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Road's sharp S-curves concern residents

Yulee Drive is often hazardous and sometimes fatal for both unfamiliar and local drivers.

By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published September 25, 2006

HOMOSASSA SPRINGS - Patti Lewis has experienced every parent's worst nightmare.

On the night of Aug. 25 she dropped off her 23-year old son, James, at a friend's house. A few hours later, she was making his funeral arrangements.

James E. Lewis was a passenger in a car that ran off W Yulee Drive and struck a tree. He died at the scene.

Florida Highway Patrol reports indicate that a car driven by Frederick S. Judd, 29, of Homosassa was passing other westbound vehicles on a curve when he lost control of the 2003 Mercury Sable and ran off the left side of the roadway.

The car struck a tree near the intersection of James Street, spun and then flipped onto its side.

Lewis was partially ejected.

"I went there and they had his body under a sheet," Lewis said. "They wouldn't let me near him."

The driver, Judd, also died. Another passenger, a 30-year-old woman, survived with injuries.

With the pain of her son's death still tearing at her, Lewis wants to make sure that the curve on Yulee Drive can't take any more lives.

"I want something done now," Lewis said.

She said reflectors need to be on both sides of the road, at every curve. She also wants the county to put grates or bumps in the road to alert people that they're driving into the sharp S-curves. And a yellow flasher.

"Plus more cops," she said. "I never see them on that stretch of road. I drive past there nearly every day."

County road officials say they are willing to help with more signs warning drivers of the curves.

There are signs warning motorists of S-curves at either end of the stretch of W Yulee Drive where the curves begin.

The eastbound lanes also feature a set of three diagonal markers, called chevrons, on one curve. But there aren't any chevrons on the westbound lanes, which is the direction that the car carrying Lewis and Judd was traveling.

After being contacted by the Times, Larry Brock, director of road maintenance for Citrus County, said he would see to it that a set of chevrons are installed on the westbound S-curves, as well.

Brock said that as far as conducting a traffic study, the fact that most accidents are single-car crashes doesn't warrant a traffic review.

"We mainly look at trends that occur at intersections and involve more than one car," he said. "But putting up signs is something we can definitely do."

Although Yulee is a short road, less than 10 miles long, there have been numerous fatal crashes and crashes that involved people being airlifted to trauma centers.

The physical evidence tells of the combat between vehicles and the surrounding territory.

Trees on both sides of the roadway where Judd and Lewis died bear the scars from stopping runaway cars.

A chain link fence is bent and battered from a recent wreck. Old car batteries and other wreck debris are flung among the roadside weeds. Skid marks dig deep into the soft shoulders.

Ask local residents, and they will tell of numerous wrecks.

Bill Cruger, who sells plants by the side of the road, just a few feet from where at least three people died, recalls another accident. A car went off the road in 2005, tore through his yard and stopped just a few feet from a neighbor's home.

"If he hadn't been stopped by hitting that pear tree," Cruger said, "The car would have went into that home."

The curves come up fast, even though there are road signs warning of approaching S-curves.

"Plus there are lots of bars around here," Lewis said. "That's why I'm interested in calling for more traffic patrols by the Sheriff's Office."

Public information officer Gail Tierney said she forwarded questions from the Times to Cmdr. Wayne Burns, who heads up the Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement Services bureau, and to Lt. Charlie Simmons, the west district commander.

Tierney said the sheriff's officials told her that while the crash would be part of an ongoing statistical and analytical study of traffic trends, there would not be any checkpoints or enhanced DUI patrols. She said the road deputies assigned to the district could choose to patrol the area more frequently, but were under no orders to do so.

The roadway is also pretty dark through the S-curves.

"It's a curvy road, typical of the type of roads on that side of the county," said Brock, the county's road maintenance director.

Cruger, who sits just off the road most weekends selling plants, said: "You know, it's mostly locals who travel this road.

"You'd think they would figure out not to test their skills here, but it seems they just forget."

Contact Jorge Sanchez at sanchez@sptimes.com or 860-7313 or toll free at 1-800-333-7505 ext. 7313.

History of crashes on W Yulee Drive:

- James Lewis and Frederick Judd are killed Aug. 25 when their car attempts to pass another, runs off the road and hits a tree. The crash occurred at Yulee Drive and James Street.

- Donald Dunlap, 30, of 6209 W Riverside Drive was killed in January 2003 when his 1994 Ford sedan ran off the road and overturned near 9618 W Yulee Drive. According to the Florida Highway Patrol report, alcohol was a contributing factor.

- Nina Flesher Yocom, 81, of Homosassa was killed in September 2001. She was driving west on W Yulee Drive when her 1996 Plymouth van left the road and struck a tree, according to the FHP.

- James D. Slaught, a motorcyclist, was killed in 1996, when a car turned in front of him at Yulee Drive and Bluebird Springs Lane.

[Last modified September 24, 2006, 21:35:26]