Two students’ cars were extensively damaged when a Dattco bus took a turn too widely outside the 1 Block of the Townhouses at 11:10 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23.
A silver Subaru Impreza owned by Nathan Rosencranz’05 suffered the most damage of three vehicles involved in the accident.
“I don’t have an exact estimate yet, but it is going to be over $5, 000 worth of damage,” said Rosencranz.
The right rear bumper of the Dattco bus hit the Subaru while making a left hand turn outside of the townhouses. The bus’ bumper scraped the entire left side of the Subaru and hooked the front bumper, dragging it several feet forward, hitting a Nissan Altima parked in front of it.
There was significant damage to the left rear bumper, entire left side and the front bumper of the Subaru, according to the security report.
“I don’t think I will get my car back for another month, if not two,” said Rosencranz.
Although no one was injured, Dattco’s insurance company will pay for the vehicle damages.
“Last week, the insurance company said that they accept responsibility which is something good out of this situation,” said Rosencranz.
The Nissan Altima sustained significant damage to the rear bumper, while the bus has limited damage to its rear bumper. The owner of the Nissan Altima declined to comment.
The accident was reported to security by the bus driver, who stopped and inspected the damage after the hit, and by two female student witnesses.
The crash may have occurred because one of the cars was illegally parked in a fire lane.
“This illegally parked car was a contributing factor in the incident,” said Assistant Security Director Frank Ficko.
The bus driver, whose name has not been released, had to stay too far to the right side of the road in order to avoid the tail end of that car. As a result, the rear of the bus did not clear the parallel-parked cars while making the turn, causing the bus to hit the car on the left.
A verbal warning was given to the driver of the car parked in the fire lane.
The security department is leading the investigation but maintains that it was simply an unfortunate accident.
“We investigated the incident and made out the report,” said Ficko. “All parties involved have access to the report but must submit it to their insurance companies independently and then the repairs can be started.”
This accident has many students worried about the safety of their own parked vehicles.
“It happened right outside my house, and now I am concerned about parking my car near the bus route,” said Robyn Atkachunas ’05, a Mirror staff member. “Why would I even consider parking my car where it could get hit?”
Other students do not seem fazed by the incident and will continue to park at their own risk.
“I feel bad for the kid who’s car got hit, but its not like this sort of thing happens all the time,” said Greg Turner ’05. “So, I am not really concerned about where I park my car.”
Rosencranz is hopeful that the repairs on his car can begin as early as next week, pending a vehicle check by an insurance adjuster.
The process has been slowed by insurance companies and the parties involved. Rosencranz had to wait for a copy of the accident report for about one week.
“It took forever to get a hold of Dattco who had to report the accident to their insurance company,” he said.
Rosencranz is happy the repairs can begin quickly but, he reported he will no longer be riding the bus.
“I’m a little unhappy with the situation,” he said.
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