What happened:
Our client, a 73 year old lady, was getting off a tram when the doors closed on her.
She suffered a soft tissue contusion to her chest from which she made a full recovery after about 6 months.
What went wrong:
The accident was caused by the driver of the tram not ensuring all passengers had left the tram before operating the doors.
Impact on client:
Fortunately, the injuries were not severe. The Claimant suffered pain in her chest which gradually diminished and resolves after about 6 months.
Legal outcome:
The tram operator denied liability. Despite the incident being captured on CCTV which was available to the tram driver in the cab, and clearly showed the client was about to alight when the doors were closed, the tram operator asserted they were not negligent as the driver was trained to focus on passengers getting on the tram, not passengers getting off!
It was necessary to take this case all the way to a Trial for a Judge to decide the tram operator had been negligent and award the client £3,000.00 compensation.
