Police say the woman who rear-ended the department’s Animal Control van on South Avenue late Friday morning had taken her eyes off of the road to grab something from her purse.
Scenes from an accident involving a New Canaan Animal Control van on Friday, March 13, 2015. Credit: Michael Dinan
The van was pushed 26 feet in the accident, according to Sgt. Carol Ogrinc, public information officer of the New Canaan Police Department.
Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt suffered head, neck and knee pain in the accident—she was treated at Norwalk Hospital and out within a few hours, officials have said. She is OK, police said. Kleinschmitt had been stopped at the end of a line of traffic from the light at Bank Street, Ogrinc said.
The accident occurred at about 11:18 a.m. near Harrison Avenue, police said. The vehicles were traveling northbound.
Scenes from an accident involving a New Canaan Animal Control van on Friday, March 13, 2015. Credit: Michael Dinan
It isn’t clear whether there were any animals in the car, according to Ogrinc.
The motorist who caused the accident is a 58-year-old Weed Street woman and she was driving a 2015 Range Rover, Ogrinc said.
The accident snarled traffic on South Avenue for about one hour Friday. Police directed a single lane of traffic around the cars until they could be towed, Ogrinc said.