ARAB, Ala. (WHNT) — The petition to install guardrails on U.S. 231, where several people have been injured, including a recent deadly wreck involving a Huntsville City Employee, has reached over 1,900 signatures.
Petition starter Reid Rainwater said the petition is to raise awareness for the “urgent need for a guardrail along US-231 South, just north of Arab, Alabama, near Picker’s Choice.”
The decision makers named in this petition are Governor Kay Ivey, Wes Kitchens, Alabama State Senate District 9, and Jeana Ross, Alabama House of Representatives, District 27.
The reason he started this petition is because of a personal connection to incidents along this specific road.
“On November 6, 2024, my wife was driving northbound on US-231 when her vehicle hydroplaned, crossed into the southbound lane, and landed at the bottom of a 30-foot ravine,” Rainwater wrote. “She survived the crash—but suffered a traumatic brain injury that continues to impact her daily life. Nearly a year later, we still don’t know if she will fully recover.”
On July 1, a crash report from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Huntsville Public Works Director Christopher McNeese was the driver of the vehicle involved in a deadly crash. It says the vehicle was traveling northbound on U.S. 231 “too fast for the heavy rainfall and wet roadways as well as limited visibility due to the rain.”
The report says that as the vehicle started going down the road, it traveled through water across the roadway, hydroplaned and McNeese lost control of the vehicle.
The document says the vehicle then “began sliding out of control, crossing both the unpaved median and southbound lanes of U.S. 231,” before overturning as it slid off the embankment and hit the ditch.
During the crash, the report says that Hank Ross Hornbuckle was totally ejected from the vehicle and was killed.
In the petition, Rainwater says he is calling on the Alabama Department of Transportation to take this concern seriously and to install a guardrail at this location to serve as a layer of protection to possibly save lives in the future.
Below are comments in the petition in support of the guardrail:
“I’m a survivor of a car accident at this very location, I hydroplaned and spun off the road right where this guardrail should have been. Luckily it was just me in the car because I happened to be in one of the only seats that didn’t get crushed in when I hit the trees. This guardrail will save countless others from hydroplaning off the road and potentially having a life altering/ending accident.”
Brady
“A guardrail and fixing the drainage issue that consistently causes hydroplaning is needed. This has been a problem prior to even 2008. My family members have wrecked during this area twice, one in 2008 and one in 2012 while it was raining/shortly after it had stopped. This roadway has problems with standing water.”
Julianne
“Please put guardrail up at this location to help prevent more injuries and fatalities.”
Lisa
“I live right passed pickers choice, the area is dangerous either way you’re going on231, the guardrail could definitely help prevent more loss of life.”
Sydney
As of 2:42 p.m. on July 30, the petition has 1,908 signatures. To contribute to the call to action, you can view the petition here.
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