8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

[Patticake]

I think it is worth noting that a 1.75 liter bottle of vodka was found in the debris of the wreck:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAJAp341-paJmsICuZzSIf5lmV6wD99TFM1G0

 

[southcitymom]

Bless them all! Take it from a pro, y'all - it's not hard to hide if hiding it is important to you. Also - the opposite work schedules would make it even easier.

 

[Native New Yorker]

sorry, but the one detail that keeps coming back to me is the discarded cell phone....that just does not fit at all. I think that she was angry and on a rampage....it just does not fit at all...
also the delay by her brother in calling police....that strikes me as odd, too....

 

[southcitymom]

sorry, but the one detail that keeps coming back to me is the discarded cell phone....that just does not fit at all. I think that she was angry and on a rampage....it just does not fit at all...
also the delay by her brother in calling police....that strikes me as odd, too....

Drunk people leave things and forget things and lose things, so that detail doesn't strike me as the least bit odd.

Refresh my memory about the brother and the police. From what I recall, when she spoke to her brother and was feeling ill, he told her to stay put and he would come and get her - then when he got to where he thought she was, he couldn't find her and he called the police. That strikes me as exactly what I would have done had a sibling called me from the road in distress. Do I have some facts out of place?

 

[gaia227]

Bless them all! Take it from a pro, y'all - it's not hard to hide if hiding it is important to you. Also - the opposite work schedules would make it even easier.

I must be the most obvious drunk in the world. Fiance would walk in the door and I would be there, brushed teeth, perfume (just a dab) I thought I would say hello normally and within 10 seconds - have you been drinking?

Something like opiates is much easier to hide (in my opinion). You don't lose coordination like you do with alcohol, you don't lose you inhibitions like you do with alcohol, it doesn't smell and it is easily concealed.

But, I agree - the different work schedules would definitely help. The good question that has been asked is - who was taking care of her kids if she was out at a bar?

 

[Lyn1001]

I must be the most obvious drunk in the world. Fiance would walk in the door and I would be there, brushed teeth, perfume (just a dab) I thought I would say hello normally and within 10 seconds - have you been drinking?

Something like opiates is much easier to hide (in my opinion). You don't lose coordination like you do with alcohol, you don't lose you inhibitions like you do with alcohol, it doesn't smell and it is easily concealed.

But, I agree - the different work schedules would definitely help. The good question that has been asked is - who was taking care of her kids if she was out at a bar?

I actually have a friend, that when he drinks, 99% of the people around him, including his PARENTS, believe him to be stone cold sober. He can stand, walk a straight line, carry on a fairly intelligent conversation, and act no differently than normal. He may be a bit more outgoing, but that's normal when he's around his friends. The only thing that tips me off that he crossed the line to being drunk is that his eyes are a little glassy. However, if I haven't watched him drink, then even the eyes don't tip me off because his eyes legitimately get glassy from allergy problems as well.

 

[southcitymom]

I must be the most obvious drunk in the world. Fiance would walk in the door and I would be there, brushed teeth, perfume (just a dab) I thought I would say hello normally and within 10 seconds - have you been drinking?

Something like opiates is much easier to hide (in my opinion). You don't lose coordination like you do with alcohol, you don't lose you inhibitions like you do with alcohol, it doesn't smell and it is easily concealed.

But, I agree - the different work schedules would definitely help. The good question that has been asked is - who was taking care of her kids if she was out at a bar?

If she worked during the day, she had nanny/school/ something to keep the kids - and if she was an exec, she probably worked longer hours than most. It's not hard to sneak out a little early for a "meeting" and get some drinks in before going home to the kids - and drinking more if you like since DH isn't home.

 

[southcitymom]

I actually have a friend, that when he drinks, 99% of the people around him, including his PARENTS, believe him to be stone cold sober. He can stand, walk a straight line, carry on a fairly intelligent conversation, and act no differently than normal. He may be a bit more outgoing, but that's normal when he's around his friends. The only thing that tips me off that he crossed the line to being drunk is that his eyes are a little glassy. However, if I haven't watched him drink, then even the eyes don't tip me off because his eyes legitimately get glassy from allergy problems as well.

I hear you - I know a number of "functional" alcoholics who are like this. (not saying your friend is one! )

 

[SuziQ]

I see alot of comments still asking or wondering about a medical condition that could have caused this. There was no medical condition found that would have caused this. The BAC and tox levels though were high.

And the husband or anyone for that matter that knowingly let's a person get into a car drunk with children and they get killed will be charged with some sort of crime. It's the same type of legal responsibility that a bartender faces if he let's a customer drink too much. Heck, there have been people who hosted BBQ's who are legally held responsible for letting their guests drive off drunk. It just depends on who knew what and when.

And I have to think that someone who didn't care to hide getting drunk and smoking pot in front of kids also didn't hide it from other people as well. At this point I'm not buying what the husband is selling.

 

[southcitymom]

On the drinking and driving thing. The vast majority of drivers in this country have driven while intoxicated - probably more than one time. This is true whether the person has addiction issues or just overindulged.

The very nature of inebriation is that most people think they are fine to drive when they are not.

Whenever someone gets popped for DUI or kills themselves or others in a DUI accident, my first and foremost thought is "There but for the grace of God go I....and every other person who has done the exact same thing at least once."

 

[SuziQ]

Well the lady isn't getting any breaks from me. And I completely understand why the family of the three men killed are angry and frustrated.

 

[southcitymom]

I see alot of comments still asking or wondering about a medical condition that could have caused this. There was no medical condition found that would have caused this. The BAC and tox levels though were high.

And the husband or anyone for that matter that knowingly let's a person get into a car drunk with children and they get killed will be charged with some sort of crime. It's the same type of legal responsibility that a bartender faces if he let's a customer drink too much. Heck, there have been people who hosted BBQ's who are legally held responsible for letting their guests drive off drunk. It just depends on who knew what and when.

And I have to think that someone who didn't care to hide getting drunk and smoking pot in front of kids also didn't hide it from other people as well. At this point I'm not buying what the husband is selling.

There is nothing to indicate that this Husband knowingly put his impaired wife in a car to drive four hours with five children. Other people were at that campsite and she was driving for quite a while (to include a stop at McDonald's where no one thought she was acting strange or loaded) before her impairment became apparent to others because she began to drive badly.

I completely agree that had the Husband put her in the car knowing she was intoxicated and planning to get more intoxicated, then he would share some responsibility. However, all the facts we know seem to point to the fact that she drank and used after leaving the campground and got drunker and drunker as the ride continued.

 

[MrsG728]

Angry Neighbors, Stunned Relatives React to Tragedy

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20090806/NEWS/908060337

*snipped by me*

the last guy's quote in this article really made me angry :furious: I don't know how he feels entitled to say those things.

 

[ElizaAvalon]

Drunk people leave things and forget things and lose things, so that detail doesn't strike me as the least bit odd.

I'm with NNYer on this one. I'm mystified about the cellphone.

Where it was found is not where you would get out of your car. It's very dangerous. If I saw someone out of their car in this location I would be thinking to myself that they are out of their minds. She would have had to open her car door right into traffic and then go around to the passenger side and place the cellphone on the wall where it was found. And there would have been a million cars driving right past and someone would have noticed that she was out of her car (and would have come forward by now).

OR... she threw the phone out the passenger window as she was driving by and that's where it landed (and this would be very difficult - it most likely would land in the roadway than on the wall).

LE needs to get her cellphone records, look at her computer, talk to her son.

Refresh my memory about the brother and the police. From what I recall, when she spoke to her brother and was feeling ill, he told her to stay put and he would come and get her - then when he got to where he thought she was, he couldn't find her and he called the police. That strikes me as exactly what I would have done had a sibling called me from the road in distress. Do I have some facts out of place?

I don't know what made him call the police but I'm guessing it is because he could no longer reach her on her cellphone. He would not have reached the Tappan Zee from his house in 33 minutes even if he were doing 80 MPH the whole way.

 

[ElizaAvalon]

Seems the husband is a public safety officer:
"Mr. Schuler eventually became a public safety officer for the Nassau County Police Department, earning $43,000 a year. Such officers are not armed but patrol county facilities."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/nyregion/06crash.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

Interesting.

My heart goes out to all of the families involved and I mean no ill-will in my observations.

A public safety officer job at the Bethpage Restoration Village is pretty stress-free. The place is closed at night. The guy probably drives his car around and, on a rough night, possibly gets out to shoo away some kids drinking beer in the woods.

At his salary, for downstate NY, Diane HAD to work. I will bet she wished she could stay home with her children but could not. She may have even made more than he did (actually, it is very likely that she made way more than he made). She may have been embarrassed by his lack of a more ambitious career.

I am beginning to see why she may have felt stress in her marriage.

Perhaps she wanted a break from the kids for the ride home and asked him to drive and he refused. And all she could think about is how easy his life is compared to hers. (???)

 

[PrayersForMaura]

I see alot of comments still asking or wondering about a medical condition that could have caused this. There was no medical condition found that would have caused this. The BAC and tox levels though were high.

And the husband or anyone for that matter that knowingly let's a person get into a car drunk with children and they get killed will be charged with some sort of crime. It's the same type of legal responsibility that a bartender faces if he let's a customer drink too much. Heck, there have been people who hosted BBQ's who are legally held responsible for letting their guests drive off drunk. It just depends on who knew what and when.

And I have to think that someone who didn't care to hide getting drunk and smoking pot in front of kids also didn't hide it from other people as well. At this point I'm not buying what the husband is selling.

It was reported in an article yesterday that they wanted her exhumed to also make sure it wasn't a diabetic reaction.

Drinking and diabetes don't mix, I speak and write from personal experience as I have a family member who had to quit drinking so that this type of accident didn't happen to him.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Interesting.

My heart goes out to all of the families involved and I mean no ill-will in my observations.

A public safety officer job at the Bethpage Restoration Village is pretty stress-free. The place is closed at night. The guy probably drives his car around and, on a rough night, possibly gets out to shoo away some kids drinking beer in the woods.

At his salary, for downstate NY, Diane HAD to work. I will bet she wished she could stay home with her children but could not. She may have even made more than he did (actually, it is very likely that she made way more than he made). She may have been embarrassed by his lack of a more ambitious career.

I am beginning to see why she may have felt stress in her marriage.

Perhaps she wanted a break from the kids for the ride home and asked him to drive and he refused. And all she could think about is how easy his life is compared to hers. (???)

I thought I saw it reported that she made $40,000 something or thereabouts from Cablevision but that could be wrong.
Shoot I make what their two salaries are combined and have no kids and couldn't afford the $340,000 house they have. Especially in NY where the cost of living seems to be higher.

I would bet she was a bit stressed.

 

[gaia227]

On the drinking and driving thing. The vast majority of drivers in this country have driven while intoxicated - probably more than one time. This is true whether the person has addiction issues or just overindulged.

The very nature of inebriation is that most people think they are fine to drive when they are not.

Whenever someone gets popped for DUI or kills themselves or others in a DUI accident, my first and foremost thought is "There but for the grace of God go I....and every other person who has done the exact same thing at least once."

Exactly. You get a few drinks in you and start to feel invincible, you insist your are fiiiiiine to drive, you don't think you are nearly as drunk as you really are. I remember one night back in the day when I was going out a lot and was the bar and no sooner did the words "I am not drunk and TOTALLY fine to drive" did I literally fall out of my chair......fortunately I was with friends who promptly took my keys away and called me a cab.

And you make a good point about if she had a nanny or babysitter she could easily have been going out after work for some drinks. Or if it was to the level of full blown alcoholism she could have been putting her kids to bed and sneaking out for a couple hours before he husband got home.

 

[reb]

I think what the husband is saying is that some of sudden mysterious brain 'storm' (with unknown medical or mental cause).. caused her to act in a totally irrational way, throw all common sense, judgement, and maternal instincts out the window, have a sudden breakdown, and within a few hours, decide to start binge drinking to the point of oblivion. I guess it's possible. But I would say the odds of this happening would be one in a million, verses the odds of her already being a closet alkie........?? FAR more likely.

 

[Kat]

Which test was used to test for the Alcohol in her system? Was it stated that it was a blood test?

The ME could have used one of two tests (that I know of) and I'm not sure what the standard test is.
1. Urine
2. Blood

I have seen some debate as to the accuracy of the urine test. It has been noted that high levels of sugar (and acetone) can produce readings of alcohol in the urine when in fact none was ingested.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying she wasn't drinking. I am just curious to know what test was used, and the accuracy of that testing.

Also, I don't know the type of Diabetes it is being said that she had? The risk of drinking alcohol with the diagnosis of diabetes can bring about low blood sugar. I think it's called hypoglycemia (I'm too lazy to google and I have to serve dinner in a minute sorry).

I have known someone with hypoglycemia and (she wasn't a drinker). But it can be scary ~
[quote Somewhere in the 50 mg/dl range, most patients progress to neuro-glyco-penic ranges (the brain is not getting enough glucose). At this point, symptoms progress to confusion, drowsiness, changes in behavior, coma, and seizure.
][/quote]

http://www.medicinenet.com/hypoglycemia/page2.htm

The second autopsy needs to be done so all questions can be ruled out as to the cause of this and the victims can have their answers~ they deserve at least that~ answers. JMHO