Tuesday afternoon, two months before the KC Streetcar is scheduled to begin transporting the public, it struck a Mercedes that was illegally parked along Main Street.
The streetcar was on a test drive along its route when it collided with the Mercedes on Main Street between 20th Street and 22nd Street.
Donna Mandelbaum, communications manager for KC Streetcar, said the vehicle was illegally parked over the white line when it was struck.
RELATED | What to know about parking on the KC Streetcar route
At the scene of the collision, police cited the Mercedes's driver.
Mercedes SUV and brand new Kansas City streetcar collide Tuesday at 20th & Main St. @KCStar pic.twitter.com/nDVOUFBeop
— David Eulitt (@davidphotokc) March 1, 2016
"If it's [the streetcar] going about 25 mph it could take a full 60 feet to come to a complete stop," said Mandelbaum. "It's about a 78,000-pound vehicle, so it does take some time to stop."
She called it a minor incident and said the damage to the streetcar is minor.
The streetcar was able to continue for the rest of its testing and complete its route once the scene was cleared, but it will return to Singleton Yard Tuesday afternoon for an evaluation and debrief.
Mandelbaum said investigators will determine why the streetcar driver did not stop before hitting the car.
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