If she was clear-headed enough to call someone and tell them she was disoriented then wouldn't she be clear-headed enough to maybe pull off the road and not turn into an off-ramp and continue driving the wrong way at high speeds?
If she was clear-headed enough to call someone and tell them she was disoriented then wouldn't she be clear-headed enough to maybe pull off the road and not turn into an off-ramp and continue driving the wrong way at high speeds?
It looks like to me that if she was feeling ill she would have stayed put until help arrived, if not for herself, then for those babies sake.
You wouldn't catch me out driving like that with a kid on board. As it is, if I must leave home I always eat something or drink a bit of Coke to make sure my blood glucose doesn't drop while I'm on the road. When that happens I suddenly feel hot all over, I start shaking like a leaf, and if I don't eat or drink something my mind could start going. But what's spooky your mind can be affected first with no other symptoms. Happened to me once, but I was at home, did something waaaay weird, but I knew what was happening and got some food in me. After that happened I never leave the house without making sure I have something for my stomach to work on to keep my blood glucose from diving.
Last edited by cindyt; 08-03-2009 at 12:00 PM.
I thought I read somewhere that her phone was located on the ground near where she had that last conversation with her brother, like she'd tossed it out the window.
I hope her son never regains the memory of that trip. I'd rather it remain a mystery than find out what happened b/c that poor kid remembered it.
This kind of thing is surprisingly easy to do. I was in Nashville a bunch of years ago, and got confused looking for 16th Ave.
When it's dark, you're in an unfamiliar place and other drivers are crawling up your butt cuz you're indecisive and slow, it's easy to become disoriented and make rash decisions. I drove down a ramp and was halfway to the highway itself before I realized it was actually an off ramp - and a car was coming right at me.
I managed to get turned around safely, but it's a scary experience.
UPDATE
Report: New York Mother Driving During Deadly Wrong-Way Crash Drunk, High
Tuesday , August 04, 2009
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The Long Island mom behind the wheel in a fiery wrong-way crash that killed her and seven others along a New York state highway was reportedly drunk and had high levels of marijuana in her system, authorities said Tuesday.
The findings were part of a toxicology report that was conducted on 36-year-old Diane Schuler in the wake of the deadly July 26 crash along the Taconic State Parkway in Briarcliff Manor, The Journal News of Westchester reported on its Web site.
The findings were shared with relatives of the crash victims, which included Schuler's 2-year-old daughter and three nieces.
Schuler was coming home to West Babylon from an upstate camping trip when she drove her Ford Windstar minivan against traffic for 1.7 miles along the northbound lane of the Taconic.
State police investigators said Schuler collided head-on with a Chevrolet Trail Blazer driven by Guy Bastardi.
Bastardi, his father Michael, and family friend Daniel Longo were all killed in the tragic crash.
Also killed were Schuler, her daughter Erin, and her three nieces, Emma Hance, 8; Alyson Hance, 7; and Kate Hance, 5.
Her 5-year-old son Bryan was the only survivor. He is currently recovering at the Westchester Medical Center in stable condition.
Investigators said Schuler crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge at about 1 p.m. and pulled over on the Tarrytown end of the crossing.
At 1:02 p.m., she called her brother, Warren Hance, and had a brief phone conversation with him, telling him that she was feeling "disoriented and had trouble seeing," according to investigators.
Hance told Schuler to immediately pull over and that he would drive to get her.
Instead, Schuler did not stay put, driving her car against traffic before the crash happened at 1:35 p.m.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"I will be buried in a spring loaded casket filled with confetti, and a future archaeologist will have one awesome day at work."
The Long Island mom behind the wheel in a fiery wrong-way crash that killed her and seven others along a New York state highway was reportedly drunk and had high levels of marijuana in her system, authorities said Tuesday.
Holy Shit. She was high ???????????????????????
Last edited by Ghoulie Girl; 08-04-2009 at 10:58 AM. Reason: added quote
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"I will be buried in a spring loaded casket filled with confetti, and a future archaeologist will have one awesome day at work."
I knew it!!! what a bitch.......
Fox new posted this 1 hour ago.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536742,00.html
What a waste!
Regards,
Mary
Unforgiveable. How could she risk all those lives? Her husband will probably lose whatever else he had.
she better clench her dead butt-cheeks tight cuz that family is gonna shove a lawsuit so far up there.....ugh...this makes me so mad
Newsday says the driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.19, more than twice the legal limit and was high on marijuana at the time of the crash.
How the heck do you get that high so early in the day with a bunch of kids around? This woman had serious issues that her husband should have known about. He never should have let her drive in that condition.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/s...high-1.1347605
she was camping. maybe she continued the party from the night before. how many times have you woke up still drunk?! i know i have.
We just lost 3 kids on the Wantagh Parkway near my house yesterday. Coming home at 3 am after partying, high rate of speed and they crashed into a tree.
You expect to see 19 or 20 year old kids wrapped around this sort of scenario but the middle of the day with a car full of little kids coming back from a family camp ground...thats just beyond belief.
We are not nearly tough enough on drunk drivers and repeat offenders.
Regards,
Mary
Oh, so sad. But you're right, while tragic, its not unexpected for kids to behave so recklessessly. But a middle class mom w/ a van full of kids?
I'm now viewing the story in a different light. Now it stands to reason why, when she called her brother, he told her to pull over then jumped in his car and went looking for her. He knew she was driving drunk and tried to get to her before something terrible happened. I feel badly for her children and her brother's family. So sad.
OK, can someone explain this one to me: she was so drunk and high she apparently didn't understand that she was going the wrong direction, but she was still able to place a call to her brother?? Or did she get ten wrong numbers before she got him?
It gets worse. New York Post reports the mother had another 6 grams of alcohol in her stomach that had yet to enter her bloodstream. It appears she was drunk on vodka.
I'm no expert, but isn't that the sign of a serious alcoholic? Don't people who begin drinking early in the day drink vodka because others can't smell it on their breath?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08042009...igh_182966.htm
"DiFiore confirmed the State police's report that Schuler was drunk and "impaired by marijuana."
During a news conference this afternoon, police said that another six grams of alcohol was found in Schuler's stomach that had yet to enter her bloodstream.
A bottle of vodka was recovered from Schuler's car, police said.
Investigators said Schuler drank the equivalent of 10 drinks of vodka, although State police was not sure what time she began drinking.
State police also said Schuler smoked marijuana 15 minutes to an hour before the crash -- meaning she was drunk and using drugs while with the kids. "
Don't forget drunk!
Yes, but how many of us loaded up our car with kids?
If he knew, why on this green earth would he ever leave his children alone with her? My SIL is an addict & I won't let my son anywhere near her. She has stayed out all night doing drugs with her baby in the car.
HOWHOWHOW could her family allow this to happen? They deserve what they get.
In this entire post everyone genuinely tried to fathom what happened here!
No one guessed she was drunk and high, it didnt it didnt seem to cross anyones mind? It goes to show that most of us here are concerned and caring types!
Couldnt she have stayed wild in the country for a day or two more and sobered up?
I just saw this on the news... So unnecessary. Apparantly a "functioning" addict if no one realized. Even a witness said there was no swerving or anything. Just goes to show that no matter in control you think you are, the slightest of judgments are OBVIOUSLY still impaired. Stupid lady.
~ Sarah ~
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"I ain't sayin' I'm perfect, but I promise I'm worth it."
I just read this in my local paper, what a horrible tragedy!!!
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles...5077705393.txt
I read the other articles here, and it is still hard to comprehend how a mom could drive like that!!!
Lynn
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] SHHHHHHHHHHH, I am listening to the Best of the 70's
I'm right by there as well. Did you see the picture of the car? It must have wrapped around the tree.
I drive the Wantagh daily. What I hate is the people who think all they have to do to enter the parkway is signal and go. I had two near misses within a week that way. One was when I was in the left lane (on the 2 lane section) and someone cut in in front of a mini school bus. The bus swerved into my lane and almost hit me. I anticipated the other and moved into the left lane to avoid it.
There's been a lot of speculation on the news forums. Perhaps she and hubby had partied the night before and were a little hung over. When he left alone to go fishing with his buddies and she had to drive back with all the kids, she may have been angry. Hung over and PO'ed she probably started swigging on the drive back. Straight vodka goes right to your head very quickly. She may not have realized how loaded she was getting until it was too late.
Growing up in the 70's, everyone drank beer and wine. You had to do a lot more drinking over a longer period of time to get wasted. The trend today of doing shots of straight liquor is very dangerous. Having done shots of tequila once or twice, you don't realize how loaded you're getting until long after the damage is done.
I'm not forgiving or excusing her behavior at all. I just wish people wouldn't drink straight alcohol. Its so dangerous.
I had a friend in college who almost never displayed any outward signs of being drunk -- he didn't stagger or fall down, could carry on a completely coherent conversation, and never got sick to his stomach. HOWEVER, when I talked to him the next day, he couldn't remember anything. I don't think he was an alcoholic, but the potential was there.
I had a severe problem with alcohol, my booze of choice was vodka, straight outta the bottle. It is true that a lot of the times you don't feel drunk until BAM it hits you all at once and you're wasted. She knew better. And to smoke pot on top of it!? What a piece of shit.
oh and I don't know why people think they can hide the fact that they've been drinking vodka specifically. Maybe I was the exception because my friends and family had no problems smelling it on me when I was drunk ( and had no qualms about telling me I smelled like a bottle of booze) :P
Last edited by Tripfaceape; 08-05-2009 at 09:39 AM.
The family is now looking to get a second autopsy. They claim there is no way she was drunk or high.
Why are families of dead people such idiots? Why can't they think straight? Grief is one thing, but how can you not accept the findings of medical professionals, whose job it is to do autopsies and medical tests? They are the experts, not you! If they do a 2nd autopsy, the findings will be the same--your loved one was responsible for the deaths of several innocent children and adults.
Tragic...simply tragic. I have zero tolerance for people who drive drunk or high on drugs. Trust me, when you work in a morgue, you see way too many horrific outcomes. How scary... a high flutin' executive, tanked out of her head, wipes 8 people off the earth in a split second in the middle of the day. She should have considered suicide first!
postmortem ethanol synthesis
It happened in Ohio in 2006. Trooper Joshua Risner plowed his cruiser into an oncoming truck, both cars caught fire and 2 troopers and 1 civilian died as a result.
Autopsy reports indicated that Trooper Risner was drunk at the time of the crash. His alcohol content was barely, but still above the legal limit.
The OSHP launched an investigation trying to determine when Trooper Risner had ingested the alcohol. Fellow Troopers and family members could not believe the medical examiners findings to be true and therefore more tests were ran. More intense tests and ones unavailable to the general public were administered.
Final findings were that Trooper Risners alcohol level was based on decomposition in the body and that trooper Risoner was not intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Granted Trooper Risoners cruiser didn't house a busted bottle of vodka and there was not undigested alcohol in his system, but for other cases involving DUI's it makes ya say Hmmmmm
Just caught up with this story. I'm going to say the family is likely in some serious denial. As it appears by the tox results that she could have been an addict, that denial probably goes back a while. Makes you wonder how many of the rest of her family are also addicts; usually there's more than one, and co-dependents often won't tell on the other addicts (or admit anyone is one). So horrible that the children and the men in the other car had to pay the ultimate price.
This is the latest info that I have seen about this. It is press release interview. It is fairly long, about 20 minutes.
http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=92979@wcbs.dayport.com
This will continue to be interesting.
Last edited by gracehatter; 08-06-2009 at 05:10 PM. Reason: Sp
I heard lawsuits have already been filed. I wouldn't be surprised if her own family doesn't sue somebody. I'd like to know why if she was so drunk somebody didn't stop her from taking the kids?If she was as trashed as they're making her out to be, why wasn't it obvious to everybody else? I blame her but the whole family is to blame if they let her take the kids. If she was so messed up how come she drove 2 miles in the wrong direction before wrecking? Obviously, she was able to manuver around cars for 2 miles.She might not have even smoked pot that morning. Pot stays in your system for a couple of weeks. Yes, she is responsible for the deaths, and so is her family. I would imagine they will get their asses sued off because of what she did. Somebody has to pay, right?
I'm too lazy to link, but everything I've read (from various articles) seems to point to the fact that she drank and smoked in the van, while with the children. She wasn't drunk [apparently] when she left the campground.
I believe she was swigging straight from the bottle or had poured a good bit of vodka into a cup and was drinking that while driving...maybe a McDonald's cup since she had stopped at a McD's that morning.
I think she had an alcohol addiction and either her family didn't know about it or refused to accept it. Her husband worked the night shift, so it would have been easier for her to hide an alcohol problem.
If she did have an alcohol problem, if she'd been with family all weekend, she would have been needing/wanting a "fix" and I can totally see her guzzling that vodka as soon as she was away from adults.
Who knows what really happened, though.
People certainly tell their siblings stuff they would not tell their spouses. So maybe the brother knew more than he admitted to. But why would he have trusted his own children to her care if he was aware his sister had these issues?
Denial--- or was this just an exceptionally bad morning for Mrs. Schuler?
I can believe that there might have been an argument with the husband.
I asked someone, "Don't men usually take their sons fishing? Instead he drives off with the dog."
My friend said, "Anyone can have a son, but you don't get between a man and his dog. That's a bond NOBODY can break."
Then I said, "No, I think Dad wanted to go off on his own little drinking trip."
attrib: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/06/new...ef=mpstoryview
By Edmund DeMarche and Jason Kessler
CNN
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The husband of a woman who authorities say was impaired by marijuana and alcohol when she caused a head-on collision that killed eight people, including herself, has rejected claims of substance abuse by his wife.
"I've never seen her drunk since the day I met her," Daniel Schuler, referring to his wife, Diane, said Thursday. "I'm not angry at her. I'd marry her again tomorrow."
Accompanied by his attorney, Schuler held a news conference to counter claims by authorities, who said Tuesday that Diane Schuler, 36, had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent -- more than twice the legal limit for drivers -- and had marijuana in her system when she drove a minivan the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and ran head-on into an SUV.
Three adults in the SUV were killed in the July 26 collision, as were Schuler and four children -- her daughter and three nieces -- who were in the minivan. A fifth child in the minivan, Schuler's son, survived.
On Thursday, Dominic Barbara, Daniel Schuler's lawyer, cited a list of medical aliments inflicting Diane Schuler before the crash. She apparently had a tooth abscess for two months, diabetes at "various levels" and a mysterious lump on her leg that seemed to move, he said.
"I think she had a stroke," said Barbara, who admitted he had no evidence to support his claim. "And I think from the stroke came all the other issues of what happened."
The crash happened about 30 miles north of New York after Schuler and the children left a campground where her family had stayed.
Barbara said nobody at the camp saw Diane Schuler with alcohol. He said investigators interviewed nine people who spoke with Diane Schuler before she embarked, and those people did not smell marijuana or alcohol on her breath.
"Actually, it was the opposite," Barbara said. "She was happy. She was talking to people."
Authorities said Tuesday that a broken vodka bottle was found in the minivan after the crash. Barbara said he couldn't explain the bottle, but he said, "Something had to have happened."
Daniel Schuler and his lawyer said they have yet to decide on whether they want another autopsy.
Jay Schuler, Daniel Schuler's sister, said Thursday that Diane Schuler was reliable and loved children.
"There's no way she'd do this," Jay Schuler said. "She was responsible."
The statements by Schuler and his attorney differed from the toxicology report released Tuesday by the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Besides the 0.19 percent blood alcohol level and marijuana, tests showed Diane Schuler had 6 grams of alcohol in her stomach that had yet to be metabolized, according to Maj. William Carey of the New York State Police.
Meanwhile, an attorney representing families of two SUV occupants who died in the wreck said a lawsuit is likely.
"If I could prognosticate, it appears that there will be a civil suit," said Marshall Nemark, an attorney representing the families of Michael Bastardi and his son, Guy Bastardi, who were killed in the crash along with a friend.
If she did indeed have a stroke, that's very frightening. It could happen at any time. At any given moment, you could just be innocently driving down the road & have a stroke, causing you to immediately (and totally against your will) drink all the alcohol hidden in your van & smoke a bowl (or five) while speeding down the road into oncoming traffic. Scary.