If someone is afraid of the Prius, nothing we post here is going to change their mind. But their fear doesn't matter since the Prius is production limited with no shortage of customers:
"The Prius mid-size gas-electric hybrid posted October sales of 13,496 units, up 10.3 percent over the year-ago month." (Toyota October 2009 sales report)
The USA has nine years of Prius experience and the accident data shows it is safer than ordinary cars. It is different and some folks won't ever be able to deal with it ... tough. For those who can, it has been and remains a great ride.
Bob Wilson