Pedestrian hurt in Dubai Tram accident

A pedestrian sustained a ‘slight injury’ in an accident with Dubai Tram earlier on Monday, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has confirmed in an emailed statement to Emirates 24|7.

The person was transferred to the hospital for medical treatment, the RTA said.

RTA said: “A pedestrian had sustained a slight injury as a result of attempting to cross the tramway inattentively.”

The RTA stated the pedestrian collided with the side of the tram, which was in motion at the time.

The authority further added: “First Aid revealed that he was slightly injured, and was accordingly taken to hospital for medical treatment.”

RTA said investigations were underway to establish the full details of how the accident took place.

Following the incident, the RTA took to its official Twitter account to say: “Give ways to Trams at all times, the Dubai Tram cannot swerve to avoid you!”

According to Twitter user SM: “The tram just hit a pedestrian in JBR, how slow do you have to be for this to happen?”

When contacted, SM said the man was ‘doing fine’, adding that two police cars arrived on the scene immediately and access to the station was closed for a duration. He further said the accident occurred around 2pm on Monday.

This is not the first incident involving the Dubai Tram; on October 2 last year, a white sedan crashed into the tram during a routine test run.

According to Dubai Police at the time, a woman jumped a red light near Dubai College on Al Sufouh Road, which resulted in the crash. No one was hurt in the incident.

RTA has issued a strict accident protocol involving the Dubai Tram, with fines reaching up to Dh30,000.

A fine can be issued when a traffic offence at a tram intersection leads to death of a person.

Crossing a red traffic signal at the intersection area with the tramway causing an accident that leads to the death of a person, is punishable with a fine between Dh10,000 and Dh30,000, along with suspension of the offender’s driving licence for up to one year, stated the RTA earlier.

When crossing a red traffic light at the tramway intersection, resulting in an accident leading to injuries can result in the offender fined between Dh5,000 and Dh15,000, and the driver’s licence can be revoked for 30 days to six months.

While crossing a red traffic light at the tramway intersection area without causing an accident is punishable with a fine between Dh2,000 and Dh5,000, with a possible loss of driving licence for a period of 30 days to three months.

According to a Service Level Agreement between the RTA and the Public Prosecution of Dubai, an accident in the vicinity of the tram must be reported to the Traffic Prosecution immediately by the tram operator or the traffic police officer on site.

The Traffic Prosecution will examine the situation and take decisions regarding the removal of victims, in order to avoid delaying or disrupting the programmed tram operation.


 

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