A family who were on-board a tram involved in a serious crash in the Meadows on Halloween last year, say they have still not received an apology from tram operators.
Lacey-mae Morledge was nine at the time of the crash, and was travelling home to Clifton with her mum and cousins from a trick or treating event at the Victoria Centre last year.
As the tram was about to cross the Wilford Bridge, it was involved in a head-on collision with a car, derailing the tram, injuring the driver and leaving several people with minor injuries - including Lacey-mae and her seven family members she was travelling with.
The crash was so severe that bystanders at the time said they thought they had heard a bomb go off.
Lacey-mae and her family were standing just behind the driver’s cabin and when the collision happened they were thrown forward, leaving one of the party with a bruised face.
Mum Mary-Rose Tobin, 33, suffers from anxiety, and had a ‘full-scale panic attack’ when she realised the tram doors were not opening after the crash.
She said: “My worst fear is being stuck in a place and not being able to get out.
“The car in front of us was smoking and we could hear the fire engines coming, but we couldn’t open the doors. It felt like about 10 minutes but I’ve no idea how long it was because I was having a full-scale panic attack.
“My auntie opened the tram doors, and as soon as I got out was sick, straight away, I don’t know what that was.”
She said as a group they were so shaken up that they didn’t want to get another tram back to Clifton , and decided to call a taxi but after waiting half an hour for a taxi to arrive, still no NET replacement transport had arrived.
“My daughter hasn’t got on a tram since, she’s terrified of it, and now Halloween’s coming again, she doesn’t even want to go trick or treating because she associates it with the crash.
“Even the noise of a tram coming she finds unsettling.
“I’ve tried to get her to take the tram for just a couple of stops, but she won’t. She’s terrified. I’ve had to get her a bus pass to get to school, it’s costing me a fortune.”
Almost exactly a year after the crash, on a crossing about 200 yards from where the Halloween crash happened, there was another collision last weekend, Sunday, October 13.
Miss Tobin said since she had emailed NET in the aftermath of the crash, they had not been in contact with her at all, and she had not received an apology despite almost a year passing since the collision.
A spokesman for NET said: “We’re obviously sorry to hear that Miss Tobin’s daughter is concerned about travelling by tram since an unfortunate incident last year when a car collided with the tram she was travelling on.
“Investigations at the time concluded that NET was not responsible for the accident and when Miss Tobin contacted us a few days later we informed her that her details would be passed to our insurers.
“Our records show there has been no further communication from Miss Tobin since her initial call to us on November 5 last year and, since the matter was passed over to the insurer, we are unable to make any further comment.”
