Marie St. Louis says her life turned upside down on Sept. 28, 2020.
“I feel like my life changed in a split second,” St. Louis said.
She got a phone call saying her mother and father, Delourdes and Armand St. Louis, were in an accident on State Road 7 in Lauderhill.
Her mother died at the hospital. Her father survived the crash but died four weeks later.
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“He had broken ribs, broken pelvis,” she said. “It took a toll on me. My life changed in an instant.”
Police say Decarius Richards was going about 80 mph — double the speed limit — when he crashed into the couple’s SUV, causing it to flip over twice.
He then left the scene, according to police.
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It’s reckless driving Lauderhill police are trying to crack down on through their new aggressive driving campaign.
“It’s not worth it,” said Sergeant Matthew Maguire, traffic unit supervisor. “Driving fast doesn’t get you anywhere faster.”
Maguire says officers will spend an extra three to five hours a day focused on traffic enforcement. The campaign will also include more electronic message boards throughout the city, speed warning signs, and community outreach.
Police say the statistics are concerning.
In 2020, the city had 135 crashes due to aggressive driving and speeding. Twenty-two of the crashes caused serious injury, ten were deadly.
Last year, there were 124 aggressive driving crashes in Lauderhill, 24 caused serious harm. Six were deadly.
“For those amount of crashes to happen in a city our size is concerning,” Maguire said.
St Louis hopes sharing her story and her message will help make a difference.
“Slow down,” she said. “It’s not worth it.”
