motorcyclists may need more space to cross the tracks safely.
As you can see, everything about trams in the highway code (which all road users should have read) is a warning of some kind. If you collide with a tram, the legal stance is that you must have ignored the warning. The two most specific phrases that confirm this are “always give way to trams” and “always give priority to trams”. Not sometimes. Not even when traffic lights tell you that you have the right of way. Always. We have spoken to a number of people who have been in a collision with a tram whilst driving a car and they all had the same experience. When their insurance company wrote to Blackpool Transport for their insurance details and their take on the accident, all they got back in the post was a blown-up photocopy of the page with the words “Always give way to trams” highlighted in fluorescent marker, and nothing else. How utterly arrogant. But the law is allowing them to be so.
Of course, trams, like most forms of public transport, are safer to travel in than cars, statistically speaking. They don’t crash as often (that’s because there are fewer of them than cars) and there are more people travelling safely on them so the numbers are always going to be on their side. Still, if you’re the one person unlucky enough to collide with it, you’re not going to fare so well. Even if you come out alive, you’re paying for it.
We’re not anti-tram - they do have a charm - but trams travelling through the streets are a terrible idea. Also, the Highway Code urgently needs revising. Despite numerous revisions to the text of the Code, the rules around trams have remained pretty much the same since the days of the old-fashioned trams which didn't have such great brakes. If a child ran out in front of one of those old things, they couldn’t have stopped in time even if they slammed the anchors on right away, so fair enough, it was safest to give way to them.These “Heritage Trams” are still running on weekends and bank holidays, so we do need to be cautious - but for the majority of the time the modern replacement trams run, and these are quite different. New trams accelerate and travel much faster, but they do have better brakes. They also have traffic lights controlling them at various places (such as around Anchorsholme Park). In many ways, they are more like buses, and they don’t really deserve the free-pass to race around at high speeds without fear of reprisal that the ancient Highway Code gives them. The Highway Code shouldn’t just cover trams, it should apply to them too.
Take care around trams. Don’t trust traffic lights that say you can drive across the path of a tram, because the Highway Code says they don’t have to obey the same lights as you and they may just slam into you. Teach your kids how to behave near tram tracks. Write to your MP and tell them that you are not happy with the fact that trams don’t have to obey the Highway Code, even though they do travel along the same roads. But most of all, remember: This is the aaaaaaage…. of the tram.
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