Wrong-way driver causes 8 deaths in New York. Diane Schuler

[Linnie]

Woman, driving with 5 kids, somehow ended up going the wrong way on the Taconic, a notoriously cramped old road which makes the Merritt Parkway look like the Autobahn.
TV news reports from witnesses said she was zooming along at 65 MPH or more (the limit is only 50 or 55, IIRC, but slower when there's a lot of traffic.) Whether she was DUI or otherwise impaired, or had simply made a mistake and panicked while trying to get to the next exit, remains to be seen.
She had a head-on collision with one vehicle and either hit or was hit by another. She and 4 of the children with her were killed, as well as 3 in the SUV she hit head-on.

attrib: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...072602717.html

A family's minivan traveling in the wrong direction crashed into two cars on a suburban parkway just north of New York City on Sunday, killing eight people, including four young cousins and a woman in the same family.
State police investigator Joseph Becerra said the minivan was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester County in the afternoon when it struck a sport-utility vehicle and then crashed into a third vehicle. The minivan rolled down an embankment and burst into flames.
The woman driving the minivan and four of the five children inside it were killed, Becerra said. They were part of a family from Floral Park and West Babylon, on Long Island. The children who died, all girls, were ages 2, 5, 7 and 9. The fifth child, a 5-year-old-boy, was hospitalized. Police said that the woman was the mother of the surviving child and that the other children were her nieces and her daughter.
The three men in the SUV were killed, Becerra said. Two people in the third vehicle were hospitalized.
It was the second wrong-way crash on the parkway on Sunday. Five people were injured in a morning collision between two vehicles. That accident occurred about 20 miles north of the later incident.
-- Associated Press

[Frazzzld Kat]

Wow! is the highway really that confusing that you don't know if you are going the wrong way on it? What the hell was she thinking? I guess we will never really know now. I hope the surviving 5 year old boy will be okay.

[Harleycat]

Wow! is the highway really that confusing that you don't know if you are going the wrong way on it? What the hell was she thinking? I guess we will never really know now. I hope the surviving 5 year old boy will be okay.

Yes, it's a horrible road! Two lanes in either direction, very winding and only a small divider between the northbound and southbound lanes. I avoid it when I have to drive in that direction. I think she panicked when she realized she was going in the wrong direction. What I don't understand it that I think this happened in the early afternoon. There should have been so many indicators, even before she entered the highway, that she was going to the wrong way.

[RaRaRamona]

Why was she going so fast??

[Miho]

Taconic, isn't this where that drunk driver hit the family coming home from the wedding and decapitated the flower girl?

[RogerV]

Such a tragedy for all those people, and has already been mentioned, we'll probably never know for sure exactly what happened.

I remember a case some years ago when a car was going the wrong direction on I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge, and they had to put out "spike mats" to finally stop it. The driver turned out to be someone suffering from dementia of some kind.

[spiritwisepi]

http://www.app.com/article/20090727/...+she+felt+ill+

BEWARE BODY BAGS AND SUCH SHOWN!

[Miho]

So strange.. it isn't like it was 1 a.m. I just don't understand...

I have almost been killed once when I was cruising on the highway and saw another car coming directly at me. I mean the closest possible exit that he could have entered from was over a mile away. Needless to say I almost pooped myself and the guy did a complete U turn going about 50 and took off.

[Cadence71]

The last thing I read was that a couple of hours before the crash, she called a relative and told him she didn't feel well.

What an awful tragedy.

[RaRaRamona]

Dear God the poor family who lost their three little girls. I can not imagine. I can not imagine. I can not imagine.

How did they even recover the bodies from that wreck?

[Miho]

Dear God the poor family who lost their three little girls. I can not imagine. I can not imagine. I can not imagine.

How did they even recover the bodies from that wreck?

shovels...

[baroque1]

yes, those parkways around new york city are really scary. They were built early on when hardly anyone had cars and those that did had slow cars. Ill never understand why they couldnt make them bigger----I guess everything just built up around them kept them from doing it, but still. And, yes, the exit/on ramps are confusing ---they sneak up on you and if you miss them then you have a long hard time turning around to get back. I loved driving in manhattan but the surroundin areas suck

[RaRaRamona]

shovels...

The slide show had one pic of a long gurney & it looked like an adult in one piece...but then I remembered she wasn't the only dead adult.

[Miho]

The slide show had one pic of a long gurney & it looked like an adult in one piece...but then I remembered she wasn't the only dead adult.

[baroque1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Parkway

[theotherlondon]

Sadly I wouldn't be surprised that the driver wasn't distracted
by text messaging or talking on the cell phone at the time.

[MoonRabbit]

Not a good camping trip was it?

Such a terrible loss of life.

[BriLeighLove]

It's such a tragedy. And I can't even imagine what the family is going through... Especially the parents of those 3 little girls.

I hate driving on the Taconic! Absolutely hate it! And if I can avoid it, I for damn sure do!!!

[Linnie]

Like someone commented on one of the sites, if she felt sick, or mistakenly got on the highway going the wrong way, why didn't she pull over somewhere? I know the Taconic is narrow, but it looks like there was a large green median near where the crash occurred. Something was wrong here besides a simple mistake and alas, we shall never know exactly what.

[spiritwisepi]

http://dailyrecord.com/article/20090...killed+8+in+NY

[Nayzo]

I just don't understand how someone can drive on the wrong side of the highway. Especially significant distances. If I found myself in that sort of situation, my immediate response would be to pull over immediately. Shoulder, breakdown lane, grass, whatever. I'd like to think I'd figure it out quickly as well; between the signs not facing me, cars coming at me, the other direction of traffic being on my right instead of my left...

[RogerV]

SOMETHING was wrong with this woman. Did she have a stroke? Was she having a weird reaction to medication? Did she accidentally ingest something? We don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet...

[RaRaRamona]

That poor man, her brother - he got in in his car & tried to go find the. I assume those were his girls in the car? How completely terrified he must have been. Trying so desperately to go find your kids & save them, not knowing where they are.

[Linnie]

It's as though some inexorable fate had taken hold--- that was their day to die, and absolutely nothing could prevent it. Horrible!

[Frazzzld Kat]

How tragic. The 3 nieces were her brothers girls. Unfortunately when he contacted police reporting his sister possibly needed medical treatment and might be pulled over somewhere they only looked at rest stops, off ramps and pull off areas. They were not looking for someone still driving. Also, it mentions that her husband was with them on the camping trip and left separately with the dog in his truck. I wonder why he hasn't said anything yet?

[Harleycat]

Taconic, isn't this where that drunk driver hit the family coming home from the wedding and decapitated the flower girl?

No, that was the Meadowbrook Parkway. It's actually a pretty decent road. That was such a horrible case, I saw a lot of pictures of the wreckage. What's even worse is that the family, knowing they would be drinking at the wedding, did the right thing and hired a limo to take them home.

[Miho]

No, that was the Meadowbrook Parkway. It's actually a pretty decent road. That was such a horrible case, I saw a lot of pictures of the wreckage. What's even worse is that the family, knowing they would be drinking at the wedding, did the right thing and hired a limo to take them home.

Ahh thanks for that clarification. Is the Meadowbrook surrounded by a median?

[STsFirstmate]

Her cell phone turned up on the side of the road in a pull off area, likely the one she called from.
A motorist found it and turned it in to the police. Even though the family is being fully co-operative and has told them to do whatever they need to with the phone NY privacy laws require a supoena before they can get her cell phone records.
Her brother has described her as "disoriented and complaining she could not see clearly"..He says he begged her to stay put until he got her help. The State Police immediately dispatched 2 cars to each go in different directions from where she said was at the time of her call. The accident call came in as they were beginning their search.
The medical examiner has announced that in addition to tissue screens etc they are doing special screening of the fluid in her eyeball which was less likely to be compromised by time, heat or trauma.
This is just so sad. Her judgement was clearly compromised and she was obviously ill and impaired. I am thinking a stroke of some sort.
The lone survivor, her son is slowly improving.
This morning the first 10 pages of News Day (our NY paper here on Long Island was dedicated to the accident still this many days after it occured. People are still just stunned about this because it is just so senseless.
Regards,
Mary

[RaRaRamona]

"...heat or trauma..."


YikesI agree, that sounds like a stroke. Poor family.

[RogerV]

I assume that if she had been a diabetic that's the first thing her family would have told the authorities, but it seems evident that she was impaired SOMEHOW.

[pkstracy]

Brings back memories of when my brother was killed in a head on collision but the driver that hit him and his girlfriend was drunk

[STsFirstmate]

I assume that if she had been a diabetic that's the first thing her family would have told the authorities, but it seems evident that she was impaired SOMEHOW.

No known health issues and she was on no medication.
Regards,
Mary

[DexterKitty]

She could have had a seizure, and that wouldn't show up at the autopsy. I doubt she was drunk or drugged up. I can't imagine seeing that van in flames, and those children burning to death. What an aweful horrible accident.

[Tripfaceape]

stupid stupid stupid....those poor families....

they showed on tv last night that the on-ramp she drove on to has the Do Not Enter and One Way Signs clearly posted, so it's not like she could've missed them if she was paying attention.

[Harleycat]

Ahh thanks for that clarification. Is the Meadowbrook surrounded by a median?

The Meadowbrook, also known as the gateway to Jones Beach, has (for the most part) 3 lanes in each direction with a decent median separating the north and southbound sides and medians on both sides. It's about 12 1/2 miles long.

[pvezz]

No known health issues and she was on no medication.
Regards,
Mary

This is a horrible thought, but maybe she committed suicide?

God, her poor brother. How incredibly tragic.

[STsFirstmate]

This is a horrible thought, but maybe she committed suicide?

God, her poor brother. How incredibly tragic.

Oh jeeze I hope not. They are say 30 minutes elapsed and they went about 18 miles between the call and the crash. They dedicated several pages to the funeral today. The father of the three kids killed, brother of the driver and uncle of her 2 year old who was killed and her son who is recovering gave an incredibly moving eulogy.
Exerpts here
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/ny...31funeral.html
Regards,
Mary

[RaRaRamona]

This is a horrible thought, but maybe she committed suicide?

God, her poor brother. How incredibly tragic.

I thought so too for a while, but it doesn't fit. Several drivers said they had to drive into the median to get around her. If she was trying to kill herself & the kids too she probably would have barreled into the first car she came close to.

[pvezz]

I thought so too for a while, but it doesn't fit. Several drivers said they had to drive into the median to get around her. If she was trying to kill herself & the kids too she probably would have barreled into the first car she came close to.

I'm sure you're right; I was just grasping at anything to explain what happened. It's just baffling.

[DexterKitty]

She probably had a seizure. I have a friend who is Epiletic. She hadn't had a seizure in 4 years. One day she went to get some luch, and about 1/2 mile from her house, she had a grande maul seizure. Her foot hit the gas and she went out of control,mowed down a stop sign, went air borne, the car flipped and landed on it's rooftop in a field. Totaled her car, and she had moderate injuries. An eye witness said she could tell she was having a seizure ,and knew what was going to happen and felt so helpless. Those spells come on with no warning sometimes. Something could have happened to this lady. I'm reserving judgement until they piublish the final report.

[MbalmR]

OT, but how does an epileptic get a driver's license?

[RaRaRamona]

She probably had a seizure. I have a friend who is Epiletic. She hadn't had a seizure in 4 years. One day she went to get some luch, and about 1/2 mile from her house, she had a grande maul seizure. Her foot hit the gas and she went out of control,mowed down a stop sign, went air borne, the car flipped and landed on it's rooftop in a field. Totaled her car, and she had moderate injuries. An eye witness said she could tell she was having a seizure ,and knew what was going to happen and felt so helpless. Those spells come on with no warning sometimes. Something could have happened to this lady. I'm reserving judgement until they piublish the final report.

This woman navigated a winding road.

[Linnie]

Drove through one of those invisible clouds of evil, perhaps?

I hope the surviving boy's memory of this accident is wiped clean by his head injury. While his recollections might shed some light on what transpired with his mother, far better that he should NOT have to re-live the most horrible half hour of his entire life.

[cherryghost]

I think suicide is a possibility, but with the kids not so likely!

A couple of RN's and I were only talking the other day about........ the theory that a lot of car accidents are suicides! Scary that!

[pvezz]

This woman navigated a winding road.

That's what I was thinking, too. It just makes NO sense.

[Miho]

Maybe she was having a stroke? It could explain her strange behavior for so long yet her ability to keep driving.

[Tripfaceape]

She did it on purpose....

[MaxyMillions]

OT, but how does an epileptic get a driver's license?

I had a friend that developed a seizure disorder as a complication of HIV, and never knew until he had his first seizure....driving. No one was hurt, thank God.
I don't know if/how you can hide epilepsy from the DMV, but I do know, if you have one incident while driving, it could be a very long time to be medically cleared. I'm guessing if you originally get your license and never tell, or develop a disorder later, and never have an accident, no one will know. I think it would violate HIPPA for an MD to contact the DMV.

[The Killing Floor]

Strange case this one........

Suicide seems reasonably unlikely to me based on what we know as there would need to be an underlying reason to do something like that and decide to take your kids with you (to their death).

Secondly.....there was no guarantee that this method of attempted suicide would actually work (one surviving child for example) so surely driving off the edge of a cliff would have been a more suitable option if suicide was the plan.

I wouldn't have thought she would have made a phone call to her brother regarding being disorientated if that wasn't the case either as most people that commit suicide plan the event and leave a note explaining their actions.

A stroke or something that she had been eating or drinking seems more likely to have been the cause of this in my opinion.

[cindyt]

I assume that if she had been a diabetic that's the first thing her family would have told the authorities, but it seems evident that she was impaired SOMEHOW.

That was my first thought, that she might have been diabetic and her blood glucose had bottomed out, but as you said it looks like her brother would have gave them a heads up about that.