Town officials this week received a notice from attorneys representing GEICO saying that the insurance company is owed nearly $2,500 in connection with an accident that occurred in the YMCA parking lot over the summer.
New Canaan YMCA parking lot. Credit: Michael Dinan
According to the letter from attorney Raymond Tuccio of Mazza and LeBlanc, a Honda Odyssey insured by GEICO was struck on the morning of July 14 by what appears to be a New Canaan Public Schools vehicle.
Though no on was injured in the accident, some $2,396.82 in damages were done after the NCPS car “negligently collided” with the Honda, according to a Small Claims Writ, received Tuesday in the New Canaan Town Clerk’s office.
“Please accept this written notice as a demand for settlement in the amount of $2,396.82,” Tuccio said in a cover letter. “Please contact me should you wish to resolve this matter without further litigation.”
According to a police report, an officer around 9:16 a.m. was dispatched to the Y lot on a report of two-car crash. There, the Odyssey driver, a 36-year-old Forest Street woman, said she was following the NCPS vehicle down the first lane of the parking lot traveling eastbound toward the building, according to the police report.
The Forest Street woman told police “that it appeared as though the vehicle in front of her was going to make a right hand turn at the bottom of the lane.”
“She stated she went to pass the vehicle when it began backing up and struck the rear passenger side of her vehicle. [The Forest Street woman] started she did not recall whether or not the vehicle in front of her had a turn signal on.”
Police saw scrapes to the right side of the woman’s rear bumper.
Meanwhile, the district’s transportation coordinator already was on scene, taking photos, according to police. The NCPS vehicle’s driver, a 64-year-old woman, told police that she was traveling down the first lane of the parking lot “when she decided to back-in park into a space on the south side of the parking lot.”
“She stated she began her maneuver, when [the Forest Street woman’s] vehicle attempted to pass her on the left, causing the front left side of [the NCPS vehicle] to strike the right rear side of [the NCPS vehicle].”
She couldn’t remember whether she had her turn sign or reverse lights on, the police report said.