8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[hot cawfeee]

Did Danny smoke pot as well? Or / And had a dui, dwi?
IIRC I read that in Jackie's book

 

[bondobbs]

nrdsb4----yes--wrong way driving b/c the driver is drunk is plausible.

If you run a google news query on "wrong way driver" you find 17,000 results. The first couple of pages are about drunk wrong way drivers that have killed people. It happens all of the time. Here in NY it has happened (without the killing) 5 times in the last six months in Westchester County where Diane hit the other car.

One story in that google search tells a story of a drunk driver that drove 35 miles the wrong way.

I think it was an alcohol induced blackout.

As for drinking more than you plan to... with the kids in the car... during the day... on a drive back home - that sounds like alcoholism plain and simple.

 

[JeannaT]

I didn't realize until now (upthread) that she had a prescription for Ambien. In my opinion, her behavior was very consistent with someone trying to drive after taking an Ambien.

Did her autopsy screen for that, does anyone know?

 

[nrdsb4]

Her behavior was very consistent with the amount of alcohol and pot in her system. Why the need to look for alternative explanations?

IIRC, someone earlier referenced that she was tested for over 300 drugs. Sorry I can't give a post number or link.

 

[Nova]

Her behavior was very consistent with the amount of alcohol and pot in her system. Why the need to look for alternative explanations?

IIRC, someone earlier referenced that she was tested for over 300 drugs. Sorry I can't give a post number or link.

Well, for one thing, pot is famous for slowing people down, not sending them speeding on the freeway.

I think JennaT's point is that all sorts of odd behaviors have been attributed to Ambien, and if DS also took one the night before, it might explain some of strange behavior on the day she crashed.

Having a prescription for Ambien doesn't absolve DS of anything. Ambien comes with instructions that it is not to be mixed with alcohol. It was still DS' choice to drink.

 

[blue22]

Well, for one thing, pot is famous for slowing people down, not sending them speeding on the freeway.

I think JennaT's point is that all sorts of odd behaviors have been attributed to Ambien, and if DS also took one the night before, it might explain some of strange behavior on the day she crashed.

Having a prescription for Ambien doesn't absolve DS of anything. Ambien comes with instructions that it is not to be mixed with alcohol. It was still DS' choice to drink.

I'm doing some digging right now to confirm this, but I didn't think they found Ambien in her system.

 

[SusanB.]

IIRC she did not. She had had a script for it in the past, as well as painkillers, but that does not seem relevant to the day of the accident. Same with the dental problems. It's not even clear that she was seeking pain relief that day, it may have been cooked up by the investigator. Same with the diabetes theory. She was drunk and stoned, that's all, IMO.

 

[hot cawfeee]

I didn't realize until now (upthread) that she had a prescription for Ambien. In my opinion, her behavior was very consistent with someone trying to drive after taking an Ambien.

Did her autopsy screen for that, does anyone know?

I am not sure....maybe after so much alcohol and pot was found in her tox screening, the doc. stopped looking maybe?
I wonder how current that scrip was?????? If it was the one she was religous about re-newing.

 

[nrdsb4]

Well, for one thing, pot is famous for slowing people down, not sending them speeding on the freeway.

Combining pot with alcohol produces a synergistic effect; the effects of the whole are stronger than if only one substance is present.

Her actions can well be explained by the alcohol and drugs present in her system.

 

[nrdsb4]

On 7/31/09, per the police report, Daniel Schuler stated that "his wife had no medical issues and was in good health." Daniel also stated that his wife "did not use any type of medications."

BBM

Yet, when it suited their case, we heard about tooth abscesses, gestational diabetes (two years after gestation was completed), rogue leg boils, migraines, various prescriptions which were from past ailments, etc.

http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/policereport/schuler, diane_police_report.pdf

 

[hot cawfeee]

hahahaha..."rogue leg boils"...that struck me funny..ok HC-be an adult for asecond.....I think Danny knew all about the pot (and smoked it as well) and all about the drinking...maybe the meds got by him. She ruled the roost...and it was probably better, quieter, safer for him to let her do what she wanted.

 

[felsenruhgreen]

I'm chiming in almost 4 years after post #509 by by Nova -- but it's good a place as any to correct something in the HBO documentary. The documentary shows a press conference where LE announced the results of the drug screens at Schuler's autopsy and explains the results show she consumed the equivalent of 10 "drinks". The documentary then shows a graphic that implies 10 "drinks" or "shots" equals 10 ounces and is a little less than the volume of a soda can.

But that seemed wrong to me because I always thought a "drink" by "bartender" standards equaled either 1.5 or 2 ounces. So I ran what information we "know" through a couple of on-line BAC calculators. They show that if a woman who weighed 204 pounds drank 15-16 ounces of hard alcohol, (40%) in 2.5 to 3 hours her BAC would peg out at .19%. (which is what Schuler's was).

So I conclude that graphic in the documentary was an inadvertent error: instead of downing a little less than a soda can of ethanol Diane Schuler drank pretty much PINT of ethanol. (Picture one of the small glass bottles in which hard liquor is sold.)

 

[felsenruhgreen]

Apologies if I've missed this somewhere up the thread: I'm struck by the fact that Diane Schuler seems to have come so close to having NOT caused this terrible tragedy. View attachment 54747


I think Schuler was driving northbound on Pleasantville Rd. And, as we all know, she turned left off of Pleasantville and entered an off ramp from the northbound Taconic, (purple arrow.) If, perhaps, she had had fractionally more awareness and had just driven around 1/4 mile further on, crossing under the Taconic, she would have reached the entrance to a ramp for the southbound Taconic , (red arrow), which presumably was the correct way home.

 

[felsenruhgreen]

Further apologies if I've missed this somewhere amongst 1850 plus posts:

This theory is based on reports that it actually was Diane Schuler who was seen pulled off the highway and looking as though she might be sick to her stomach. (Feeling like you're about to vomit might surely explain the erratic driving and tail-gating near the Ramapo (Sloatsburg) rest stop. )

My idea is that Schuler might have tried smoking a joint while stopped at Ramapo thinking it could quell her nausea.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I'm chiming in almost 4 years after post #509 by by Nova -- but it's good a place as any to correct something in the HBO documentary. The documentary shows a press conference where LE announced the results of the drug screens at Schuler's autopsy and explains the results show she consumed the equivalent of 10 "drinks". The documentary then shows a graphic that implies 10 "drinks" or "shots" equals 10 ounces and is a little less than the volume of a soda can.

But that seemed wrong to me because I always thought a "drink" by "bartender" standards equaled either 1.5 or 2 ounces. So I ran what information we "know" through a couple of on-line BAC calculators. They show that if a woman who weighed 204 pounds drank 15-16 ounces of hard alcohol, (40%) in 2.5 to 3 hours her BAC would peg out at .19%. (which is what Schuler's was).

So I conclude that graphic in the documentary was an inadvertent error: instead of downing a little less than a soda can of ethanol Diane Schuler drank pretty much PINT of ethanol. (Picture one of the small glass bottles in which hard liquor is sold.)

Dang, that's a lot of alcohol!

 

[hot cawfeee]

felsenruhgreen-----good catch-----I got a shot glass--shot is 1 ounce (30 ml) NOW kids according to my bartenders manual "The New York Bartenders Guide" by Sally Ann Berk a bar measurement is 1 pony equals 1 ounce, 1 jigger equals 1 1/2 ounces

 

[hot cawfeee]

Have tried twice to edit but no luck----so I will continue

My late grandfather owned a bar and we young beans were taught to make drinks with jigger as a measure.
I still think Diane was hungover or still drunk from the night before and angry at Danny (and probably one hundred other things) hence the drinking and smoking pot on the way home.

 

[luthersmama]

I agree. I think she was severely angry with Danny about something...or a lot of things. And she got a little drunk, then a lot drunk and lost all impulse control. I said so years ago and got kicked out of another forum because people felt I was making excuses or defending her. Not so - just trying to understand.

 

[Davereid]

In December my brother-in-law was killed in a car accident. It was a single car and no one was hurt. He was driving from job site to site then on to a company Christmas party. There was a bottle of vodka found under the gas pedal so we assumed he was drinking. He had zero alcohol in his system. But that did not discount that he was an alcoholic. I read his autopsy and his liver was over normal liver weight 1000 to 1500 grams. There was nothing stated about this as his cause of death was head and neck trauma from the wreck. I just read several documents about normal liver versus abnormal and his was probably fatty or where the healthy cells are replaced by fatty cells from the alcohol. Diane's liver weighed 1930 grams. A little abnormal but my point is that her trauma from the accident was so great other than weight or excessive abnormalities the liver size and color are just noted. So could we consider she might have drank a lot or more than what her family claimed? I think so. I think she used alcohol to relieve stress of her job and family. A heavy drinker would be more likely to over-drink because they think they can handle it. The thing is though even with a built in tolerance the setting and mood you are in can influence your intoxication. What we will never really know is her state of mind and that is what has people still discussing this case. I will say having experiencing a traffic fatality in my own family makes me even more empathetic to everyone involved. It sucks to go through. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.

 

[hot cawfeee]

Davereid---my most heartfelt condolences to you and your family---am so sorry for your loss.

I think Diane was a heavy drinker--now that of course can be a loose term--what I think is heavy is not what someone else may think. But she was an habitual pot smoker (and I think Danny indulged as well). I wonder if her employer Cablevision had a drug testing policy? I think she smoked pot and drank alcohol daily to relieve stress, just her thing to do. IIRC she had been taking Ambien--not sure if she still was or moved over to pot and alcohol. IIRC and this may have been in Jackie Hantz book, but Danny was arrested for DWI/DUI and was known to smoke pot.

Its possible her family knew more than they were telling and decided for young Brian's sake to reveal nothing. And b/c of the lawsuits, they decided to stay quiet.
I'd love to know what her co-workers knew of her---the only one who talked on the documentary was a former Cablevision employer. Now that can b/c of company policy that no one spoke. And the "person named Eileen" who drank with Diane during lunch, after work has never appeared, so I will discount her as a witness or credible source.