News Clipping service just emailed me this link about a driver and passanger who died after the '04 Prius hydroplaned and Crashed.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll...WS09/110110138

I was on the same Interstate (I-95), this past Saturday, although I was driving between Philly and Baltimore, and the roads were terrible, as the region got hit with 8"-12" (depending on location) of rain.

 

Excessive speed and not using a seatbelt were factors too - one of the dead was not wearing a seatbelt.

Even the best seatbelts and airbags will not help if you are going fast enough.

 

Historical example: Princess Diana's car crash.

It may be too early to compare the safety record of hybrids to conventional vehicles, but I'd bet it's better because the drivers as a rule are more alert and speed less.

 

I think I know this stretch and each time I go by, I always wonder why we don't have guard rails. It just seems like if the edge tilts (in this area it is pretty steep too) downwards into trees, it's an accident waiting to happen. The other thing that I don't like is that we have roads were the north bound lanes and south bound lanes are separated with about 20 yards of grass, that's it. A simple guard rail could be all that is needed to prevent another accident waiting to happen.

 

fwiw, people who inflate their tires to the rating should have a lower chance of hydroplaning.

 

Which "rating"? The doorpost from the mfg.? The tire sidewall? Other driver's experience? Just looking for clarification...

 

Overinflated tires tend to NOT hydroplane. But with the weather we had this past weekend, there was no perfect tire pressure. Speed was the factor here.

 

As the ogiginator of this post, let me be the first to say, I am not pointing to any safty issue with Hybrids in general or the Prius in particular. If anything, the Hybrid Honda Civic and Toyota are two of the safest vehicles. The driver was idenified as going over the speed limit, which is a speed limit for perfect road conditions, and paid the price.

 

In that case, the article & thread are irrelevant. Any vehicle will hydroplane under the right conditions:

• very wet road<
• excessive speed<
• underinflated or balding tires<

Those who watch a NASCAR or Indy-car races have noticed that all the tires have no tread at all. That gives the cars maximum traction, but it also means no racing in even a very light rain -- they'll hydroplane almost instantly.


Similar problem in these parts. Due to a large spike in "crossover" fatalities on the Fla. Turnpike last year (vehicles crossing the median and slamming head-on into oncoming traffic), the state transportation dept. has accelerated a guardrail installation project that was already under way.