8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

[bogeygal]

I doubt very very seriously that this was her first time drinking and using with kids in her care or her car. A person who needs to consume what she consumed early in the day and while driving a bunch of children is a person with a pretty well-entrenched addiction.

As I said before, it is easy to drink alcohol without the kids knowing - a little more tricky with weed, although if she was a cigarette smoker (and many addicts are), the kids would have been conditioned to an extent and it wouldn't seem that odd - they were young kids. Also, she could have stopped at any gas station and run into the restroom and smoked - wouldn't be hard.

I'm uncertain what the family might have known. If they are a drinking family and were drinking on this camping trip then it wouldn't be odd for there to be vodka in the car - she could have been carrying it home from the trip.

Families can often be the last to know how bad an addiction issue is - just the little bit I gather about her personality leads me to believe she might have gone to some real lengths to hide the amount of her using.

ETA - even at the apex of my "using while parenting" my family would have hands-down described me as a caring, loving mother and, in many ways, I was.

Thanks SCM,

You are wise. Your post makes alot of sense to me. She must have gone to great lengths as you say to hide the amount of alcohol see was using from family.

I think if the husband or her brother/sister-in-law were well aware that she was a heavy drinker, they would have never ever let their children be driven anywhere by this mom.

 

[chicagofa13]

I am so disgusted by this woman, and I hesitate to say woman, she's a "thing". I can't believe what I just read. Just horrible. I only wish she was here to rot in jail for LIFE.

 

[Shecky]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that both of my parents were alcoholics when I was growing up. So you know, I've been there, I've been the kid in the car with a parent that was driving while intoxicated. I can only thank God that nothing tragic ever occurred while they were on the road in such a condition.

I make no excuses for their actions, I'm just grateful we're all here today.

Those poor babies must have been so scared in their final moments. Oh God.

 

[VCDaedalus]

Do tox reports include prescription medications? Or only alcohol and drugs of abuse? Because mixing alcohol with SSRIs can cause unpredictable results. If she was on a long-standing prescription for Paxil or Effexor or Celexa or any of the cocktail of drugs they prescribe for everything from PMS to hot flashes to mild dysthymia to PTSD to ADD to insomnia, adding alcohol can result in some unprecedented effects. She might have taken a double dose (on a camping trip), or might even have missed two doses, which can also cause symptoms that could be experienced as disorienting.

(And if anyone wonders, YES, I do have a bias and a prejudice and an abhorrence of these drugs. Will stipulate! Cannot be adjured, anecdotal-evidenced, or reproached into changing my mind about them. Let's preemptively agree to disagree.)

 

[VCDaedalus]

The story on page on of this forum has been updated today, including this paragraph:

Death driver Diane Schuler drank 10 ounces of vodka and smoked pot behind the wheel before her wrong-way crash that killed eight people on the Taconic State Parkway, police said on Tuesday.

Schuler's blood alcohol level was .19 - about two-and-a-half times the legal limit, investigators confirmed Tuesday. She had 6 grams of unmetabolized alcohol in her stomach when she died.

Investigators said they found a broken 1.75 liter bottle of Absolut vodka at the crash site. They said she smoked a significant amount of marijuana 15 minutes to one hour before she crashed.

Relatives are not cooperating with police, who are attempting to learn more about the circumstances of the crash, officials said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...ic_killing_8_was_drunk_on_.html#ixzz0NGNBgHQ1

And "relatives are not cooperating." That's an interesting statement.

 

[Elf8702]

This case has really upset me, my daughters drive on the Taconic all the time.

What I don't understand, even if this woman was an alcoholic, addict, etc... why would she have the need to drink so much alcohol on a sunday morning, with such a long drive to make? Plus smoke pot? It doesn't make sense. It sounds like something was terribly wrong. But if something was that wrong, why didn't her husband notice and take the kids?

Was she suicidal? I think that is a possibility. So sad and such a waste.

 

[bogeygal]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that both of my parents were alcoholics when I was growing up. So you know, I've been there, I've been the kid in the car with a parent that was driving while intoxicated. I can only thank God that nothing tragic ever occurred while they were on the road in such a condition.

I make no excuses for their actions, I'm just grateful we're all here today.

Those poor babies must have been so scared in their final moments. Oh God.

I feel the same way Shecky,

My heart goes out to the children in the car and the fear they experienced. Especially the swerving out of lanes and oncoming traffic in their view. OMG, it must have been truly horrifying for them, and I pray they and the other victims in this crash RIP.

 

[reb]

<(And if anyone wonders, YES, I do have a bias and a prejudice and an abhorrence of these drugs. Will stipulate! Cannot be adjured, anecdotal-evidenced, or reproached into changing my mind about them. Let's preemptively agree to disagree.)>

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, for a change...!

 

[southcitymom]

...... Is it really that easy is it to hide an addiction this egregious?

Yes, for some addicts it is really that easy. You would be amazed.

 

[southcitymom]

The story on page on of this forum has been updated today, including this paragraph:

Death driver Diane Schuler drank 10 ounces of vodka and smoked pot behind the wheel before her wrong-way crash that killed eight people on the Taconic State Parkway, police said on Tuesday.

Schuler's blood alcohol level was .19 - about two-and-a-half times the legal limit, investigators confirmed Tuesday. She had 6 grams of unmetabolized alcohol in her stomach when she died.

Investigators said they found a broken 1.75 liter bottle of Absolut vodka at the crash site. They said she smoked a significant amount of marijuana 15 minutes to one hour before she crashed.

Relatives are not cooperating with police, who are attempting to learn more about the circumstances of the crash, officials said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...ic_killing_8_was_drunk_on_.html#ixzz0NGNBgHQ1

And "relatives are not cooperating." That's an interesting statement.

Yes, it is interesting.

 

[MaedchenX]

Personally, I think that this was an intentional murder/suicide. Nevertheless it is incomprehensible. I can only imagine that this woman was not only in an extremely altered chemical state but also deeply disturbed.

 

[southcitymom]

This case has really upset me, my daughters drive on the Taconic all the time.

What I don't understand, even if this woman was an alcoholic, addict, etc... why would she have the need to drink so much alcohol on a sunday morning, with such a long drive to make? Plus smoke pot? It doesn't make sense. It sounds like something was terribly wrong. But if something was that wrong, why didn't her husband notice and take the kids?

Was she suicidal? I think that is a possibility. So sad and such a waste.

Again - I have NO idea what this woman's drinking habits were. But an alcoholic can actually die if they stop drinking cold turkey. It is one of the most dangerous drugs in the world to just stop using.

Alcoholics, like other addicts, NEED to drink so much to keep them from being sick - mentally, physically, emotionally. It starts like this - "I'll just have a drink/smoke to stave off how terrible I feel, calm my nerves driving with all these kids/keep my hands from shaking" and the drink/smoke works and the alcoholic feels much better, but because they are addicted, they can't stop, they just keep going, because that is the nature of alcoholism.

Some "event" (argument with husband...) may have precipitated her drinking or just the fact that she woke up that day may have precipitated her drinking. None of us addicts need a "reason" because life's stressful for everyone - this is just the way we deal with that stress.

 

[Openmind]

Personally, I think that this was an intentional murder/suicide. Nevertheless it is incomprehensible. I can only imagine that this woman was not only in an extremely altered chemical state but also deeply disturbed.

Mass murder by car.


There has to be a tremendous amount of denial of many people's part for this woman to have reached this place. She may have been good at covering her addictions but people must have been ignoring some disturbing behavior to not notice her problems.

 

[MissieMt]

I'm sorry, I just don't get it.
So maybe she was an alcoholic that was very very sick with addiction. Maybe she liked to smoke a joint occasionally while driving with 5 kids in the car. Whats done is done and for now I will bite my tongue on that part. What I don't get is, WHY would she after just drinking 10oz of vodka and smoking a joint, call her brother and complain about being disoriented?! Certainly she knew why she felt that way. So why the phone call? It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Shecky]

I'm sorry, I just don't get it.
So maybe she was an alcoholic that was very very sick with addiction. Maybe she liked to smoke a joint occasionally while driving with 5 kids in the car. Whats done is done and for now I will bite my tongue on that part. What I don't get is, WHY would she after just drinking 10oz of vodka and smoking a joint, call her brother and complain about being disoriented?! Certainly she knew why she felt that way. So why the phone call? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Yeah, that has been bugging me as well. But you know, we don't know exactly what she said during that fateful phone call, we only have her brother's account of it. According to some reports the family is being "uncooperative" with the investigation, so it makes one wonder. Maybe she called for some other reason and the brother could tell she was intoxicated, which is why he called the highway patrol. There were a few times when I was a teenager when my mom just wouldn't come home after work, and I'd know she was hitting the bars. I would call the police and give them a description of her and her car, so they could be on the lookout for her since I knew she'd drive home quite drunk.

As to why he'd lie -- if that is indeed what he did, I don't really know. Maybe her drinking was a long-time family secret that he wasn't going to share with the world. But I do think there has to be more to this story.

 

[CatMama3]

I'm stunned at this development that she was stoned and drunk when she crashed, but more because the authorities were so tight-lipped about it. Usually evidence of drug or alcohol use is mentioned early. I'm not sure I agree with the decision to delay announcing the findings.

It is entirely possible that her family and friends were totally unaware of her addiction issues. Or they may have known she drank and used, but never suspected she'd do it with the kids in her care. I'm guessing part of their non-cooperation is due to the shock of finding out she was wasted.

For all the media coverage of addiction issues, many people don't understand how addiction works. Or they simply believe an addict is passed out in a gutter with a needle in his arm. Not a working mother coming home from a camping trip.

The truth is it's a disease that convinces you that you don't have the disease. I don't understand how this works from personal experience, but I have a family member and a close friend in recovery, and they both tell the same kind of story despite coming from two very different worlds. As my friend reminds me when an addiction story blows my mind, be glad you don't understand.

Don't get me wrong: I'm appalled at her actions, but I also understand that she would do anything to get her fix, including driving with her own family members at risk.

 

[SleuthyMama]

Just got done watching the local news. No charges are pending yet but a criminal investigation will be opened tomorrow. In light of that it is interesting to see that "relatives are not cooperating."

I'm outraged again. And so is the Bastardi family (the family of the father and son who lost their lives) after finding out what really caused this accident. A good portion of tonite's news report (FOX5) focused on their reaction.

That broken vodka bottle is what caused police to expedite those tox results. 10 drinks in her system. TEN DRINKS.

I wanted answers and I guess I got them but I still got a ton of questions.

 

[MaedchenX]

Mass murder by car.


There has to be a tremendous amount of denial of many people's part for this woman to have reached this place. She may have been good at covering her addictions but people must have been ignoring some disturbing behavior to not notice her problems.

I agree, and If this were true I could understand why the family is "not cooperating". What incredible guilt they must feel pondering all of the "what ifs". That does not negate their responsibility to be forthcoming of course.

 

[southcitymom]

Just got done watching the local news. No charges are pending yet but a criminal investigation will be opened tomorrow. In light of that it is interesting to see that "relatives are not cooperating."

I'm outraged again. And so is the Bastardi family (the family of the father and son who lost their lives) after finding out what really caused this accident. A good portion of tonite's news report (FOX5) focused on their reaction.

That broken vodka bottle is what caused police to expedite those tox results. 10 drinks in her system. TEN DRINKS.

I wanted answers and I guess I got them but I still got a ton of questions.

How do "charges" work in a case where the person who would be charged is dead? And why are charges made in a case where the person is dead - is it for potential civil suits?

 

[SleuthyMama]

How do "charges" work in a case where the person who would be charged is dead? And why are charges made in a case where the person is dead - is it for potential civil suits?

Don't know how that would work, SCM. I should have been clearer though. The news reporter stated that a criminal investigation would be opened to look into who knew anything and potentially when they knew it. So it seems like charges could be directed more toward family members or friends at this point, which could also explain why relatives aren't cooperating any longer.