Passenger injury news
12/02/2008

Australian personal injury lawyers attack tram system

Personal injury lawyers in Australia have claimed that the incidence of passenger injury cases may be declining in numbers in the Yarra region, but that the severity of the injuries received is getting worse. One solicitor cites this as the reason that the local government organisation responsible is paying out more in compensation claims, despite there being fewer injuries.

Some of these injuries have been quite shocking, including pensioners with fractured ribs and hips sustained in falls as the trams they were travelling in stopped abruptly.

Some believe that design flaws are to blame, citing low floors, stiff bars for standing passengers and hard plastic seats as dangerous elements in the new French-designed vehicles that the Yarra tram system now uses.

Australian newspaper The Age reports that a leading injury-prevention expert doubted the adequacy of crash-testing on the trams, leading to the possibility that tram operators and manufacturers could be left wide open to no win, no fee claims from travellers who have sustained a passenger injury while riding in their vehicle.

As the trams are compliant with European crash standards, personal injury lawyers in the UK may well be watching these cases develop, as it may have a bearing on any passenger injury cases involving the tram networks in the UK, such as those in Sheffield and Manchester.