Milwaukee recently began operating a streetcar line, known as The Hop. The Hop now runs on a 2.5-mile loop through downtown and the Historic Third Ward. While streetcars provide a valuable form of transportation, they also present specific safety risks, and they can cause serious bodily and property injury.

Unfortunately, the risk of accidents can be higher when a streetcar system first begins operation. Necessary safety precautions may not be implemented, and drivers can be inexperienced. In addition, motorists may not be used to sharing the road with the streetcars. Victims of streetcar accidents may include streetcar passengers, drivers and passengers in a vehicle that collides with a streetcar, and pedestrians and bicyclists traveling near the tracks.

Here are five ways a streetcar accident can occur:

The United States is in the midst of a streetcar resurgence. In the last five years, at least 10 major U.S. cities, including Milwaukee, have added streetcar lines. While many people are pleased about the additional public transit options and think streetcars benefit the community, some believe that this form of transportation adds additional dangers to city streets. Streetcar accidents are certain to occur, especially when a streetcar line opens in a new city. 

The Streetcar Renaissance  

Milwaukee’s streetcar line, The Hop, will open in November 2018, and the system is currently undergoing testing in parts of the city. The new route is two miles long, and there are plans to expand in the coming years. Unfortunately, accidents involving the streetcars are already being reported.

Milwaukee joins numerous other cities in building streetcar lines such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Tucson, and Washington, D.C. One reason for this new trend is that the federal government has made it a priority to fund small-scale transit projects that seek to revitalize urban areas.