ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Bytor]

Just based on this photo, I am struggling to figure out how a transport truck could be traveling fast enough or maneuver fast enough in that location that the LRV couldn't stop in time.  The damage appears to show that the LRV hit the truck that was fouling the track. The LRV was also presumably traveling at slow enough speed having just cleared the Erb/Caroline corner and also preparing to stop at the station. Based on the trailer, this truck was likely making a delivery to the Loblaws Independent Grocer.

The speed limit of the LRV in that section is 50 km/h (it's a rare section where the speed limit matches the surrounding traffic...doubly so for a side running section). It's 150 meters from the last intersection so I wouldn't say it "just cleared" Erb and Caroline. While it's unlikely the operator is actually doing the speed limit there, 40km/h is very possible. At that speed the LRV stopping distance will be significant (a dozen meters maybe).

Given the orientation of the truck, it was probably proceeding straight (the trailer is aligned in the lane), and made a turn, if they weren't signalling, the driver would have almost no warning about the impending collision.

40km/h is unlikely.

Had the tram not come by at that moment it would have gone something like this:

1. come up to just past the pedestrian island
   
2. cranked the steering wheel right so when they went into reverse the tractor-trailer would bend and the trailer go diagonally across the lanes
   
3. as they go start cranking the steering wheel left so the tractor and trailer align with each other
   
4. continue to back up diagonally across the road a bit more
   
5. turn the steering wheel right so the trailer turns to align with the loading dock
   

That turn at 2) would have taken them up onto the tracks. The tram would have been already very slow from rounding the corner and not needing to slow to stop at Willis Way station, so it was likely at the ass-end of the trailer or not much farther when the truck driver pressed on the accelerator to start the bend in step 2. If the tram was much farther back there would have been more time for the tractor-trailer to bend more and the tram's front-left corner would have hit the hitch end of the trailer or the right rear tires of the tractor instead of hitting and scraping along the cab and snagging the tractor's front bumper like that.


As the tram would not have been in the right side blindspot, the truck driver was likely fixated on the driver's side mirror to judge that the ass-end of the trailer was headed where they wanted it to go.