8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

[ElizaAvalon]

If her husband was with her during the camping trip and right up until she left with the kids, wouldn't he have noticed? Where was he when she was downing the vodka and smoking the pot?

It just all sounds so strange to me.

She was smoking and drinking in the car, with 5 kids. Can you imagine?

I once knew an alcoholic. Straight vodka was her drink of choice. She thought it didn't smell as strong on her breath as other alcoholic drinks. She would hide it in hairspray bottles and spray it into her mouth all day long. This was before bottled water was the rage.

I'm thinking Diane and Danny had a fight that he has not yet disclosed to LE.

The family is definitely hiding something. Their silence after the release of the toxocology report is deafening.

 

[ElizaAvalon]

Taconic Wrong Way Tragedy - fatal drive recreation:
[video=youtube;EQAZ_cLylJA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQAZ_cLylJA[/video]

Those poor kids. They had to see all of the cars coming at them. It had to be a horrifying 2 minutes for them.

 

[southcitymom]

She was smoking and drinking in the car, with 5 kids. Can you imagine?

I once knew an alcoholic. Straight vodka was her drink of choice. She thought it didn't smell as strong on her breath as other alcoholic drinks. She would hide it in hairspray bottles and spray it into her mouth all day long. This was before bottled water was the rage.

I'm thinking Diane and Danny had a fight that he has not yet disclosed to LE.

The family is definitely hiding something. Their silence after the release of the toxocology report is deafening.

Vodka does indeed seem to be many alcoholic's drink (especially those working hard to hide their dependence) of choice for the reasons you mention.

Like others here, I do not believe someone who could consume this much in the way of mood/mind-altering substances in such a circumstance (long car ride home with children) was an occasional user who just happened to decide to "fortify" herself like this on that day.

The amount in her system and the circumstances scream alcoholic/addict. As others have pointed out, an occasional drinker would be passed out cold, vomiting, etc.... from 10+ drinks plus what they are now saying is a substantive quality of weed. Only a pro can use like that and keep going. Also, there may well have been a black-out here.

Additionally, I am loathe to blame family members without a whole lot more information. I suspect that no one had any clue her problem was this advanced or that she was anything but a devoted, loving mother.

 

[ElizaAvalon]

Additionally, I am loathe to blame family members without a whole lot more information. I suspect that no one had any clue her problem was this advanced or that she was anything but a devoted, loving mother.

I wish I could feel the same. I really feel something emotional triggered the binge. And that her husband most likely knows what it was.

I also hear the phone call with her brother in my head. What we all heard as "she had trouble seeing" in my mind comes out as "I can't see straight". After that much alcohol, she would have been slurring her words, acting drunk, even over the phone.

And, finally, someone else mentioned her having pot on her. I agree that she was most likely a regular user (along with her husband, no doubt). It's a very hush-hush, but VERY common social activity for adults in suburbia who grew up in the 70s (but not in front of the kids!).

 

[SleuthyMama]

I was thinking the same thing, but according to this report; six people called 911 to report her erratic driving before the final crash:

Six drivers called 911 before the collision, which happened after Schuler drove 1.7 miles south in the parkway's northbound lane.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6948725

Thanks, Shecky. I was just signing on this morning to say that I found an article that indicated that 911 was called.

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/08/05/news/doc4a7901496e945077705393.txt

This article from this morning’s New York Post has a timeline photo and map.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08052009/news/regionalnews/crash_mom_was_fully_loaded_183033.htm

 

[SleuthyMama]

I wish I could feel the same. I really feel something emotional triggered the binge. And that her husband most likely knows what it was.

I also hear the phone call with her brother in my head. What we all heard as "she had trouble seeing" in my mind comes out as "I can't see straight". After that much alcohol, she would have been slurring her words, acting drunk, even over the phone.

And, finally, someone else mentioned her having pot on her. I agree that she was most likely a regular user (along with her husband, no doubt). It's a very hush-hush, but VERY common social activity for adults in suburbia who grew up in the 70s (but not in front of the kids!).

In the NY Post article I linked, Daniel Schuler does admit that he and his wife did smoke pot occasionally and that she was a "social drinker." That's the only place so far that I've seen mention of that. And I doubt we will see more of it as relatives are now not cooperating.

 

[southcitymom]

I wish I could feel the same. I really feel something emotional triggered the binge. And that her husband most likely knows what it was.

I also hear the phone call with her brother in my head. What we all heard as "she had trouble seeing" in my mind comes out as "I can't see straight". After that much alcohol, she would have been slurring her words, acting drunk, even over the phone.

And, finally, someone else mentioned her having pot on her. I agree that she was most likely a regular user (along with her husband, no doubt). It's a very hush-hush, but VERY common social activity for adults in suburbia who grew up in the 70s (but not in front of the kids!).

This may or may not be true. However, if an argument with her husband triggered the binge, that's not his fault. My husband and I have been married 11 years - we have arguments too. I am an admitted addict. If he and I fight should it then be his responsibility to make sure I don't drive anywhere with the children. In my opinion, it should not.

As regards her behavior with her brother - we just don't know. It is simply untrue that she would have definitely been slurring her words and acting drunk. Additionally, we don't know what her brother knew about her addiction issues - if he was in the dark about that and she was saying "I can't see straight" and "I'm feeling disoriented," his first thought may have been that something was wrong medically.

At this stage in the game, we just don't know what her family might have known - there's not enough information to point one way or another.

If I had to hazard a guess at this point, I would say the grownups in this family drank some and smoked some on the camping trip - they were a family that did some partying and relaxing with alcohol/weed - it was part of their culture. This woman was a business executive raising two kids. She was probably a type A "work hard/play hard" person. I would guess that as the years progressed and the stresses of life (add kids and a busy career in the mix and the inevitable stress that brings) added up, she started to drink and smoke more and not just at social functions.

Further, I would guess that she was skilled at hiding it and still getting her stuff done - she was what some folks call a "functional" addict. Still, the nature of addiction is that it is progressive and over time she needed more and more to get by until eventually she lived quite the double life in an effort to get what she needed but not let anyone know how badly she needed it.

Again, this is my opinion only at this stage in the game and I could be wrong. There are other scenarios that could fit for me, but all of them assume that she was an addict. None of the facts of this case point to a casual/social/occasional user.

 

[southcitymom]

In the NY Post article I linked, Daniel Schuler does admit that he and his wife did smoke pot occasionally and that she was a "social drinker." That's the only place so far that I've seen mention of that. And I doubt we will see more of it as relatives are now not cooperating.

That's just what I was typing when you posted this! (ie - that the family did some drinking/smoking together and probably was completely unaware of the wife's dependence)

 

[Openmind]

Those poor kids. They had to see all of the cars coming at them. It had to be a horrifying 2 minutes for them.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I am going to assume at least the older children were aware things were very wrong. If she was numb to her declining focus, I bet the children were experiencing the opposite emotions. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I feel absolute outrage and anger at this woman. Her actions were a choice whether she intended to kill herself and all these other people[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], or she recklessly got behind the wheel and drove when she was so impaired -- or making herself so impaired. These poor children had to have been so scared as she spiraled out of control. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I doubt the family "let' her drive in this condition, but there are many passive ways we deny what we know is a problem. One, we look the other way and hope the problem is imagined or not really a serious issue, and the other is if you say something you will exasperate the problem or maybe have to become responsible for the solution. Confronting an addict is ugly.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Truthfully, we see this all the time in TC -- people that had "susp[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]icions' of a problem -- addiction, child abuse, wife abuse, etc.[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], but they didn't want to get involved or were afraid they were misreading a situation. So, instead of stepping in, they ignore their gut feelings. In my life, if I am being absolutely honest with myself, very few problems didn't give a hint of themselves. That is why we have the word denial in our vocabulary.[/FONT]

 

[ElizaAvalon]

This may or may not be true. However, if an argument with her husband triggered the binge, that's not his fault.

Just to clarify: I did not mean to imply in any way that had there been an argument (or whatever) with the husband that he is at fault.

 

[VCDaedalus]

Here is one possibility. She had been drinking in recent months or years. She decided to quit. She did a little pot in the meantime, but decided that didn't work for her and was illegal and you never know what could happen around the children.

So she goes and gets a prescription for something. There are a lot of different names for forumulations of fluoxetine and similar compounds and easy as pie to get free samples. She does those for a few weeks and starts to feel WAY better, on top of the world, in fact. No need for alcohol or pot!

She feels forward enough to take up something with hubby, maybe, confront him. Maybe on the camping trip, a great "we need to talk" time, right?

It gets acrimonious. She feels like she deserves a beer, or maybe a vodka and orange juice. She's never taken psych drugs and alcohol before. Overstimulated neurons and reduced inhibitions mix with overheated emotions and reduced capacity.

She decides she needs more alcohol to settle her nerves and buys a half gallon--the "McDonald's trip." She's got some pot with her. If the new psych med is making her hypomanic and she doesn't know what's happening to her, she may even have instructions to take another pill "as needed." Or maybe she has a scrip for a benzodiazepine. Anything's possible with pharmacology. Mix 'em up!

Manic state combined with a blackout.

I recall one episode of COPS where they wrestled a drunk driver out of his car and onto the ground. All the while he's screaming, "I'm just tryna get home! I'm just tryna get home!"

She may have been in a full-blown hallucinatory state.

 

[SleuthyMama]

The issue is where did she get the alcohol from? My guess is she already had it with her.

The accident happened at 1:30'ish PM on a Sunday. In NYS, on Sunday alcohol is not sold prior to 12 PM.

 

[gaia227]

If you don't mind I would like to chime in. This was the leading story on all the local news channel's last night and it is one the front page of the local papers and of course Diane is being called a murderer which unfortunately is what she is.

I am also recovering from addiction and although I wouldn't say I was an alcoholic I probably was by most people's standards. Having had my fingers in more than one pie at a time I feel I can say that addict or not I would have the prescence of mind not to drink a bottle of Vodka, put my kids in the car and drive. I would have been much more likely to drive while high on pot or in my case on opiates which gives you a much different feeling than alcohol - you feel and are much more in control, calm, capable and let's be honest I am afraid about 1/4 of the population is driving around hopped up on their prescription meds but of course in some cases, like mine, it gets out of control and goes to a whole other level.
While addiction is a disease, it is mis-understood by people who have never been there, withdrawal from alcohol is very difficult and most people can't do it alone that doesn't excuse the fact that I have no doubt Diane was well aware of the dangers of driving that drunk but I am sure after drinking a bottle of vodka she felt invincible and beligerent. We don't know if she was an alcoholic. Maybe she was just having a day where she decided to throw caution to the wind and just let lose. Either way, She made a horribly selfish decision with deadly results. Any way you look at - a mother struggling with addiction who needed help or a mother who gave into her flights of fancy on a Sunday morning it is just horribly tragic obviously for the children and the other 3 men who died but also because Diane Schuller, who I don't doubt loved her children despite her bad decisions, will always be remembered as the murderer of her children, her nieces and the 3 other men. That is her legacy now.

I am starting to get the impression that Diane's immediate family was aware of a situation and I hope that out of all of this death a lesson can be learned. I think that lesson is pretty obvious. If her family was aware Diane had addiction issues no one should have left those children in her care unattended. And if you are a person who is struggling with addiction, reach out and get help as soon as possible.

 

[robinparten]

I tend to want to believe she was a functional alcoholic/addict who generally tried hard to hide that part of herself from others. But what doesn't fit is the pot. She almost certainly had to have been smoking the pot in the car, in front of the kids. That doesn't fit at all with trying to hide her problems from her family. If those kids had made it home, one of them would have almost certainly mentioned to mom and dad that auntie was smoking in the car. Unless that was commonplace or the parents were cigarette smokers too or something.

 

[southcitymom]

SCM - thank you for all of your posts.:blowkiss:

:blowkiss:

 

[southcitymom]

Just to clarify: I did not mean to imply in any way that had there been an argument (or whatever) with the husband that he is at fault.

No problem - I was just using that (an argument) as an example.

 

[southcitymom]

The issue is where did she get the alcohol from? My guess is she already had it with her.

The accident happened at 1:30'ish PM on a Sunday. In NYS, on Sunday alcohol is not sold prior to 12 PM.

I think the alcohol could have well been left over from the weekend. It could also have been her personal stash that she traveled with.

 

[southcitymom]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I am going to assume at least the older children were aware things were very wrong. If she was numb to her declining focus, I bet the children were experiencing the opposite emotions. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I feel absolute outrage and anger at this woman. Her actions were a choice whether she intended to kill herself and all these other people[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], or she recklessly got behind the wheel and drove when she was so impaired -- or making herself so impaired. These poor children had to have been so scared as she spiraled out of control. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I doubt the family "let' her drive in this condition, but there are many passive ways we deny what we know is a problem. One, we look the other way and hope the problem is imagined or not really a serious issue, and the other is if you say something you will exasperate the problem or maybe have to become responsible for the solution. Confronting an addict is ugly.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Truthfully, we see this all the time in TC -- people that had "susp[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]icions' of a problem -- addiction, child abuse, wife abuse, etc.[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], but they didn't want to get involved or were afraid they were misreading a situation. So, instead of stepping in, they ignore their gut feelings. In my life, if I am being absolutely honest with myself, very few problems didn't give a hint of themselves. That is why we have the word denial in our vocabulary.[/FONT]

Unquestionably, denial is a huge part of an alcoholic family. I'm sure this woman's family is confronting that right now, and I know from personal experience what a heart-wrenching thing that is. My continued prayers for this family.

 

[VCDaedalus]

She could have taken it from another campsite. There are rules about such things, but that doesn't mean people follow them.

 

[lew657]

Just a thought... a co-worker of mine was on vaca with family when her sister became very disoriented, shaking and passed out... after 2 days in the hopital it came out that she was an alcoholic and was going through detox. 2 days with the family around all the time - she wasn't able to sneak her drinks. She was a stay at home mom and no one ever suspected anything until then. After - we went through the house and found her stash and a neighbor came forward and said he had seen her hit a mailbox in the neighbor a week before and thought she might have been drunk - with the kids in the car BUT didn't think it was his place to say anything.

What I am getting at in a VERY long-winded way... Maybe she couldn't sneak in her "normal" drinks while on vaca with the family - hence drinking in the car to try an "level" out.