FAIRHOPE, Ala. — An automobile accident Tuesday on U.S. 98 in Fairhope involving two local residents resulted in one driver being airlifted to a Mobile hospital, where he remained a patient Friday.

“He is in serious condition,” said a University of South Alabama Medical Center employee late Thursday afternoon of William Forrest, who was flown by a LifeFlight helicopter from the Feb. 2 accident that shut down traffic on U.S. 98 near Parker Road for more than an hour.

Forrest, 72, of Chestnut Ridge Road in Fairhope, was traveling east on Parker Road, when he ran a red light and collided with an automobile traveling north on U.S. 98, according to police reports.

Charles Carlisle, 71, also of Fairhope, who was driving north on U.S. 98 and had a green light at the Parker Road intersection near the new Publix Super Market and shopping center, was not injured.

Carlisle, driving a 2007 Mercedes four-door sedan, was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, but Forrest, driving a 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup, was not, according to a Fairhope police spokesman. There were no other passengers in either vehicle, he said.

“A witness stated that Mr. Forrest ran the red light,” spokesman Sgt. Craig Sawyer said. “We are not anticipating (filing) any charges. There does not appear to be any reckless disregard for safety. This seems to have just been an accident.”

The accident occurred at 10:23 a.m., and the first police officer was on the scene four minutes later with the fire department there by 10:28 a.m., Sawyer said.

“The LifeFlight helicopter landed at 10:53 a.m. and took off at 11:12 a.m.,” he said. “The roadway was reopened at 11:38 a.m.”

There was no indication of drug or alcohol involvement by either driver, and “since the investigating officers saw no signs or symptoms, there were no tests,” he said.

Although Cynthia Huie-Smith of USA Medical Center’s public relations office confirmed Friday morning that Forrest was still a patient at the hospital and in serious condition, she would not provide any additional details about his injuries.

The traffic light at Parker Road was installed last year, and the Fairhope municipality's decision to locate a signal there has become an issue in the complex federal litigation involving the so-called “Dyas Triangle” property located not far from where the accident occurred, and which is set for trial in Mobile two months from now. The plaintiffs in that case argue that the city treated the developers of the Publix shopping center more favorably and thwarted efforts to develop their property at U.S. 98 and Veterans Drive.

One local citizen activist and contender for mayor in the 2008 city elections has also stated frequently during the past two years that the engineering and traffic flow plans for the new Publix shopping center would result in increased automobile accidents in the area.

Information on the number of accidents that have occured in that area since the traffic light was installed could not be obtained from the Alabama Department of Transportation by press time.