Can I make a Luas injury claim for injuring my shoulder when I fell on a crowded tram? If there were fewer people on board I would have been able to hold on and would not have fallen.
It should be possible to make a Luas injury claim on these grounds, although your Luas injury compensation claim is only likely to be successful if it can be established that the driver had allowed the maximum tram capacity to be exceeded, or if the tram was dangerously overcrowded.
The maximum safe number of passengers for a 43M Luas tram is 310, although this would need to be reduced if space was taken up by prams and pushchairs for example. The driver must use discretion and should prevent passengers from boarding if it would cause the tram to become dangerously overcrowded. If an emergency stop could not be performed without risking the safety of passengers, this would be negligence on the part of the driver for allowing such a situation to arise and a Luas injury compensation claim would be possible.
However, it is not clear from your question why you fell. If the driver braked suddenly for example, this could be classed as negligence and may give you grounds to claim Luas accident compensation, regardless of the number of passengers on the tram at the time. A lapse in concentration which resulted in the driver having to perform an emergency stop could give you grounds for making a claim for an injury on a Luas tram.
It is always advisable to seek legal advice from a personal injury* solicitor about claiming personal injury* compensation for an accident on public transport, but in your case this is especially important since it is not clear if your fall resulted from driver negligence and whether you will be entitled to claim Luas accident compensation.
When you speak to a solicitor about making a claim for an injury on a Luas tram, your case will be investigated and you will receive assistance with the collection of evidence to establish and prove negligence. Once witness statements have been taken, CCTV camera data obtained — if applicable — and other evidence has been collated, you will be advised if a Luas injury claim is possible, if it is likely to be successful and the level of damages which should be recoverable. You can then make a decision about whether it will be worth your while to proceed with legal action against the tram company based on this information.