8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

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I have really tried to not post on this thread from the beginning because I am biased. I have no tolerance for anyone who drinks and drives. The undigested alcohol in Diane's stomach leaves no doubt that she was very intoxicated.

My son was killed on Thanksgiving Day, 1999, by a drunk driver. I know what it is like to lose a loved one because of a drunk driver. My heart goes out to all of the families who lost loved ones in this tragedy. I told my story in a thread in the parking lot a while ago.

There is no excuse whatsoever for Diane having drank that amount of alcohol and driven. Especially with children in the car - helpless, innocent victims. Even if Diane was on anti depressants, she knew not to mix them with alcohol. She was an executive with a cable company. She could not have held that position if she were dumb or stupid. No one made her drink or smoke pot. No one. It was her fault and I hate to hear anyone make excuses for her. There are none.

My heart and deepest sympathies are with the family of the children and the family of the three men who were killed in this tragic accident. There has to be answers and they deserve answers.

I do respect recovering addicts and people who realize he/she has a real problem and does something about it. (((southcitymom)))

I feel that driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol do need to have more dire consequesces than there are now. While some drunk drivers are feeling invincible, they are killing innocent people. IMO, there should be severe consequesces for that.

I have read every post in this thread. I have started posts, then deleted them before submitting. Just now, I knew I had to go ahead and get it out of my system. I have -0- tolerance for drinking and driving. I have -0- tolerance for doing any type of mind altering drug and driving. Anyone can do what they want in their own home, but don't get out there and kill innocent people because you have no self discipline.

I have Irish Coffees at home and drink a glass of wine every once in a while. I do not think everyone should swear off of drinking, just do not drink and drive. My son drank beer and went out to clubs with his college buds. He had not had a drop that Thanksgiving Day he was killed by someone who was drinking at 2 PM that day.

The only comment I have on Daniel Schuler at this time is that I do not believe he had no clue about Diane's drinking.
 
capoly said:
I'd like to know who made this call to her and what was said:
"At 12:08 p.m., Ms. Schuler received a call, but it is not yet known who made the call, Mr. Ruskin said."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/nyregion/08crash.html

Anyone know more on that call? Haven't found any update on it. TIA
Click to expand...

"A Schuler relative - not her husband, Daniel - made a two-minute call to the phone at 12:08 p.m., Ruskin said. "We haven't been able to speak to that person yet, so I can't really comment on it," he said."

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/...r-schuler-s-cell-made-2-calls-got-2-1.1357864
 
Daniel Schuler's assets might be safe, but he will probably not have a job now after admitting to using pot. JMO

If I am not mistaken, Diane's estate can be sued for damages. JMO. If I were an member of one of the mens' (who were killed in the accident) family, I would not sue out of compassion for the Schuler's little 5 year old son. GB him.
 
Unsure where I stand on a lawsuit sitch and my opinion doesn't matter on that anyway. Where I do think my opinion counts is this: I don't really give a rip whether or not this loser mom was a drunk or "didn't drink" or "never was seen drunk" or all that bunk. What seems to be fact is that she was drunk that fateful day. And high! Big deal if she wasn't "a drunk" but she was drunk - even if it was her first time ever! Tox report ain't gonna lie like the family seems to want it to! This was clearly her fault and her fault only. However she got the vodka in the car, wherever she got the dope - she got to make the call whether or not to drink, smoke and drive. This story is so appalling!
 
tezi said:
..... Isn't he in LE in some capacity? Isn't that why his attorney refused to allow any questions about the pot use? I can bet he'll be drug tested when he goes back to work!....
Click to expand...

(respectfully snipped)

He's been identified as a Public Safety Officer. I'm not really sure what that is or what that means.
 
LaLaw2000 said:
I have really tried to not post on this thread from the beginning because I am biased. I have no tolerance for anyone who drinks and drives. The undigested alcohol in Diane's stomach leaves no doubt that she was very intoxicated.

My son was killed on Thanksgiving Day, 1999, by a drunk driver. I know what it is like to lose a loved one because of a drunk driver. My heart goes out to all of the families who lost loved ones in this tragedy. I told my story in a thread in the parking lot a while ago.

There is no excuse whatsoever for Diane having drank that amount of alcohol and driven. Especially with children in the car - helpless, innocent victims. Even if Diane was on anti depressants, she knew not to mix them with alcohol. She was an executive with a cable company. She could not have held that position if she were dumb or stupid. No one made her drink or smoke pot. No one. It was her fault and I hate to hear anyone make excuses for her. There are none.

My heart and deepest sympathies are with the family of the children and the family of the three men who were killed in this tragic accident. There has to be answers and they deserve answers.

I do respect recovering addicts and people who realize he/she has a real problem and does something about it. (((southcitymom)))

I feel that driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol do need to have more dire consequesces than there are now. While some drunk drivers are feeling invincible, they are killing innocent people. IMO, there should be severe consequesces for that.

I have read every post in this thread. I have started posts, then deleted them before submitting. Just now, I knew I had to go ahead and get it out of my system. I have -0- tolerance for drinking and driving. I have -0- tolerance for doing any type of mind altering drug and driving. Anyone can do what they want in their own home, but don't get out there and kill innocent people because you have no self discipline.

I have Irish Coffees at home and drink a glass of wine every once in a while. I do not think everyone should swear off of drinking, just do not drink and drive. My son drank beer and went out to clubs with his college buds. He had not had a drop that Thanksgiving Day he was killed by someone who was drinking at 2 PM that day.

The only comment I have on Daniel Schuler at this time is that I do not believe he had no clue about Diane's drinking.
Click to expand...

I am so sorry about your son, LaLaw2000. On Thanksgiving Day....I just can't imagine that type of pain, and this story must leave you raw inside and out. My grandmother lost her firstborn son to a drunk driver - and wound up in a mental institution for a while, such was her breakdown over it.

I appreciate your kind comments about me and recovery. I don't know why some addicts can get it together enough to take a shot at changing and some cannot. I will never know the answer to that. What I do know is that the majority of people with alcohol/drug addictions have a mighty tough time getting straight and staying that way. I don't feel proud of myself for trying to do the right thing as regards my drug/alcohol issues - I just feel lucky and blessed and grateful (and did I mention, lucky!). Ultimately, I do it for selfish reasons - I am so much happier in every way when I am clean.

I agree with everything you have to say about using and driving and I wish I had any real thoughts about solutions. It is a plague on our society.

I respect your opinion concerning her husband, but I hold a different one on that point. I have known too many spouses (including my own, who has loads of experience with the issue as he has been clean and in recovery and actively helping others get clean since he was 20) to be completely blindsided by their partner's addiction. I feel like Diane's family's WTF reaction was genuine.

That said, they are going to need to come to grips with the truth eventually. How and when that will happen, I couldn't begin to know.
 
grace60 said:
"A Schuler relative - not her husband, Daniel - made a two-minute call to the phone at 12:08 p.m., Ruskin said. "We haven't been able to speak to that person yet, so I can't really comment on it," he said."

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/...r-schuler-s-cell-made-2-calls-got-2-1.1357864
Click to expand...

My opinion is that it'll just be a boring family phone call - dealing with logistics or something - didn't the three girls have some sort of performance or rehearsal? I don't think the phone calls will reveal anything that might be meaningful to understanding DS's choices and their terrible outcome.
 
Discussing on JVM.

Wendy Murphy, in reference to the excuses: I don't care if she had the bubonic plague, she was drunk.
 
I've started and stopped many posts here lately. I'm trying not to get emotional over this, but I just can't believe NO ONE in her family knew she might have a problem (leaving room this was a one-time drinking/pot smoking episode that ended horribly)!! I apologize if this post goes all over the place, but I have a lot of thoughts, and I'm sure I'm going to tick some people off.

-I have zero respect for Barbara. What a joke. This man did ZERO for his situation aligning himself with this loser. SPIN SPIN SPIN. TIA, bump on the leg, tooth problem, diabetes? GIMME A BREAK ALREADY. Shut up! A simple "We are praying for the families of all those involved" would have gone a long way.

-We don't let people with certain medical conditions drive legally unless they can prove they are on their meds and safe. Example, epilepsy or other seizure disorders. I know people who lost their license temporarily for this reason. It's a medical condition, a disease. Alcoholics/drug addicts love to tout they have a "disease" but when it comes time to be responsible for it, they won't. And I mean no disrespect to anyone here in recovery or trying to get in recovery, I appreciate the difficulty and your efforts to be clean. So why is this disease different? Anyone? I mean if you come forward and medical personnel know, why can't we say "no more license"? Why don't recovery/rehab/counselors push this? They should have some clue that these people are probably driving drunk?! Instead we wait until they have a DUI, or kill someone, then they lose their privileges. A little late then. So is it medical or is it a choice??? I think it is interesting to ponder over. (I know full well the social drinker can also be a drunk driver, I am speaking of people who acknowledge a supposed medical condition.)

-I believe the true victims here are the two other families. They had ZERO connection to DS and her family. Now they are linked forever by her poor choices (yes, I believe it was a choice), and possibly the choice of her other family members. I hope they pursue this to the fullest extent possible. A message needs to be sent and resent.
 
chicagofa13 said:
......-....So why is this disease different? Anyone? I mean if you come forward and medical personnel know, why can't we say "no more license"? Why don't recovery/rehab/counselors push this? They should have some clue that these people are probably driving drunk?! Instead we wait until they have a DUI, or kill someone, then they lose their privileges. A little late then. So is it medical or is it a choice??? I think it is interesting to ponder over.......
Click to expand...

(respectfully snipped)

The "Disease/BS-It's A Choice" debate is always an interesting discussion, but I don't know if it's appropriate to this topic. None of us know whether or not DS was an addict. Even those of us (like me) who believe all evidence points to the fact that she was one don't KNOW and chances are we never will.

That said, I think if some law or public safety stance were implemented where admitting you are addict meant you would lose your license forever, then people would be even LESS inclined to seek help and/or treatment. I mean are all you Earth people going to tote us to meetings for the rest of our lives? ;)

Seriously, though, I think it would be impossible. The medical community considers the disease of addiction to be chronic, progressive and incurable. That doesn't mean it can't be managed, just that it doesn't ever go away.

It doesn't seem right to tell someone who has been clean for 20 years that he can't drive (even though experience shows us that being clean for that long doesn't guarantee you'll be clean forever) just because he admits he's an addict but all the other drinking and driving addicts can have a license because they aren't about to fess up to their condition.

I think a "one drunk driving offense=license gone forever" would be a better system that would catch both addicts and non-addicts alike. Still, we will NEVER in a million years see that happen because so many people drink and drive. Frankly, from a judicial point of view and a societal point of view, we don't care all that much about loaded drivers unless they hurt someone else - and then we get all high and mighty about it. IMHO.
 
southcitymom said:
I am so sorry about your son, LaLaw2000. On Thanksgiving Day....I just can't imagine that type of pain, and this story must leave you raw inside and out. My grandmother lost her firstborn son to a drunk driver - and wound up in a mental institution for a while, such was her breakdown over it.

I appreciate your kind comments about me and recovery. I don't know why some addicts can get it together enough to take a shot at changing and some cannot. I will never know the answer to that. What I do know is that the majority of people with alcohol/drug addictions have a mighty tough time getting straight and staying that way. I don't feel proud of myself for trying to do the right thing as regards my drug/alcohol issues - I just feel lucky and blessed and grateful (and did I mention, lucky!). Ultimately, I do it for selfish reasons - I am so much happier in every way when I am clean.

I agree with everything you have to say about using and driving and I wish I had any real thoughts about solutions. It is a plague on our society.

I respect your opinion concerning her husband, but I hold a different one on that point. I have known too many spouses (including my own, who has loads of experience with the issue as he has been clean and in recovery and actively helping others get clean since he was 20) to be completely blindsided by their partner's addiction. I feel like Diane's family's WTF reaction was genuine.

That said, they are going to need to come to grips with the truth eventually. How and when that will happen, I couldn't begin to know.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, southcitymom. I appreciate your post.
 
Kat said:
That's a very good question VB. Does anyone know if that state is a no fault state? Just curious.
Click to expand...

Yes, New York is a no fault state.

It's also extremely litigious (to the point that it makes me sick).

I wouldn't be surprised if there is suing all around before this is over.
 
southcitymom said:
(respectfully snipped)

He's been identified as a Public Safety Officer. I'm not really sure what that is or what that means.
Click to expand...

It is similar to a security guard. They drive a car that looks like a police car that says "Public Safety". They wear a uniform but they don't have guns. They provide security at public places so are employed by the county.

Where Daniel Schuler works, Bethpage Restoration Village, is a place where kids go on field trips to learn what it was like to live in the 1800s. All of the buildings are original, moved there from various places. Volunteers dress up in period clothing and explain what it may have been like way back when in the building.

The village is located on a large piece of land, the buildings are spread out and the whole place is buffered by woods.

Schuler works nights when it is closed so he would get very little action.
 
As recently as last month, drinking parents seemed to be all the rage. On the bookshelves: Stefanie Wilder-Taylor's Naptime Is the New Happy Hour, Robert Wilder's Daddy Needs a Drink and Chris Mancini's Pacify Me, the cover of which shows a six-pack consisting of five beers and one milk bottle. A pacifier dangles from one of the brews.

Well, goodbye to all that — thanks, at least in part, to the fallout from a horrifying drunk-driving tragedy that has garnered national attention.

More at link:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1915467,00.html?cnn=yes
 
chicagofa13 said:
I've started and stopped many posts here lately. I'm trying not to get emotional over this, but I just can't believe NO ONE in her family knew she might have a problem (leaving room this was a one-time drinking/pot smoking episode that ended horribly)!! I apologize if this post goes all over the place, but I have a lot of thoughts, and I'm sure I'm going to tick some people off.

-I have zero respect for Barbara. What a joke. This man did ZERO for his situation aligning himself with this loser. SPIN SPIN SPIN. TIA, bump on the leg, tooth problem, diabetes? GIMME A BREAK ALREADY. Shut up! A simple "We are praying for the families of all those involved" would have gone a long way.

-We don't let people with certain medical conditions drive legally unless they can prove they are on their meds and safe. Example, epilepsy or other seizure disorders. I know people who lost their license temporarily for this reason. It's a medical condition, a disease. Alcoholics/drug addicts love to tout they have a "disease" but when it comes time to be responsible for it, they won't. And I mean no disrespect to anyone here in recovery or trying to get in recovery, I appreciate the difficulty and your efforts to be clean. So why is this disease different? Anyone? I mean if you come forward and medical personnel know, why can't we say "no more license"? Why don't recovery/rehab/counselors push this? They should have some clue that these people are probably driving drunk?! Instead we wait until they have a DUI, or kill someone, then they lose their privileges. A little late then. So is it medical or is it a choice??? I think it is interesting to ponder over. (I know full well the social drinker can also be a drunk driver, I am speaking of people who acknowledge a supposed medical condition.)
-I believe the true victims here are the two other families. They had ZERO connection to DS and her family. Now they are linked forever by her poor choices (yes, I believe it was a choice), and possibly the choice of her other family members. I hope they pursue this to the fullest extent possible. A message needs to be sent and resent.
Click to expand...
There is something that can be done by ordinary citizens: I have reported people with brain injuries, and ones with mental illness to my local Department of Motor Vehicles. In the case of my whacko neighbor who would roar down the street- he was a schizophrenic who used drugs, I got his license revoked. I did it anonymously, but they notified me that they took action. Soon after his parents sold his large pick-up truck!
 
LinasK said:
There is something that can be done by ordinary citizens: I have reported people with brain injuries, and ones with mental illness to my local Department of Motor Vehicles. In the case of my whacko neighbor who would roar down the street- he was a schizophrenic who used drugs, I got his license revoked. I did it anonymously, but they notified me that they took action. Soon after his parents sold his large pick-up truck!
Click to expand...

And see, there were parents who were enabling the behaviour.

There have been a couple of serious drink-driving accidents/fatalities here where the driver has already had his/her license taken away for previous incidents. You can't make someone stop driving if they have access to a car and the keys.

But back to this situation - I think if I'd just spent a weekend camping with five little kids I'd be half comatose to begin with. And then hubby stays on to do some fishing while I drive the pack back home? :crazy: Just so sad that she couldn't seek another way to deal with her life apart from drinking. (Not that I'm being holier-than-thou... I eat! But my waistline won't kill anyone but me.)
 
pudd said:
And see, there were parents who were enabling the behaviour.

There have been a couple of serious drink-driving accidents/fatalities here where the driver has already had his/her license taken away for previous incidents. You can't make someone stop driving if they have access to a car and the keys.

But back to this situation - I think if I'd just spent a weekend camping with five little kids I'd be half comatose to begin with. And then hubby stays on to do some fishing while I drive the pack back home? :crazy: Just so sad that she couldn't seek another way to deal with her life apart from drinking. (Not that I'm being holier-than-thou... I eat! But my waistline won't kill anyone but me.)
Click to expand...

Welcome to WS, pudd!
 
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/...video-shows-schuler-acting-normally-1.1362085
"New York State Police investigators have reviewed security videotape of Diane Schuler acting normally at an upstate McDonald's about three to four hours before last month's deadly Taconic State Parkway collision, said two sources close to the probe.
The videotape has helped police track Schuler's behavior and develop a firmer timeline of events the morning of July 26, when police say the West Babylon mother began consuming the equivalent of 10 drinks before driving the wrong way on the Taconic in Westchester."

"The video shows Schuler getting breakfast with the children and "acting normally," said one source. They left the restaurant sometime between 10:30 and 10:45 a.m., and police believed Schuler then began driving south on Route 17."

"What happened after Schuler left McDonald's remains murky. Somewhere on Route 17, the winding upstate highway that leads to the Schulers' camper at Hunter Lake, witnesses told police a red Ford minivan with a female driver and children inside was driving erratically.
Later, motorists on the New York State Thruway, a road Schuler would likely have taken home, also saw an aggressive driver in a minivan with children. At the Thruway's Ramapo service area, a minivan fitting that description veered across a grassy divider that morning, police said.
Police have not released the exact time of day witnesses saw this minivan.
Yet at 11:37 a.m. - about the time Schuler would have arrived at the Ramapo service area, assuming she didn't stop after leaving the McDonald's - she sounded fine in a phone call to her brother, Warren Hance, the father of her three nieces in the minivan, and said she was running late, Thomas Ruskin, an investigator for Barbara has said."
 
This is so darn typical....other drivers see a woman in a mini van with children on board driving like a crazy woman and not one of them grabbed their cell phone or stopped somewhere to make a 911 call. Why didn't they??? Maybe LE could have stopped Diane before she headed down that one way highway.
I'm not saying the wreck was their fault but when people see another person driving like Diane was driving there should have been 911 calls going out like mad. People just don't want to get involved but what is a phone call!!! I've turned in crazy drivers that nearly forced me off the road and it seemed like they were drunk. If LE didn't get them at least I made that call. When someone is driving like Diane was they are either drunk....in a rage...or having a medical problem. Regardless, 911's wires should have been burning up with calls.

I agree with the poster who said that it doesn't matter if Diane was an alcoholic or just drank now and then....she was drunk out of her mind that day....in the morning. She had to have started drinking after they left Mc's. She probably did get orange juice and had a large cup in the van to mix it with vodka. I just can't imagine what she was thinking with all of those little kids in the van though.

What really irks me is when I hear that so and so had 8 DUI's before anything was done to him/her. That is just insane. LE should come down hard on the first DUI and harder and harder as the person gets more. Lock down treatment for 6 months would be a start with the first DUI.
 
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