Which crash types involving buses and trams are most common?

In crashes with buses and trams, most casualties occur among crash opponents. This mainly concerns vulnerable road users (especially pedestrians and cyclists; also see the question How many casualties are caused by public transport crashes? ).

Unfortunately, information about public transport crash types, other than train crashes, can only be found in older studies. In an exploratory study of the 1999-2002 crash files of Connexxion (a Dutch (sub)urban public transport company), the following five crash types were identified [4]:

1. Crashes on (separate) bus lanes.
2. Blind spot crashes.
3. Braking buses resulting in rear-end collisions.
4. Driver distraction resulting in a crash; This crash type mainly caused casualties among crash opponents and sometimes also among those aboard the bus.
5. Crashes without crash opponents, but resulting in injuries of people on board.

In a study of tram crashes in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the following three crash types are mentioned [5]:

1. Crashing with left-turning traffic or with road users who are unfamiliar with their environment and are therefore searching for their destination, resulting in inattentiveness.
2. Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians ignoring red traffic lights.
3. Crashes with pedestrians and cyclists who, while crossing, do not hear or see the tram coming, either on the tram track or in mixed traffic areas (sometimes because they are listening to music or using their mobile phones).