An SF340 pilot described a collision with a ground vehicle which turned into his aircraft's taxiway allowing too little time for him to avoid it.

Narrative

The First Officer; Flight Attendant and I were repositioning the aircraft from the maintenance hangar to the gate. Our initial taxi instructions were Zulu short of Charlie. Once short of C; the First Officer contacted Ramp; giving our position and the gate we wanted to go to. Ramp cleared us to take C to the gate. We were given no hold short instructions. We turned east onto the Charlie taxi lane and were moving toward the gates. I was looking straight ahead; when the First Officer pointed to the left and said look out. As I turned to the left I saw a ground vehicle that had been traveling east parallel to the Charlie taxi lane turning right; toward our aircraft. I then tried to turn the aircraft to the right to avoid a collision. Unfortunately; the left wing tip grazed the vehicle. We immediately stopped the aircraft and shut down both engines; and informed Ramp Control about the situation. After speaking with emergency personnel; I called our Safety Committee. The aircraft had not been flown yet that day; so the Flight Attendant was preparing the galley for the impending flight. She was standing at the time . Afterward she complained that her knee and wrist were hurting. Airport authority personnel took her and examined her for approximately 15 minutes. Maintenance personnel then repositioned the aircraft back to the hangar.