Atlanta Streetcar, in its test runs, struck by two cars

SAFETY TIPS FROM THE ATLANTA STREETCAR

• Streetcars travel at or below the posted speed limits.
• It's OK to drive on the streetcar tracks; your vehicle's tires may feel a bit different on the track, but the tracks are not electrified.
• Look for streetcars before you make a right at a red light.
• The streetcars are very quiet and you probably won't hear them approaching.
• Streetcars cannot stop quickly and are on rails, so they can't maneuver out of the way of vehicles and pedestrians.
• A streetcar traveling at 20 mph takes almost 60 feet to stop.
• Do not attempt to pass a streetcar.
• The Atlanta streetcars are big — they're nearly 9 feet wide and 12 feet tall — and they will block your line of sight, so do not pass a streetcar at a stop, and be alert for those disembarking from the streetcar.

The Atlanta Streetcar hasn’t begun carrying passengers yet, but it has already become acquainted with Atlanta traffic. In a recent four-day period, two cars ran into the big blue streetcar as it rolled on its tracks downtown.

The city is running full-time testing on the cars as it ramps up for the Dec. 6 opening, so the cars are on the streets all day, running their regular routes just as they will when the line opens to the public, Atlanta Streetcar spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said.

“We’re simulating service so we have streetcars out all day today, showing drivers what it looks like during regular service,” Gavin said Monday.

Sunday afternoon’s accident took place as the streetcar tried to turn from Andrew Young International Boulevard onto Centennial Olympic Park Drive, Gavin said. A car tried to go around the streetcar by crossing a double-yellow line, Gavin said, just as the streetcar received a signal clearing it to turn. The smaller vehicle collided with the big blue streetcar as the latter made its turn.

Gavin said no one was injured.

In Thursday’s accident, at Peachtree and Ellis streets, Gavin said a car ran a red light as it sought to get through the intersection before the streetcar did.

Again, no one was reported injured.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that the Federal Transit Administration held up the opening of the streetcar this month because of safety concerns, including inadequate pavement marking and a lack of signs warning other drivers not to turn in front of streetcars.

But Gavin said those issues have been resolved, and she said nothing should stand in the way of the streetcar’s launch Dec. 6.

In the meantime, the cars are making test runs every 15 minutes on their 2.7-mile route weekdays from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.