8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

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This is a mystifying tragedy. It was stated that she drove on the Taconic many times before so it doesn't seem that she was lost. If she had the good sense to pull over and call her brother, what ever possessed her to start driving again. Since she had just used the cellphone, how could she have forgotten it? It also doesn't make sense that she and her husband did not follow each other. She had five children in the car under 9 years of age and her husband was riding with a dog? It sounds to me that they might have had a fight which explains why he went his separate way and why she called her brother instead of him. Of course the kids were probably a big distraction, but not to see or hear other motorists waving and honking at her. I'm sure that the older kids would have brought her attention to it, or might have even noticed that she was going the wrong way. The husband and brother need to be questioned in depth. There is really no good explanation for all of this. It makes me think that this was deliberate.
 
Lexington said:
This is a mystifying tragedy. It was stated that she drove on the Taconic many times before so it doesn't seem that she was lost. If she had the good sense to pull over and call her brother, what ever possessed her to start driving again. Since she had just used the cellphone, how could she have forgotten it? It also doesn't make sense that she and her husband did not follow each other. She had five children in the car under 9 years of age and her husband was riding with a dog? It sounds to me that they might have had a fight which explains why he went his separate way and why she called her brother instead of him. Of course the kids were probably a big distraction, but not to see or hear other motorists waving and honking at her. I'm sure that the older kids would have brought her attention to it, or might have even noticed that she was going the wrong way. The husband and brother need to be questioned in depth. There is really no good explanation for all of this. It makes me think that this was deliberate.
Click to expand...

These are all good questions, she had went to the same summer spot the past 3 years where her family had a summer trailer so there's no way she'd get lost.
Also it stated in one of the articles she left separately with the kids so they could stop for food.
I'm surprised the papers haven't figured out where she stopped for lunch. They need to find out if they all stopped for lunch as they planned (as a commenter said in the paper) and find out "what her demeanor was" when she stopped with the kids for lunch, if she even did that.
 
Lexington said:
This is a mystifying tragedy. It was stated that she drove on the Taconic many times before so it doesn't seem that she was lost. If she had the good sense to pull over and call her brother, what ever possessed her to start driving again. Since she had just used the cellphone, how could she have forgotten it? It also doesn't make sense that she and her husband did not follow each other. She had five children in the car under 9 years of age and her husband was riding with a dog? It sounds to me that they might have had a fight which explains why he went his separate way and why she called her brother instead of him. Of course the kids were probably a big distraction, but not to see or hear other motorists waving and honking at her. I'm sure that the older kids would have brought her attention to it, or might have even noticed that she was going the wrong way. The husband and brother need to be questioned in depth. There is really no good explanation for all of this. It makes me think that this was deliberate.
Click to expand...

Just curious Lexington, when you say "deliberate", what are you referring to? Do you think perhaps this was a case of suicide or that foul play was involved and a third party is responsible?

I'm not sure how foul play could be involved, unless perhaps someone slipped her a drug. Since toxicology reports have yet to come back, we can't say it is impossible. I don't know, seems unlikely to me though, and I only put it out there for the sake of speculation.

I'm curious to hear more of your thoughts on this.
 
Shecky said:
Just curious Lexington, when you say "deliberate", what are you referring to? Do you think perhaps this was a case of suicide or that foul play was involved and a third party is responsible?

I'm not sure how foul play could be involved, unless perhaps someone slipped her a drug. Since toxicology reports have yet to come back, we can't say it is impossible. I don't know, seems unlikely to me though, and I only put it out there for the sake of speculation.

I'm curious to hear more of your thoughts on this.
Click to expand...

No way was foul play involved. I think the police need to question the husband and brother more in depth to ascertain her state of mind when they last spoke to her/saw her. Her brother especially. How did that conversation end - did she agree to wait for him? Did she just talk about not feeling well, or was something else mentioned? Did she say or sound like she was angry/upset about anything? Why did the brother call the police - he must have been alarmed by something that she said? (He did call the police right after he spoke to her, or am I wrong about this?) Too many hinky occurrences and with all the facts that we have thus far, IMO this was a deliberate act by her. Although the outcome will be the same (eight people dead), I really hope I'm wrong about this.
 
Did the drivers who saw her say anything about the speed that she was driving at, could they ascertain anything from the look on her face, where were the children seated in the car, who was sitting in the passenger seat, were the children sleeping, did they look frightened, were they talking - what was the general manner of the children. I guess passing on a highway like that they could not see that well into the car, but I would think that they could gauge if she was driving at an inordinate rate of speed and perhaps get a glimpse of the expression on her face, all eyes must have been on her. Most importantly, did she swerve to avoid the SUV?
 
The charred, twisted remains of a Ford minivan and two wrecked sport utility vehicles. An abandoned cellphone. E-ZPass records. Toxicological test results.

Those are among the most promising pieces of evidence for investigators in an extraordinary quest to determine why a 36-year-old mother from Long Island steered a vehicle full of children down the wrong side of the Taconic State Parkway on July 26 and crashed head-on into a sport utility vehicle carrying a father, his son and their friend, all of Yonkers.

Eight days have passed since the crash, the deadliest traffic accident in Westchester County in 75 years, claimed the lives of the minivan’s driver, Diane Schuler, her daughter, three nieces and the three men inside the S.U.V., a Chevy Trailblazer. Ms. Schuler’s 5-year-old son, Bryan, survived.

Three families are shattered, a grim series of funeral Masses have been offered, and investigators are carrying out the arduous steps of an inquiry that is far from routine.

“Something happened,” Joseph C. Becerra, an investigator with the New York State Police, said on Friday. “We need to know why it happened.”

(snipped)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/nyregion/03crash.html?hpw
 
The plot does thicken, doesn't it? With each new answer comes new questions.
 
I'm glad they are rushing the results of the tox tests.

It's the second time I've read that they are interested in finding out about her "blood sugar levels".

Snipped from newsday article above:


Initial results from Schuler's autopsy found no medical conditions, investigators said. Forensic scientists and investigators have said tests on Schuler's eye fluid could show whether a blood sugar surge might have caused disorientation. Blood tests could determine a possible undiagnosed condition that contributed to her driving 1.7 miles southbound in the northbound lane of the parkway.
 
Me too, bogeygal. I heard that the tox tests were being rushed this morning on the news. I only hope that provides an answer because I would hate to see this be a mystery forever.
 
http://www.1010wins.com/Police-Eye-Mother-s-Route-in-Wrong-Way-Crash/4928360

I guess she might not have been driving straight in the lanes like initial reports say....

Snipped: State police, who have been retracing her route, said Monday that witnesses reported seeing her red Ford mini-van on both state Routes 17 and 87. They said the van was straddling two lanes, tailgating, flashing its headlights and beeping the horn.

Others saw the vehicle veering from one lane to another and one witness said it appeared as if she was attempting to pass him on the shoulder of the highway. Another witness said the van drove across a grass divider at the Ramapo service area on Route 87.

State police said while they can't be absolutely certain the driver was Schuler, the description of the vehicle and occupants and the time the incidents were reported "lead them to believe they are one in the same.''
 
Those poor children, to endure such an awful ride in their last moments. I hope that perhaps, somehow, they were unaware.....
 
So, she WAS driving erratically, it seems - early articles seemed to indicate that she was keeping it steady. I'm still completely convinced this was a physical or psychic event and not "premeditated" in any way shape or form. My continued prayers for the family.
 
bogeygal said:
IDK if this article has been posted: It may have been a link that was added to the news story tonite? Story mentions the children who perished having fun on the trips to the campsite.

Bereft Campsite bears witness to family tragedy


http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/bereft-campsite-bears-witness-to-family-tragedy-1.1343111
Click to expand...

If you go to this site above and click on the "see the pictures" portion, on pic #57 of 58, it states:

"Five members of a Long Island family were thrown from this minivan..."

Does this mean none of them had seatbelts on? Oh Geez!
 
This just gets worse and worse. I guess the 2 year old was in a car seat and was the only one that was secure and wasn't thrown.
 
I have links to a few more stories that pretty much report the same story as the links bogeygal provided:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20090804/NEWS01/90804002

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/...0803/NEWS12/90803022&s=d&page=1#pluckcomments

I'm still so confused. So now they think this "aggressive driver" that many people reported seeing earlier in the day on Route 17 was Diane but then by the time she gets to the Taconic she's driving "normally" according to those drivers who beeped and waved to alert her?

Again I repeat, with each new answer comes a new question.
 
mitzi said:
If you go to this site above and click on the "see the pictures" portion, on pic #57 of 58, it states:

"Five members of a Long Island family were thrown from this minivan..."

Does this mean none of them had seatbelts on? Oh Geez!
Click to expand...

In Iowa, a teenage driver rolled a fully loaded minivan on the highway, killing her parents and severely injuring her two siblings. No one buckled up except the driver. It's irresponsible to put an inexperienced driver in a highway situation and not require everyone to be buckled up. Now the girl has to live with her parents' bad judgment on her shoulders for the rest of her life.
 
I know I'm going to receive flack from this, but it will have to be looked at: was this woman on a prescription of psychiatric medication, even something as "innocuous" as a dose of Paxil for depression? Could she have taken an overdose, or could her dosage have been changed recently? Could she have taken Ambien, or combined her regular psychiatric medication with another meant to act in concert with her first med? (People take Ambien and expect not to feel its effects for an hour or so--so they drive!)

Her behavior could be described as hypomanic--not obvious full-blown mania, but an excited state that can be as dangerous. It's a listed side effect of SSRI-class drugs, and "behavior changes" are something that physicians and family members are told to watch for.
 
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