Questions are being raised about a Eureka Springs Transit trolley accident that resulted in one passenger being taken to the hospital onAugust 3.
Eureka Springs Transit Director Ken “Smitty” Smith said a trolley door was open and hit a post on Main Street near the Pied Piper Pub and Cat House Lounge, across from the StoneHouse, which broke the glass in the door.
“One man on the vehicle was taken for medical treatment and released,” Smith said. “He went on his own to the hospital. I believe the injuries were minor. It was just an accident. They happen. That is why we have insurance.”
Former Mayor Beau Satori said about three hours after the accident he got a text from someone asking him about the amount of glass on Main St.
“I happened to have a push broom at the shop so I went down there,” Satori said. “It was a lot of glass and it was very small. It looked like glitter, was about three milliliters by three milliliters, all over sidewalk and down the street in an area of about ten feet across from the StoneHouse. One of the passengers said the trolley was driving with doors open.”
Satori said he swept up the glass and put it in the trashcan, while questioning why the city hadn’t sent someone to clean up the glass right after the accident.
“By the time I was there, it had happened hours earlier,” Satori said. “It had been there all evening. People were wondering why the police hadn’t been notified or someone else with the city hadn’t been delegated to clean up all that glass that posed a safety hazard to people walking on the street.”
Satori said some people riding the trolley after the accident said the glass hadn’t been cleaned up on the trolley, however, Smith said glass on the trolley was cleaned up quickly.
With the narrow, winding roads in Eureka Springs, especially on busy summer weekends, driving the trolley can be one of the toughest jobs in town.
“Considering the number of hours trolley drivers drive, and the few accidents we do have, it shows they are good drivers,” Smith said.
Satori suggested the city use smaller trolleys.
“The last four trolleys we purchased as smaller, but this past Saturday we needed the biggest trolleys we have on the Historic Loop,” Smith said. “That is ridership demand.”
The Eureka Springs Police Department said they had no report of the accident.