8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[redheadedgal]

Like you, I daydream about ways we can stop something like this from happening in the future, but the reality is that legislating things like forcing people to blow into a device in order to start their car is too intrusive into personal human liberties. We have enough of a nanny state already.

i personally don't find it "intrusive". driving is a privilege, not a right. i want to stop drunk driving accidents/deaths and if this would help, i'm all for it. the government can come put one in my vehicle tomorrow. my car would always start.

 

[redheadedgal]

This doesn't appear to be a functional website...just links to other sites? Did this work for you?

doesn't work for me either.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Well, that's where I go with it, Nova - I don't believe that those people would have allowed a blasted woman to keep going with a van full of kids - that just doesn't pass my personal no-way test. But yes, I can assume their untruths or unsures for the sake of discussion.

I do believe that anyone would be less likely to assume inebriation at that hour with a mini-van of children. Still, if a person was off in the way that extreme drinking/smoking can make you off, I think someone would have noticed that enough to do something, say something.

The point is she wasn't blasted YET (at McDonalds)....I think she would have been angry and belligerent before she got sloppy and slurred her words based on the pattern of driving.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Then, I'm stymied. I just can't make the leap from there to consuming 10 ounces of vodka and a bat hit or two of weed in the next 2 hours. That is clearly out of control behavior and she had no history of that.

There are times in my life that alcohol and weed have hit me too hard - harder than I expected or could handle. Rare times, but they have happened. So that could have happened to her too ....except for the fact that she had 10 ounces in her and alcohol in her stomach - I will posit a theory that she may have drank MUCH of that enormous amount of alcohol after she blacked out.

The whole thing really does confound me.

I think it's just seductive...take a little, wear the edge off, take a little more, lose your judgement to stop drinking.

I think control freaks are living under an illusion...They control parts of their lives very well, while the rest of their lives can be a complete disaster.

She kept her problems so bottled up that implosion was inevitable.

 

[Nova]

I think it's just seductive...take a little, wear the edge off, take a little more, lose your judgement to stop drinking.

I think control freaks are living under an illusion...They control parts of their lives very well, while the rest of their lives can be a complete disaster.

She kept her problems so bottled up that implosion was inevitable.

Well put, both you, tm, and SCM.

(I must add that the one time I tried smoking pot for a headache, I was SO sorry! All the pot did was make me focus even harder on the pain. It was like I could hear and smell the pain as well as feel it. But I realize it may have been different for Diane Schuler. Hell, pot isn't even the same as it was the last time I smoked it, so I hear.)

And we've already discussed how the sugar in the o.j. (if used as a mixer) might have sped up the effect of the vodka, how the pot and alcohol may have acted together, how loss of sleep and other factors may have contributed to Diane miscalculating how much she could handle. (Which is why she shouldn't have been using in the first place, of course.)

 

[GutInstinct]

You know, she and her husband had a camper at a campsite - their summer place, so to speak. That means you have the convenience of leaving stuff there that you will on the next visit and the next. I find it a bit much that she was taking the bottle of Vodka home with her - I mean, she probably had a bottle at home. Why not leave it for the next week-end? Unless...you were planning on drinking it in the car, on the way home. As closet alcoholic, perhaps, she always kept a bottle with her - much like some people carry Xanax in case of an anxiety attack.

Is this case still being investigated, does anyone know?

 

[twinkiesmom]

I was able to google search the link NoZme listed above and found a working link to watch the documentary. The documentary was more balanced than I would have expected.

It did not change my opinion of Dan very much, but I'm on Team Jay for her devoted care of little Bryan..... 3-4 days per week plus the weekend, sounds like she gets a day off?

It does blow my mind that they can't make the connection between the Absolut bottle and the BAC. I think Jay needs more time, but will likely come around to reality at some point.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Is this case still being investigated, does anyone know?

If it's being investigated, it would be by insurance investigators, not the state. This is now a civil case.

 

[Nova]

If it's being investigated, it would be by insurance investigators, not the state. This is now a civil case.

Perhaps the new lawsuits will inspire additional investigation. My impression from the doc was that Schuler was out of money to pay an investigator, and the other parties thought the investigation was complete.

ETA tm, I totally agree about Jay. How can we do anything but applaud her? But if she can't accept the official account, maybe it's just a bit more understandable why Dan can't. No?

 

[Fairy1]

I don't doubt that Dan truly loved Diane and I just can't fault him for attempting to defend her - even in death.

I am not a big fan of laying the responsibility of people at the feet of others. I maintain that the one person responsible for this accident is gone forever. I don't believe Dan's insistence that Diane was compromised in some way (other than inebriation) is any indication of "guilt" on his part. I agree with Nova in thinking that, if he felt responsible in any way, he would most likely keep his mouth shut and just fade away.

I totally get the anger and the need to lay blame. But I believe the answers to what happened that day died with Diane and no one left behind will or should be held accountable.

 

[Saffron]

Not sure about that....his defense of Diane, perfect wife, seems self serving.

I don't think he CAN be quiet, though. He's lost his breadwinner and is in over his head with the media....and I don't think his mouthpiece gave him good legal advice in terms of maintaining public relations.

I think if this goes to court he will face a tough cross examination, just from the standpoint of playing clips from the film and making him look bad if not from his actions at the campground.

I agree that it's quite possible that Daniel hasn't gotten good advice regarding public relations, and I'd bet the attorneys approached him in the beginning of all of this for their own purposes, i.e., media exposure.

I don't think that Daniel's defense of his wife is self-serving, but rather him describing what he truly thought of her, and wanting to somehow protect the good he knew to be true about her as his wife and his son's mother, knowing it was nearly impossible for the public to reconcile what he was saying with what she did that horrible day. He may unwittingly have a narrow vision in all of this and, therefore, doesn't really realize that it looks (to some) like he isn't publicly showing enough empathy for the other victims.

Again, I can't imagine his deep pain after suddenly losing his wife and baby daughter, and then dealing with the injuries of his son while knowing the little boy had just lost his mother. Then, he had to quickly process the fact that his wife was driving the car and was responsible for the crash that killed his three nieces, and three other people. Then all the publicity, media outrage and the public's anger. That's an incredible amount of grief and confusion for one man to handle with grace.

 

[Nova]

Amen, Saffron beautifully put. So many victims in this case.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Perhaps the new lawsuits will inspire additional investigation. My impression from the doc was that Schuler was out of money to pay an investigator, and the other parties thought the investigation was complete.

ETA tm, I totally agree about Jay. How can we do anything but applaud her? But if she can't accept the official account, maybe it's just a bit more understandable why Dan can't. No?

I anticipated this question from you. I have more empathy for Jay because she embodies love and just seems very deluded....and she is raising that child.

I never said I hated Dan, just am outraged by some of his behavior. The documentary cut from one statement to another of his and tripped him up in an untruth about the source of the vodka bottle. When your wife kills 7 other people, going on Larry King is a mistake. Yes, he is a simple man with an ambulance chaser guiding his steps. It was a bad combination for the Bastardis and Hances to get any peace.

 

[twinkiesmom]

My new theory of the case based on new evidence from the documentary is that Diane had TMJ (dental record of teeth grinding) and was chronically sleep deprived (in-laws statement). I've had TMJ, and it's incredibly painful. The pain radiates up from the jaw to the head and doesn't respond very well to OTC pain relievers that don't really get to the source of the problem. I actually avoided going to bed because I associated sleep with pain.

Diane likely had more pain do to the teeth grinding over other dental problems (untreated abscess). When you add the screaming kids in the car (camp mgr statement) and a possible hangover/lack of sleep from drinking/toking the night before, it became the perfect storm for her to self medicate, particularly if that was her normal way of coping. Her personality made it impossible for her to reach out to family members for help (come get us), and the open bottle in the car and BAC made it impossible for her to call 911.

I can't really completely rule out that she set that phone down and deliberately sought to end it all, but she was clearly drunk enough when she died to be in full blackout and completely out of touch with reality.

 

[rpd113]

I anticipated this question from you. I have more empathy for Jay because she embodies love and just seems very deluded....and she is raising that child.

I never said I hated Dan, just am outraged by some of his behavior. The documentary cut from one statement to another of his and tripped him up in an untruth about the source of the vodka bottle. When your wife kills 7 other people, going on Larry King is a mistake. Yes, he is a simple man with an ambulance chaser guiding his steps. It was a bad combination for the Bastardis and Hances to get any peace.

I have to say, based on all the media interviews and the documentary, I have seen nothing but stubborn stonewalling and Diane-glorification from Danny. No apparent grief for his daughter, let alone the Hances. Knee-jerk denial of almost everything, from the vodka bottle to her pot smoking to whether he remembers anything from the crash day. ("I just remember taking care of Bryan." -- yeah, OK).

When you couple that with the misstatements/lies to the police (when he arrived at the camp site, the vodka bottle, offering to be available for a follow-up police interview and then slipping out the back door, saying he learned of the emergency after the crash, but the documentary shows he was right beside the 911 caller at the Hance house), it's hard to not suspect that he's hiding something.

Culpability in the crash is an entirely different thing, though. I don't blame anyone but Diane.

 

[southcitymom]

You know, she and her husband had a camper at a campsite - their summer place, so to speak. That means you have the convenience of leaving stuff there that you will on the next visit and the next. I find it a bit much that she was taking the bottle of Vodka home with her - I mean, she probably had a bottle at home. Why not leave it for the next week-end? Unless...you were planning on drinking it in the car, on the way home. As closet alcoholic, perhaps, she always kept a bottle with her - much like some people carry Xanax in case of an anxiety attack.

Is this case still being investigated, does anyone know?

Maybe she had run out of her home bottle and wasn't going to get a chance to get more for her home supply.

Also, can liquor be sold in that area on Sundays?

 

[Nova]

I have to say, based on all the media interviews and the documentary, I have seen nothing but stubborn stonewalling and Diane-glorification from Danny. No apparent grief for his daughter, let alone the Hances. Knee-jerk denial of almost everything, from the vodka bottle to her pot smoking to whether he remembers anything from the crash day. ("I just remember taking care of Bryan." -- yeah, OK).

When you couple that with the misstatements/lies to the police (when he arrived at the camp site, the vodka bottle, offering to be available for a follow-up police interview and then slipping out the back door, saying he learned of the emergency after the crash, but the documentary shows he was right beside the 911 caller at the Hance house), it's hard to not suspect that he's hiding something.

Culpability in the crash is an entirely different thing, though. I don't blame anyone but Diane.

It seems Dan probably lied about the vodka bottle in his zeal to protect Diane's reputation. (And on that subject, I find odd his current account of the vodka bottle kept at the camp. Don't most people drink vodka chilled, especially in the summer? They obviously packed food and non-alcoholic drinks whenever they went camping. Would it really have been much trouble to keep the vodka in the freezer and pack it along with everything else?)

But isn't it possible that many of the other apparent misstatements/lies can be chalked up to confusions in reporting? The authorities wrapped this one up pretty quickly as soon as the BAL report came back; and with the driver dead, there was no criminal trial to inspire comprehensive investigation by LE.

I know the crash has attracted a lot of attention from the media. But were those reports critically evaluated the way the evidence in a criminal trial would be? (I mean except for here, of course.)

 

[twinkiesmom]

Don't most people drink vodka chilled, especially in the summer?

My vodka is in the cupboard, but I add it to an ice cold mixer...but I'm not a regular drinker.

Putting Absolut in McDonald's OJ doesn't make me think Diane drank for the taste of it.

 

[noZme]

This doesn't appear to be a functional website...just links to other sites? Did this work for you?

I'm sorry. Try again:

go to http://www.letmewatchthis.ch/

instructions for this site:
http://www.letmewatchthis.ch/how_to_watch_movies.php

choose "versions" by the star ranking. I used putlocker & it worked perfectly. I did the cable thingy to the tv & watched on the big screen

oh no, BAD NEWS: I just checked & the show has disappeared from that site. I guess you could try again another day.

ETA, reading further, I see TwinkiesMom did find a working link. Good!

 

[guardangel]

Noah
people I know who drink vodka keep it in the fridge all year round.

Twinkiesmom
I concur.