How dense do you have to be to miss a 38-ton yellow German tram barreling towards you?
Even with Audi Quattro and a turbocharged engine, if you time your turn wrong against a light-rail tram, the consequences can be dire. An Essen-based Tram driver shared the idiotic moment earlier yesterday on Reddit (Aug. 23,2020) when an Audi D5 driver dismissed all the warning signs, notifying him that the intersection he’d be turning into had a tramline running through it, and turned left ignoring the tram barrelling at him.
The Tram T-boned the Audi, a sure write-off, and the Tram driver snapped a photo more for insurance purposes, but to share with his fellow Redditors on /r/IdiotsInCars.
He didn’t cared about the red light, turned left in front of me. Don’t mess with 38 tons of steel. from r/IdiotsInCars
Here’s the exact location of the collision on Google Maps.
You can see the exact intersection where this Audi A5 driver tried to beat the Tram.
A quick bit of Googling reveals this tramline’s been running down Bredeneyer/Ruttenscheider Street since 1985. If this Audi driver’s a local, then he’s more than aware that these bright yellow Essen Stadtbahn trams make their way down the middle of these streets daily.
There’s even a Youtube video showing a simliar tram on this 107 tramline.
Based on some “back of the napkin” physics, the amount of force going through that Audi, resulting in a crushed side, most likely bent that entire unibody, too. This Audi’s headed to the scrapers.
The tram seems to have suffered a ripped off front bumper guard and presumably a bit of front end damage. Although damage on these trams probably cost more than repairing a severely crunched car, a few weeks at the light-rail repair station and this tram will be on the 107 line as right as rain.
Let this Audi driver’s fate serve as a cautionary tale. Even though you’ve got used to your local light-rail system running through town, don’t think you can play chicken with a tram, beating it before it crosses your path.
