[bwilson4web]

Yesterday, I filled up my NHW11 Prius at the Shell station on Hobbs Road just before 8:00 AM where this accident occurred:

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/07/...th_huntsv.html

I've been following Prius fatal accidents for over a year to understand the details, not just the raw accident numbers. So I surprised to read about this fatal accident on Redstone Road, south Huntsville west of the WalMart shopping center. It is just a few miles away from our home.

There is a steep hill, "Bell Mountain," not very tall, just south of the WalMart on Hobbs Road. The grade makes it very easy to pickup speed on the backside. The accident suggests the Prius was air borne going like a bat out of Hell when it decapitated the Honda Accord, and ended upside down. But this accident has elements of the Saylor, September 2009 accident.

In the Saylor accident, a gas engined, Lexus, had an all-weather mat entrap the accelerator. The family spent at least a minute descending a long hill, hit at least one other car, ran off the end of the freeway, became air borne, crashed and killed everyone in the Lexus. In the Huntsville case, a steeper grade, excessive speed, air borne and crash that killed the Prius driver. The Honda Accord driver had no options and was reported in critical condition. Two middle-aged, lady drivers in this crash.

Based upon the wheels, the Prius was 2004-09 which was subject to an accelerator recall. Furthermore, Prius were recalled for floor-map anchor checks. My wife's Prius was delivered without the floor mat anchors but I had already gone back and got it fixed.

This is an accident that begs detailed forensics. Hopefully, we'll get a detailed report, especially a readout of the 'black box' data. I don't know the ladies involved but I'm pretty sure I know people who did or do know them.

NOTE: I drove by the scene this morning and it looks like the Prius didn't take the curve. It drove straight, jumped the curb, hit the Honda, and flipped.

Bob Wilson

ps. If you are interested in my detailed, Prius fatal accident study:
http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/accident.html