On Saturday, March 27, Tampa’s historic streetcar system came to a screeching halt at the intersection of Channelside Drive and Second Avenue in Ybor City. Around 4 pm, a streetcar slammed into the passenger side of a white sedan, totaling the car’s frame and inflicting minor damage to the front bumper of the streetcar. One streetcar driver not involved in the accident said that even if the conductor could see the impending disaster, it would take up to fifty feet for a train traveling at full speed to come to a complete stop. According to an article on the Streetcar’s website that originally appeared in South Tampa Magazine, the average streetcar weighs nearly 50,000 pounds.
Tampa Police at the scene affirmed no ambiguity in terms of fault – hence why the car’s driver received a traffic citation. Officers told a reporter from TBO.com, “the motorist didn't see a stop sign” and drove on top of the streetcar tracks as a train approached. In January, another accident involving a streetcar occurred when an SUV slammed head-on into a train. Though no serious injuries occurred in either accident, the SUV's driver, “Joshua Pelletier, 35, was charged with driving under the influence and failure to drive on a designated roadway.”
The streetcar, a vital transportation medium for tourists, cruise ship passengers, and locals alike, connects the restaurants and nightlife of Ybor City with the Channelside Entertainment District and Downtown Tampa. Despite calls for banning the streetcar by commentators on TBO’s website, TECO, the owner of the line, plans to extend streetcar service later this year. With an opening date of December 2010 predicted, “The next phase of the system will be a 1/3 mile extension that will run north on Franklin Street to Whiting Street and the Fort Brooke parking garage. It will connect the more than 35,000 people who work in the downtown area to almost every major downtown parking structure.”
What do you think of the street car? Should TECO lengthen the service, stop it all together, or provide additional safety measures to prevent future accidents?
[These photos, exclusive to Examiner.com, have not appeared in any other media outlet.]
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Nice job incorporating photos! That's the best way to tell a story.
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