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Crash on Taconic State Pkwy



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frumluv




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:08 pm
My heart is breaking, I hope this is not true. Sources say that woman was impaired by alcohol & marijuana. Why would you drive, with children in that condition.

http://www.1010wins.com/DA--Dr.....36601

Some people have said that both alcohol & marijuana can still be in system, possibly from the day before. Only G-d knows the truth (and possibly others)
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Barbara




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:16 pm
frumluv wrote:
My heart is breaking, I hope this is not true. Sources say that woman was impaired by alcohol & marijuana. Why would you drive, with children in that condition.

http://www.1010wins.com/DA--Dr.....36601

Some people have said that both alcohol & marijuana can still be in system, possibly from the day before. Only G-d knows the truth (and possibly others)


Its not surprising, though.

She apparently drove MILES on the wrong side of the road, certainly long enough that 6 calls were made to 911 about her (IIRC). Moreover, as my logical DS pointed out, she had an 8 year-old with her, who was certainly old enough to point out that she was going the wrong way. The *only* explanation is that she was impaired.

Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:34 pm
Something doesn't add up.
Drunk drivers swerve and drive erratically. All the reports said she was driving straight, just on the wrong side, as if she was on autopilot almost. The police didn't even think alcohol was involved based on how the driving happened. I still wonder if she had a blood pressure problem or something undetectable via autopsy that caused her to be in a daze.
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chavamom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:38 pm
That would cause her blood alcohol level to be 2x the legal limit???? Come on. And no, blood alcohol is a measure of what your alcohol level is at that moment, NOT how much you drank the day before. Marajuana hangs around, so that is debatable, but nope, this woman was drunk as a skunk.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:43 pm
But drunk drivers usually swerve, don't they? (I'm looking for major news sources to have this information, but so far I've only seen it on WINS so I don't know how accurate this all is.)
And people saw her as she was leaving and would have known if she was drunk.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:46 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....crash
Ok, just found it published by AP.
Earlier reports did not mention driving erratically.

Her husband wouldn't have known she was drunk?!
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Barbara




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 3:50 pm
Hashem_Yaazor wrote:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_wrong_way_crash
Ok, just found it published by AP.
Earlier reports did not mention driving erratically.

Her husband wouldn't have known she was drunk?!


Hard to speculate on that. I would think that it might not be as noticable in a person who habitually drinks a lot, but I don't know that for sure. ABC includes reports that she may have been driving erratically:

Quote:
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (WABC) -- Eyewitness News has learned that toxicology reports show the mother driving the minivan in the Taconic crash that killed eight people had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in her blood, as well as marijuana in her system.
The District Attorney's office confirms 36-year-old Diane Schuler had a blood alcohol level of .19 and had high levels of THC, which is the main substance found in marijuana.
Schuler drove head-on into an SUV on the Taconic State Parkway, killing herself and four of the five children in her van, as well as the three occupants of the SUV.
District Attorney Janet DiFiore released the following statement:
"The New York State Police have been investigating the cause of the July 26th collision on the Taconic State Parkway that took eight lives. The toxicology report prepared by the Westchester County Medical Examiner reveals that the driver of the vehicle traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of the parkway had a BAC of .19 - more than twice the legal limit. In addition, the report indicates that the driver was operating the vehicle while impaired by marijuana. My office, along with the New York State Police, will continue to investigate the facts and circumstances that led up to the collision causing the deaths, so that the public and the families of the victims can understand what lead to this horrific crash."
Schuler was returning to her West Babylon home from an upstate campground on July 26 when she got on the Taconic in the wrong direction. She drove for 1.7 miles before the crash.
Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter Erin and her three nieces, 8-year-old Emma Hance, 7-year-old Alyson Hance and 5-year-old Katie Hance died in the minivan. Guy Bastardi, his father Michael and family friend Daniel Longo, all of Yonkers, died in the SUV. Two others in another car that was hit and Schuler's 5-year-old son Bryan survived.
Schuler's husband Daniel, a Nassau County public safety officer, was driving home in a separate car with the family dog.
Mike Bastardi, Jr, who lost his father and brother in the crash, spoke with Eyewitness News reporter NJ Burkett, and said he is angered by the toxicology reports.
He said he had his suspicions that Diane Schuler was impaired, in some way, and said that anyone who knew she was impaired should be investigated and prosecuted.
CLICK HERE to read the transcript of NJ's interview with Michael Bastardi, Jr.
Authorities retracing Diane Schuler's steps say she crossed the Tappan Zee around 1 p.m. and pulled over on the Tarrytown end of the bridge. She then called her brother, Warren Hance, and told him she was not feeling well, having trouble seeing and feeling disoriented.
Police say Hance told Schuler to stay where she was and he would drive to her. Instead, Schuler drove off, leaving her cell phone. Less than 30 minutes later, she got on the Taconic in the wrong direction.
On Monday, authorities said witnesses believed they saw Diane Schuler's minivan on upstate Routes 17 and 87 before the crash. They said Schuler was straddling lanes, tailgating, flashing her headlights and beeping her horn.
One witness said the driver at one point tried to pass him on the shoulder of the highway.
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cassandra




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 4:06 pm
I heard a report last week that she had initially pulled over and called her brother and told him that she was feeling disoriented. It could be that there were side effects of the drinking that caused her to drive the way she did but not necessarily in a "drunk driving" type of way.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 4:15 pm
Right, all the reports I read mentioned that, and that he told her to PARK and he would meet her. She didn't follow his advice Sad
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frumluv




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 4:24 pm
I also read/heard on the news that she called her brother. Also that the police went looking for her, but by then it was too late.
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sarahd




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 4:44 pm
Those poor kids must have been terrified, being driven by a drunk the wrong way down the highway.
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cassandra




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 4:50 pm
The scary thing is I'm sure she'd driven like that many time without incident, and that at any given moment there are others like that driving around.
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chavamom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 6:21 pm
Drunk drivers don't necessarily swerve. It depends on the level of impairment. Their reaction time is slowed and they may get confused and make wrong decisions (like going down the off ramp instead of the on ramp and driving into on-coming traffic).
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elf123




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 7:07 pm
Oh my gosh, I just read another report that said they found an EXTRA LARGE BOTTLE of VODKA in her car!!!!!! Can you imagine these people?
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 04 2009, 10:47 pm
what a crying shame
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chavamom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 05 2009, 2:45 am
In case anyone was in doubt as to whether she had recently consumed....
Quote:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The driver responsible for a head-on collision that killed eight people -- including herself and four children -- on the Taconic State Parkway north of New York City last week was drunk and impaired by marijuana, authorities said.
One of the vehicles in the three-vehicle wreck was heading the wrong direction, police said.


Diane Schuler, 36, had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.19 percent and high levels of marijuana in her system, Maj. William Carey of the New York State Police said at a news conference Tuesday.

Schuler also had "6 grams of alcohol in her stomach that had yet to be metabolized," Carey said.


Schuler's blood alcohol level indicated that she had consumed approximately 10 alcoholic beverages, said Betsy Spratt, chief toxicologist with the Westchester County district attorney's office.

"She would have had difficulty with perception, with her judgment [and] with her memory," Spratt said of Schuler. "Around that level of alcohol, you also start to get what's called tunnel vision, where your perception is changed and you can't see peripherally all the time."

Investigators recovered a broken bottle of vodka in Schuler's minivan, said Carey, who added police didn't know whether she was drinking while driving. Spratt said she can't determine what kind of alcohol Schuler drank.

The head-on crash happened July 26 when a minivan driven by Schuler and carrying five children was heading the wrong way on a northbound lane of the Taconic State Parkway about 30 miles north of New York City, police said. The minivan crashed into an SUV carrying three adults.
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Schuler and four of the children in the minivan died, as did the three people in the SUV. One child in the minivan survived and was hospitalized.

One of the killed children was Schuler's daughter, and the other three were her nieces, CNN affiliate WABC reported. The child who survived is Schuler's son, according to WABC.

A third vehicle carrying two adults was also involved in the crash, state police said. They suffered minor injuries.

Witnesses told authorities they believed they saw the minivan straddling lanes and tailgating before the crash, according to WABC.

The district attorney's office and the police "will continue to investigate the facts and circumstances that led up to the collision causing the deaths, so that the public and the families of the victims can understand what led to this horrific crash," said Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore in a written statement.

Carey echoed that sentiment, saying a criminal investigation continues but that no criminal charges will be filed at this point.
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