A pitch assembly for use with a wind turbine including a rotor having a hub with three mutually perpendicular axes X, Y, and Z and at least one rotor blade coupled to the rotor, said pitch assembly comprising: a pitch drive system coupled to the rotor blade for rotating the rotor blade about a pitch axis; at least one acceleration sensor (70, 120) being mounted with respect to the rotor for sensing an overspeed of the rotor, said at least one acceleration sensor is provided to facilitate sensing an acceleration vector A X1 in a direction along axis X and an acceleration vector A y1 in a direction along axis Y, said acceleration sensor (70, 120) is communicatively coupled to said pitch drive system, and said pitch drive system is configured to rotate the rotor blade when said sensor (70, 120) senses rotor overspeed; a power generator coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor (70, 120), said power generator configured to provide power during a wind turbine power loss event; and an overspeed control system (80, 100) having a controller for controlling the pitch drive system during rotor overspeed, wherein the overspeed control system (80, 100) is communicatively coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor (70, 120), and the overspeed control system (80, 100) is configured to override a control system, such that the control system no longer controls the pitch drive system, wherein the controller is programmed to store a velocity function representative of an overspeed condition of the rotor, to receive signals corresponding to the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1, to associate an acceleration value with each received signal, to identify a rotational speed of the rotor using at least one of the acceleration values associated with the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1, to compare an identified velocity function of the rotor with the stored overspeed velocity function, and to control the pitch drive system to facilitate reducing the rotational speed of rotor, wherein the pitch drive system is controlled when an identified rotational speed is at or exceeds an overspeed rotational speed. a pitch drive system coupled to the rotor blade for rotating the rotor blade about a pitch axis; at least one acceleration sensor (70, 120) being mounted with respect to the rotor for sensing an overspeed of the rotor, said at least one acceleration sensor is provided to facilitate sensing an acceleration vector A X1 in a direction along axis X and an acceleration vector A y1 in a direction along axis Y, said acceleration sensor (70, 120) is communicatively coupled to said pitch drive system, and said pitch drive system is configured to rotate the rotor blade when said sensor (70, 120) senses rotor overspeed; a power generator coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor (70, 120), said power generator configured to provide power during a wind turbine power loss event; and an overspeed control system (80, 100) having a controller for controlling the pitch drive system during rotor overspeed, wherein the overspeed control system (80, 100) is communicatively coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor (70, 120), and the overspeed control system (80, 100) is configured to override a control system, such that the control system no longer controls the pitch drive system, wherein the controller is programmed to store a velocity function representative of an overspeed condition of the rotor, to receive signals corresponding to the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1, to associate an acceleration value with each received signal, to identify a rotational speed of the rotor using at least one of the acceleration values associated with the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1, to compare an identified velocity function of the rotor with the stored overspeed velocity function, and to control the pitch drive system to facilitate reducing the rotational speed of rotor, wherein the pitch drive system is controlled when an identified rotational speed is at or exceeds an overspeed rotational speed.