Pinellas and Hillsborough counties are the worst in Florida when it comes to impaired driving, Coggins said, pointing to Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data. This rash of crashes is reminiscent of a deadly spate of six crashes over seven months in 2014 that killed 11 people. "It's just absolutely dumbfounding that here in 2018 with all the opportunities people have to get home safely, here is another driver who chose to do the wrong thing," Coggins said. The problem is frustrating for officials and advocates who say the problem can't be stopped with enforcement and road design changes. "It was evident that he had a complete disregard for the safety of the community," a judge said while ruling that Paleveda be held in jail without bail. The car Stephen Paleveda was driving collided head-on with another, killing Bamnet Narongchai, a 68-year-old grandfather. Two days later, in Hillsborough County, a Seffner man who police later said had a blood alcohol level of 0.275 percent drove the wrong way with his lights off on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. The 46-year-old was supposed to appear in court for a separate DUI case hours after the crash. Troopers said alcohol was a factor in McGriff's crash, too. Cuff was being held in jail late Thursday in lieu of $5,000 bail. His official toxicology results are pending. When deputies booked Cuff into the jail Thursday morning, more than six hours after the crash, a breath test showed he was still at 0.08 percent, Gaskins said. Every time," said Larry Coggins, executive director of the West Central Florida chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.Ĭuff's hospital blood tests showed that his blood alcohol content was more than twice 0.08, Gaskins said, the limit at which you are considered legally too impaired to drive. "The common denominator in these wrong-way crashes is an impaired driver. The crashes have more than just location in common. RELATED: Howard Frankland driver made U-turn before fatal, wrong-way collision alcohol suspected The driver of the van was hospitalized with critical injuries. The wrong-way driver, Renard Antonio McGriff, died at the scene. The circumstances echo a crash last month in which a Pinellas Park man turned around on the same side of the bridge as Cuff and drove two to three miles before hitting a van. Cuff, 25, was treated and turned over to the Pinellas County Jail, where he is facing a charge of DUI with serious injury. Rusch, 24, was in "very critical condition" Thursday at St.
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