8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[Nova]

I don't drink hard liquor - to me it tastes like gasoline. But I would assume that if she was a long time drinker, maybe she would become immune to the taste? Is that even a possibility? I could certainly tell the difference between vodka and water - especially straight out of the bottle. My ex-mil used to drink martinis (vodka and vermouth) and that's the last time I ever tasted it (a good 20 years ago). IMHO - you would have to know the difference. But maybe I'm wrong.

MOO

Mel

Yes, one does get used to the taste of hard liquor. But that does NOT mean one would confuse vodka with water.

 

[Nova]

I have dealt with alcoholics that specifically drink vodka because they BELIEVE it has no odour and others cannot detect it on their breath.

They are wrong, of course.

Oh, I have, too. And that was the myth when I was a kid.

My point was directed at the idea that DS might have thought she was drinking water when she was really drinking vodka. To my knowledge, NOBODY gets so used to vodka that they confuse it with water.

 

[Davereid]

I have dealt with alcoholics that specifically drink vodka because they BELIEVE it has no odour and others cannot detect it on their breath.

They are wrong, of course.

I have alsoe dealth with alcholics that thought the same. I guess it is similar to someone who smokes in that they cannot smell smoke on them but nonsmokers sure can.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SusanB.]

I didn't mean to exonerate DS by saying she might not have been used to smoking pot while drinking. I simply meant that it might have explained her nausea. And of course vodka is not odorless. Actually, I think the odor someone has after drinking is not from whatever alcohol they put in their mouth, but is from the chemical change in their body.

 

[rpd113]

Four years ago today.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

"She never would have planned to harm those kids."

I would like to believe this to be true. But having read all of the police reports, I am just not sure.

And based on some of the other really crazy cases we have all seen over the years, it kind of boils down to "Who knows?" She's dead. We will never know.

May they ALL rest in peace.

 

[arielilane]

My speculation:
That DS had a terrible headache that morning and was desperate for relief. When you suffer from migraines you will do anything to be rid of the pain. You also don't care about anything (putting that mildly) because the pain is brutal. We have evidence that DS attempted to relieve her pain. However, we don't have much more to go on because the family won't release much information. DS then resorts to alcohol and pot, a lot of alcohol out of desperation.

The evidence shows DS went to McDonalds for orange juice and stopped at the gas station for medication. Bryan, the lone survivor is quoted in a CNN transcript dated 4/14/13 stating " Mommy's head hurt, she couldn't see."

 

[Nova]

I have had such migraines, though they are under control at the moment. But you are right, A: I'd do almost anything to get relief. (Though in my experience marijuana tends to make headaches worse as it improves one's focus on the pain.)

I never drank alcohol and/or smoked pot and then got behind the wheel with children, and I'd like to think I never would. But then I've never been at a campground with a van load of little ones when a migraine struck.

If that was her problem, why didn't she at least insist that her husband trade vehicles and drive the kids? (I know: because she wasn't thinking straight.)

 

[arielilane]

Hi Nova,

My initial thoughts when I first read about this case was that DS was angry when she left the campsite. I still speculate that to be true in addition to the headache. By no means am I defending DS's actions. Never. Her actions that day were of rage, bizarre and unexplained behavior (I could go on...) and as everyone already knows, we will never know the truth.

 

[Nova]

Not to worry, arielilane. This case was so senseless, we all wonder how it might have been averted. That does NOT mean we are excusing DS.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

I do not recall reading anything in the records that indicated she ad a history of migraine headaches.

I suffered from them at one point in my life (they actually went away after a few years!) and so did/does my child. And yes, you are in pain. But you don't take leave of your senses in terms of knowing what you are doing, responsibility for children, etc.

 

[bondobbs]

After considering this more and more, I'm leaning toward an alcohol-induced blackout in which she was not conscious, although her body was still functioning.

(snip)
3.1. Definition

An alcoholic blackout is amnesia for the events of any part of a drinking episode without loss of consciousness. It is characterized by memory impairment during intoxication in the relative absence of other skill deficits. It is not to be confused with ‘passing out’ [9]. Early documentation from Alcoholics Anonymous describes a variety of blackout behavior, especially in the en-bloc type, which includes driving for long distances or carrying on apparently normal conversations at parties. Subjects often report waking in strange places without any memory of how they got there. Criminal acts including murder, have been reported [17]. Although some have criticized these extremes, stating that such behavior is “exaggerated and a form of selective memory or denial to avoid guilt and confrontation over antisocial behavior brought on by drinking” [9], it nevertheless portrays the selective impairment of memory during an alcohol-induced blackout.
(/snip)

From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2800062/

 

[SusanB.]

I don't buy the headache idea. If she was in such pain, wouldn't she have stopped at a drug store or at least a grocery, rather than go to McD's for almost an hour? And why look at a gas station? Something may have happened at the campground, or maybe it was just a good day to drink. I can imagine being cooped up with that many young kids would have driven her crazy, and her jerk of a husband not being much help. But drinkers don't always need an excuse like that to start them off. I think she may have spent much of the weekend drinking and then couldn't pull herself together in time for the drive home. Danny may or may not have been oblivious. I know that my ex could sometimes fool me into thinking he was sober, and I would only realize later that he was hammered.

 

[Nova]

I don't buy the headache idea. If she was in such pain, wouldn't she have stopped at a drug store or at least a grocery, rather than go to McD's for almost an hour? And why look at a gas station? Something may have happened at the campground, or maybe it was just a good day to drink. I can imagine being cooped up with that many young kids would have driven her crazy, and her jerk of a husband not being much help. But drinkers don't always need an excuse like that to start them off. I think she may have spent much of the weekend drinking and then couldn't pull herself together in time for the drive home. Danny may or may not have been oblivious. I know that my ex could sometimes fool me into thinking he was sober, and I would only realize later that he was hammered.

Where did the niece get the idea that "Aunt Diane" had a headache except from DS? I don't know about upstate NY, but here in California you'd have a hard time finding a gas station that isn't a fully stocked convenience store. I would absolutely go to a gas station if I needed an analgesic.

But none of my above paragraph negates your hypothesis. They could both easily be true.

 

[SusanB.]

The niece said that later, when DS was so blitzed that she might well have had a headache, or that is what she told the kids. I still think if she had a migraine earlier, she wouldn't have given up looking for gelcaps when the gas station didn't have any. But that whole story is from Ruskin, who may have invented it. DS' conversation with the clerk did not look long enough for a conversation that specific. According to the Bastardis' book, the gelcaps and Chicken Selects stories were figments of Ruskin's imagination.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

A little O/T but Had to post this.....

Fallen celebrity lawyer Domonic Barbara busted for choking girlfriend: Prosecutors

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...d-prosecutors-article-1.1471818#ixzz2gRzS80NJ

 

[foilsman]

I have read every entry on this thread, including my own which were ill informed and misleading.
I have no intentions of dispelling further discussion of the event that occurred on that
fateful day, but Nova as have I been faithful in defending Diane against the murder/suicide
scenario.
The reason being that Diane had gotten past the point of being responsible for her actions
at some point and relied on her failed memory on the way home.
Among many others Nova #1687 and Bondobbs #1717
Diane made the selfish decision to drink alcohol and smoke pot with innocent children
at steak.
As much as I would love to defend Diane on that awful day I cannot because there
is northing to defend her with..

 

[StephanieH]

BBM - people in blackouts often do all sorts of things (to include drive) competently on automatic pilot even though they don't recall having done it. That is the nature of a blackout.

Like you, I daydream about ways we can stop something like this from happening in the future, but the reality is that legislating things like forcing people to blow into a device in order to start their car is too intrusive into personal human liberties. We have enough of a nanny state already.

I am late to this board, but just wanted to say I agree. Regular people, who don't drink and drive, should not be subjected to unnecessary things like that. Diane wouldn't have had this anyway, as she had not ever had a ticket, let alone a DUI. It was not on anyone's radar that she could do this.

That said, she DID drive drunk and stoned. They why is important insomuch as it might help someone else.

Daniel isn't responsible, but from what I understand, they are suing her estate. I don't know how I feel about that. I understand that they are angry and lost their loved ones. But Daniel is scraping by, really, with a large mortgage and a disabled child. He doesn't have any money and Diane's life insurance is long spent. What does suing him accomplish? He is never, ever going to admit Diane drank (if he knew) and he is going to keep her in saint status for Bryan.

 

[hot cawfeee]

following Stephanie H---I am her lil' caboose!!!! lol

Wow---this is still chilling and haunting after much time has passed. I watched the doc on HBO many times--I caught something more each time. The childhood girlfriends I bet can tell alot more than we heard---would love to see what film did not make the final cut).
I have always been of the opinion that DS was an habitual drinker and pot smoker-could explain IIRC she did not have a regular doctor--one would have caught it and maybe her insurance provider would have to alert her employer ? Or given what I percieve is a huge ego-the doctor would have scolded her---MOO.
I think that Sunday morning she was very hung-over and not looking forward to a long drive home, with kids, and chores to be done at home (unload car, organize kids and self and home for work-week and didnt she have to hit the market as well???). She kept the kids at McD's to take the edge off and it got worse rather than better.
She was impaired when they left McD's and she got worse as they drove----one of the Hance girls dialed someone from DS's phone and got a wrong number---does anyone else think she was scrolling last called numbers and not actually dialing her own number? Maybe it was DS drug dealer. (MOO of course.)
I think Danny is an immature man who enabled his wife to the degree that the home (MOO) ran according to her temper. His parents dont seem to think much of him-MOO.
I'd like to see this case be re-opened-----I doubt it will. Danny will never admit anything b/c he fears litigation. If he apologizes it is to him admitting guilt and culpability. And the infamous EZPass discrepancy--I have heard that also--he elft home Thursday and his EZPass registered on Friday.

 

[Chewy]

I am late to this board, but just wanted to say I agree. Regular people, who don't drink and drive, should not be subjected to unnecessary things like that. Diane wouldn't have had this anyway, as she had not ever had a ticket, let alone a DUI. It was not on anyone's radar that she could do this.

That said, she DID drive drunk and stoned. They why is important insomuch as it might help someone else.

Daniel isn't responsible, but from what I understand, they are suing her estate. I don't know how I feel about that. I understand that they are angry and lost their loved ones. But Daniel is scraping by, really, with a large mortgage and a disabled child. He doesn't have any money and Diane's life insurance is long spent. What does suing him accomplish? He is never, ever going to admit Diane drank (if he knew) and he is going to keep her in saint status for Bryan.

Parents who drink & drive would just have their kids blow into it.