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Warning sign eases worries about intersection

A deadly accident at Bauer Road and State Road 44 spurred a nearby resident to call for change.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published May 20, 2005

INVERNESS - When Robert Bryner heard the news of the December traffic collision that killed a young Citrus County couple, it confirmed his worries about the intersection where they died.

Bryner, 74, lives about a mile from State Road 44 and Bauer Road. He says he doesn't know what happened the night of the collision, or if anyone was at fault. But that stretch of road had bothered him for quite a while.

At night, someone who didn't know those roads as well as he did might not be prepared for the stop sign on Bauer at SR 44, he said.

On Jan. 5, Bryner called the county government's traffic control section and reported his concerns.

"I go in and out there all the time," he says he told them. "Unfortunately . . . we lost two lives there, and I'm kicking myself now because it's a dangerous situation that needs to be changed."

On Dec. 28, Sara Jo Williams, 23, and her boyfriend, Brandon L. Mushlit, 25, were driving along SR 44. It was close to midnight, and Williams had just finished work at Outback Steakhouse, family members said.

As they neared Bauer, a car pulled in front of them. Williams and Mushlit died at the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The driver of the car was 17-year-old William Thornton IV of Sumter County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Thornton was arrested May 13 and charged with vehicular homicide and driving without a valid driver's license.

After traffic control got Bryner's call, a crew went out to look at the intersection, said Larry Brock, director of road maintenance.

On Jan. 10, Bryner got his wish: A new sign, called a "stop ahead advisory" sign, went up on Bauer, warning drivers of the upcoming stop sign, Brock said.

The sign is a yellow, diamond-shaped placard that shows the shape of a stop sign and an arrow. Like a sign that warns of a curve in the road, the sign isn't required by law. But after Bryner's request, the crew decided to put it there to tell drivers to slow down in time for the stop sign, he said.

"I'm not going to say there's a problem with the intersection 'cause there wasn't . . . it's a judgment call," said Lynn Gibson, who works in the traffic section.

Gibson said he hopes the sign will prevent future problems at the intersection.

"We saw that and looked at it and thought maybe we could prevent something like that from happening again," he said. He added that the patrol report did not mention the intersection as a factor in the deadly collision.

Bryner said he's relieved the sign is up and hopes it will caution other drivers to drive slowly up to the intersection.

"I feel I would be shirking my duty as a citizen not to speak up," Bryner said.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 20, 2005, 01:06:18]