8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

[southcitymom]

Thanks, Suzi. That makes better sense. I am willing to believe she was having discomfort - either due to her tooth or her leg (or hell, due to a headache from managing 5 young girls!). But it's too much of a stretch for me to believe that she combatted this headache with the amount of alcohol found in her system. I mean, I guess anything is possible, but that is a leap I have a hard time making.

 

[Kat]

Thanks, Suzi. That makes better sense. I am willing to believe she was having discomfort - either due to her tooth or her leg (or hell, due to a headache from managing 5 young girls!). But it's too much of a stretch for me to believe that she combatted this headache with the amount of alcohol found in her system. I mean, I guess anything is possible, but that is a leap I have a hard time making.

Amen sistah! Anyone that has taken even a short road trip with more than 4 kids can attest....can I get a witness?!

Not making fun or a joke but seriously ~ that is a viable reason. JMHO

 

[southcitymom]

Amen sistah! Anyone that has taken even a short road trip with more than 4 kids can attest....can I get a witness?!

Not making fun or a joke but seriously ~ that is a viable reason. JMHO

Exactly - buying Advil on a road trip with kids is almost a given in my experience (in fact, I don't leave home without it! )....it doesn't make me go "Ah-ha...that's odd...something must have been really wrong with her physically!"

 

[john's mom]

Ahhh, she asked the clerk for some and the convenience store didn't have any....

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Wrong-Way-Crash-Mom-Was-a-Pothead-Family--53220122.html

(snip)
The family even hired a private investigator to try to prove there was a medical reason behind the crash. Thomas Ruskin, the private eye, says he's got video surveillance to confirm Schuler stopped at an upstate convenience store – and a statement from a store clerk that says she asked for over-the-counter pain medicine, according to the Daily News.
Ruskin says video footage, which hasn't been released, showed Schuler inside and outside the store in Liberty, N.Y. and speaking with the clerk behind the counter. He says the clerk described her as sober less than four hours before the wreck.

"He said she asked him for Tylenol or Advil and he didn't have any - so the question becomes what was bothering Diane Schuler?" Ruskin told the News.

Thanks, Suzi! I wondered why they said 'she tried'
I thought that was worded in an odd way. I think it's also odd that a convenience store didn't have any. None? Odd.
Also, vodka doesn't taste good, by itself.

 

[SuziQ]

Can you buy vodka at convenient stores out there? Here in Utah you can only buy hard stuff at a state run liquor store with limited hours.

 

[Shecky]

Channel 7 (ABC) news at noon (NY) just said that the Shuler's PI claims that "she tried to buy over the counter pain medication in Liberty NY and she was sober at the time."

I think Liberty is where the McDonald's was. Maybe she was slugging the vodka to kill the pain,(toothache?) and not being a 'drinker' had waaay too much?

I don't know, maybe she wasn't a closet drinker, just trying to make sense of this terrible tragedy.

I don't know, in my experience even light or social drinkers tend to have an idea of what their limit is. Failing that, I don't think someone that rarely drank could even make it to ten shots of vodka without passing out/throwing up. Unless she slammed it all down at once, which seems to be more along the lines of something a naive teenager would do when given the chance to drink heavily for the first time. Not so much what an adult in her mid-thirties would do, especially if we presume she had at least some experience with alcohol.

This whole story is just so awful. My husband and I just got back from a road trip out to Utah (we're in California) and I couldn't help but feel extra cautious while I was driving -- looking out for potential drunk drivers and other hazards.

 

[southcitymom]

Can you buy vodka at convenient stores out there? Here in Utah you can only buy hard stuff at a state run liquor store with limited hours.

They only place I have ever been that sold liquor in convenience stores is New Orleans. Here in the South, we have blue laws and alcohol can't be sold on Sundays.

 

[tapu]

Ahhh, she asked the clerk for some and the convenience store didn't have any....

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Wrong-Way-Crash-Mom-Was-a-Pothead-Family--53220122.html

(snip)
The family even hired a private investigator to try to prove there was a medical reason behind the crash. Thomas Ruskin, the private eye, says he's got video surveillance to confirm Schuler stopped at an upstate convenience store – and a statement from a store clerk that says she asked for over-the-counter pain medicine, according to the Daily News.
Ruskin says video footage, which hasn't been released, showed Schuler inside and outside the store in Liberty, N.Y. and speaking with the clerk behind the counter. He says the clerk described her as sober less than four hours before the wreck.

"He said she asked him for Tylenol or Advil and he didn't have any - so the question becomes what was bothering Diane Schuler?" Ruskin told the News.

Uh, yeah, that over-the-counter pain medication, like Tylenol or Advil, is really hard to come by. Always a shortage....

 

[tapu]

They only place I have ever been that sold liquor in convenience stores is New Orleans. Here in the South, we have blue laws and alcohol can't be sold on Sundays.

You can buy it at grocery stores and some convenience stores here in Maine. I think in Mass you have to go to a "package store," or "packy." Which, come to think of it, is a NY expression, I believe.... NYers, is that how it works there?

 

[Shecky]

They only place I have ever been that sold liquor in convenience stores is New Orleans. Here in the South, we have blue laws and alcohol can't be sold on Sundays.

Hard liquor is sold in convenience stores here in California. I've got a friend whose family owns one.

 

[SuziQ]

Hard liquor is sold in convenience stores here in California. I've got a friend whose family owns one.

Man I miss the convenience of liquor access in California. Ralphs grocery stores had the best store brand liquor for dirt cheap. You really have to plan out your liquor purchases in Utah.

 

[tapu]

I wonder... if she had gotten her hands on some Tylenol, would she have swallowed the whole bottle? :rolleyes"

I mean, really. I can't believe anyone but a serious, secret drinker (like I myself have been...) would or could choke down 10 vodkas in the space of a few hours.

Hey, here's a way I thought about it once: when I was drinking heavily, I might get through 10 drinks at one sitting (but not that much very often, by the way!), and yet, if you took the alcohol out of it, who could or would drink that much?? Can you imagine drinking 10 sodas? Even 10 glasses of water? 10 anything? This is the realm of the hardcore alcholic, in my world.

 

[Hopeful One]

They only place I have ever been that sold liquor in convenience stores is New Orleans. Here in the South, we have blue laws and alcohol can't be sold on Sundays.

I wonder if they have checked her debit card transactions to see if she purchased the alcohol at the convenience store? I imagine the clerk would have mentioned that though.

We're in the midwest and you can buy alcohol pretty much everywhere, even on Sundays.

 

[Shecky]

Man I miss the convenience of liquor access in California. Ralphs grocery stores had they best store brand liquor for dirt cheap. You really have to plan out your liquor purchases in Utah.

I lived in Utah for over a year in 1998/1999. Hubby and I just got back from there where we visited my mom and aunt who are in West Jordan. My husband had never visited there aside from having a layover while flying, and one of the first things I pointed out was "look honey, that's a state run liquor store!" haha.

 

[tapu]

Man I miss the convenience of liquor access in California. Ralphs grocery stores had the best store brand liquor for dirt cheap. You really have to plan out your liquor purchases in Utah.

Ha ha! When visiting Ohio recently, I saw that you could go to a "Drive-Thru Carry-Out." Seriously, drive into a garage-like structure, get your 12-pack, and never have to leave your car. Cold beer, that is, too. (For info only: Ohio sells hard liquor only out of state stores.)

 

[SuziQ]

I lived in Utah for over a year in 1998/1999. Hubby and I just got back from there where we visited my mom and aunt who are in West Jordan. My husband had never visited there aside from having a layover while flying, and one of the first things I pointed out was "look honey, that's a state run liquor store!" haha.

Yeah, funny how the state benefits from that revenue.

Tapu, you are going to make me cry. I bet it's real 6.0 beer there too. Here we only have 3.2 beer.

Sorry to take this O/T a bit. But it is interesting to hear how different states have such different laws. I wonder if any of that affects the availability vs rates of DUI's? It seems for as strict as Utah's laws are, we have our fair share of DUI's and tragic accidents. The past two days we've had two accidents during the morning rush...both suspected of DUI.

And if IIRC, the area that Dianne was in doesn't sell till 12:30ish on Sundays?

 

[galvino]

I agree, Tapu! I myself, having had times when I could really put 'em down, could drink 10 Captain Morgan and cokes over a very loooong evening, but had to pee quite often! I can't imagine drinking even the equiv. of 5 double vodka and oj's or other drinks in the span she did to still have so much undigested in her system. Now, did she have that bottle (of her husband's-wink , then mix a REALLY strong drink with OJ from McDonalds, then stop at the convenience store and buy juice and mix another REALLY strong drink 2 more times before she crashed?

I just don't understand why it took her so long to travel where she did. Maybe she kept stopping at places for the kids tro get out and run around, secretly mix her drinks, puff on a doobie... All because she was in PAIN? THat I really don't get!

 

[daisy7]

Re: the OTC medicine she tried to buy, there are some OTC's that require you to show a driver's license to purchase it (at least in FL, though I think it's nationwide). It's for medicines that have ingredients that people use to make meth, so maybe she just didn't have her DL with her?

Just speculation.

 

[tapu]

Yeah, funny how the state benefits from that revenue.

Tapu, you are going to make me cry. I bet it's real 6.0 beer there too. Here we only have 3.2 beer.

Sorry to take this O/T a bit. But it is interesting to hear how different states have such different laws. I wonder if any of that affects the availability vs rates of DUI's? It seems for as strict as Utah's laws are, we have our fair share of DUI's and tragic accidents. The past two days we've had two accidents during the morning rush...both suspected of DUI.

And if IIRC, the area that Dianne was in doesn't sell till 12:30ish on Sundays?

I think that's a fascinating question about state laws and dui statistics. I'll search around, but if anyone else finds something, please link.

As for beer strength, OH sells 6.0, except on Sundays, when only 3.2 can be bought. Crazy leftover from the Blue Laws, I guess.... That is probably what the 'no alc in the morning' in NY is due to, too.

In CA, when I was tending bar, you couldn't serve liquor in it from 2am to 6am. And by the way, not just a few people will show up at 6am....

 

[tapu]

Re: the OTC medicine she tried to buy, there are some OTC's that require you to show a driver's license to purchase it (at least in FL, though I think it's nationwide). It's for medicines that have ingredients that people use to make meth, so maybe she just didn't have her DL with her?

Just speculation.

Having also worked in a pharmacy (bar, pharmacy, are we seeing a pattern here? ), I am pretty sure Tylenol is not one of those. Some decongestants for the meth connection are behind the counter; I think 17+under can't by Robitussin, or anything with Dextromethorphan. Maybe a few others. Not any of the otc analgesics, though. The only one that might have something of interest there would be Percogesic if it's still sold that way. But even then....