The 2009 State Taconal Parkway accident is a traffic collision that occurred shortly after 1:30 pm on Sunday, July 26, 2009, at Taconic State Parkway in the city of Fun Mountain, near the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York. Eight people were killed when a minivan driven by 36-year-old Diane Schuler traveled 1.7 kilometers in the wrong direction on the parkway and collided with an oncoming SUV. The deaths include Schuler, his daughter and three nephews, and three passengers in the upcoming SUV. The accident was the worst fatal motor vehicle accident in Westchester County since July 22, 1934, when a bus accident in Ossining took 20 lives.
The subsequent investigation into the cause of the accident received national attention. Toxicological tests conducted by medical examiners revealed that Schuler was very drunk with alcohol and marijuana at the time of the accident. Schuler's husband, Daniel, has consistently denied that he used drugs or alcohol "excessively", and has made several national media appearances to defend his wife and called for further investigation into other possible medical causes for erratic driving. An independent researcher hired by the Schuler family obtained DNA tests and toxicology tests of Schuler samples, and also confirmed the original test results.
Video 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash
Events day
At about 9:30 am on Sunday, July 26, 2009, 36-year-old Diane Schuler left Hunter Lake Campground in Parksville, New York, at a red Ford Windstar 2003 that belonged to her brother. Climbing with Schuler is his 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter, and three sons of his son (ages 8, 7, and 5). Her husband, Daniel Schuler, left the camp at the same time in a separate vehicle because he owned a pickup truck and took the dog with him. A colleague of the camp owner later said that Diane Schuler looked calm when he left.
On the way to West Babylon, Schuler stopped at a McDonald's fast food restaurant and a gas station in Liberty. While at the gas station, it was claimed on a silent surveillance video that she was trying to buy painkillers, maybe for a sore tooth, but the gas station did not sell anything.
Schuler left Liberty just after 11am. , traveling along Route 17/Interstate 86 and New York Thruway (Interstate 87), entering Ramapo's service area, and crossing Tappan Zee Bridge, heading east. Several witnesses later reported seeing an aggressive red minivan driving on Route 17/Interstate 86 and Interstate 87, including aggressive locking, flashing headlamps, honking, moving in and out of lanes, and straddling two lanes. At 11:37 am. , Schuler calls Warren Hance, his brother and father from his three nephews, from the van. He reportedly told him that they were being delayed by traffic. According to a police report, Schuler was seen by witnesses around 11:45 AM on the side of the road with his hands on his knees, as if he was vomiting; he was seen again in the same position moments later, to the north of Ramapo's resting place.
About 1 p.m. , another call is made to Hance from Schuler phone. During this call, one of Schuler's nephews reportedly told his father that Schuler had difficulty seeing and speaking clearly. Schuler himself then talked to Hance and said that he was disoriented and could not see clearly. Police believe that the car stopped in a pull-off area outside the Tappan Zee Bridge toll bridge for at least a portion of this call. Hance reportedly told Schuler to stay away from the road when he came to see them; follow-up calls from Hance to Schuler were not answered. For some unknown reason, he left his cell phone on the highway, which was found by another rider on the side of the road near the Tappan Zee Bridge toll lane.
Researchers try to determine how (and why) Schuler gets from the bridge to the ramps of Taconic State Parkway near Briarcliff Manor, New York, where the next information on this timeline comes from.
At 1:33 p.m. , two drivers call 911 after realizing Schuler's car crept into the north entrance of Taconic State Parkway near Briarcliff Manor. Exit end ( 41Ã, ° 08? 34? N 73Ã,  At the intersection with Pleasantville Road, marked with two signs that read "Do not Enter" and two signs that read "One Way". Within the next minute, four more 911 calls were placed by motorists who reported that cars traveling the wrong way down the parkway would be around 75-85 mph.
The van traveled south as far as 1.7 miles on the northern track of the parking lane before colliding directly, around 1:35 pm , with the 2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, which then hit the Chevrolet Tracker in 2002. On when a clash occurred, Schuler traveled about 85 mph. Schuler, his daughter, and two of his nephews were killed at the scene of the accident (children did not appear to be in a car seat, or even seatbelts were tied), along with three men at TrailBlazer: 81 Michael Bastardi, 49-year-old Guy, they, Dan Longo 74 years. Two residents of the Tracker suffered only minor injuries. Schuler's third nephew is deeply hurt and a 5-year-old son of Schuler, Bryan, is taken to the county hospital, where his nephew died that day. Bryan is the only surviving Schuler passenger vehicle, suffering from severe fractures and head trauma. She remained hospitalized before returning home in early October.
Two people who witnessed the accident and the smoke rose from the van running to help the occupants. After removing Schuler from the van, the two saw a large, broken bottle of Absolut Vodka on the driver's side. The men tried to pull the girls out of the van, and noted that they had no pulse. Since the children may not be sitting cross-legged and thrown together, the people did not even notice Bryan trapped under another child. Bryan is the only survivor of the accident.
Maps 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash
Intoxication level
The collision investigation attracted national attention, as Schuler's husband strongly disagreed with the conclusion that he was so drunk at the time of the accident. A toxicology report released on August 4 by the Westchester County medical examiner found that Schuler had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.19%, with about six grams of alcohol in its stomach not yet absorbed into its blood. Legal BAC Limit for Driving While drunk in New York State is 0.08%. The report also says that Schuler has a high THC level, an active ingredient in marijuana, in its system. He could have sucked marijuana recently fifteen minutes before the accident.
In an August 8 press conference, Daniel Schuler and his lawyer Dominic Barbara initially denied that Diane used the drugs or drank that weekend on the lake because several children were with them. Schuler then changed the story and consistently denied that his wife had "drunk too much" or was probably drunk while driving that day. When Larry King and Oprah Winfrey asked Daniel about the vodka in the van, Daniel claimed that they always kept old bottles in their camper. He further stated that Diane did all the packing for a camping trip, so she had to move the bottle into the van. Both King and Oprah looked confident, and kept questioning him.
Daniel finally admits that he and his wife drank during a camping trip, but denied that Diane drank anything the day before the accident occurred. Co-owners of the camp (who know the Well Schulers) see them around 9am. that morning, and stated that Diane seemed calm. The Schuler gas station employee asked for Tylenol about 11 a.m. also said, "[I know] for the fact [that] he was not drunk when he came to the station." According to Tom Ruskin (an investigator who was supposed to be employed by Daniel for $ 30,000), no McDonald's employee saw anything in Diane's behavior that showed she was drunk. In fact, he was seen having an extended conversation while ordering his food and orange juice.
Ruskin told reporters in September that he had interviewed the family, no one had seen him drunk. Ruskin also pointed to an autopsy showing that the absence of organ damage is often found in alcoholics, although an unrelated medical examiner says such results do not rule out alcoholism. Relatives Schuler has also denied that Diane is known to drink much or is not responsible.
Daniel denied that his wife was doing drugs, but told the researcher that his wife only smoked marijuana "occasionally," and her family told the People Magazine that she was using it to relieve insomnia. Although Daniel is an officer in the Public Security Unit of the Nassau County Police Department, he is not required to report drug abuse by his wife because he is a civilian. In November, it was reported that Diane's brother-in-law had made a statement to the police that she actually smoked marijuana on a regular basis.
Daniel and Barbara believe that Schuler goes erratically due to medical problems, such as a stroke. According to Barbara, Schuler is obese for most of his life and has diabetes, although additional sources cite Diane for having only gestational diabetes, a temporary condition associated with previous pregnancies, rather than chronic conditions. Barbara also mentions an abscess that has been going on in her mouth for seven weeks before her death, and a lump in her leg, about which she says, "[This] may have become an embolism". An autopsy conducted by a Westchester County medical examiner one day after the accident found that Schuler did not suffer a stroke, aneurysm, or heart attack.
In September, the New York forensic pathologist said that a hair test should be done to determine the history of Schuler's drug. Daniel and his lawyer announced plans to dig up bodies for hair tests and other tests; experts say that it is not possible to generate new information of value because tests from two different laboratories come with the exact same conclusions. Schuler is also intended to reexamine fluid samples taken during autopsy. The Westchester County medical examiner's office, who performed the autopsy, said that fluid degradation over time tended to produce lower alcohol and THC readings; However, some toxicologists say that the results should be similar to the previous test if the fluid sample has been stored properly. On November 7, Ruskin announced that the Schuler family had raised money to re-examine Schuler's network samples and that retesting would be imminent. In July 2010, it was reported that Daniel had received a $ 100,000 offer from a film company, Moxie Firecracker Films, to record Schuler's excavation for an HBO documentary. Lawyer Daniel said that the money would be placed in trust for Diane's son, Bryan.
Daniel's perseverance in debating his wife's poisoning and denying his wife's drug use has been condemned by the families of three Trailblazer victims. When Schuler appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to demand more testing of the remains of his wife, Longo Joseph's brother issued a statement saying partially, "I want Daniel Schuler to know that he continues to inflict pain bigger on all the related ones, once again going to the media to try [describing the perfect picture of his wife and mother. "Bastardi's daughters showed up with their lawyers at NBC's Today, where they questioned Daniel's mistake in enabling her wife's substance abuse and calling her for her own drug test. "It makes me angry because he keeps denying it," said Margaret Nicotina, daughter of Bastardi. "Every time he does it, he brings it back for us, I just hope that he will admit that he is drunk, maybe if he knows what happened that morning, if they argue or anything, it will be the truth He wants the truth. also us. "Their lawyers call Daniel's position completely outrageous, an affront to American public intelligence, and hoax. Ruskin told The Oprah Winfrey Show in October 2009 that Daniel had avoided media appearances since Larry King Live in honor of the Bastardi family.
In June 2010, the New York State Police issued a final report on the accident after eleven months of analysis. The report reinforces previous toxicological findings that Schuler is very drunk and has a high THC level in his system at the time of the accident.
Legal action
According to the Westchester County medical examiner, the accident decides the killing immediately after it happened, because the victim died due to Schuler's negligent driving, regardless of toxicological findings. On August 18, Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore said that no charges would be filed in the incident, as Schuler was the only person responsible for the death. "Diane Schuler died in the accident and the indictment died with him," DiFiore said. In October 2009, DiFiore faced allegations from Dan Schorr (Republican challenger for his office) that he had mistakenly handled the Schuler case. A lawyer for the Bastardi family also alleged that DiFiore had wrongly handled the case. Both sides said that DiFiore should start a grand jury investigation over the incident. In response to Schorr's comment, DiFiore replied, "Does he suggest that there is criminal evidence of crime committed by someone and we will not pursue him? That is just ridiculous." DiFiore won re-election in November with 53 percent of the vote for Schorr's 36 percent. The Bastardi family says that if DiFiore does not hold a grand jury, they will seek support in this matter from the state attorney general and the governor.
Following a request from the Bastardi family that an administrator was appointed to Schuler's property so the lawsuit could be filed, Daniel formally rejected the role in November 2009, handed it over to a county-county judge to appoint a public administrator. On December 10, the Bastardi family filed a lawsuit against Diane Schuler and her brother, Warren Hance, seeking unspecified damage to misbehavior, deliberate, and reckless behavior. According to family lawyers, they are required by state law to include Hance in a lawsuit because he is the owner of the van that Schuler is driving.
In July 2011, Jackie Hance, who lost three of his daughters in the accident, filed a lawsuit against his brother-in-law, Daniel Schuler. The lawsuit claims that three Hance girls who died suffered terror, fear of impending death, extreme horror, fear, and mental anguish. On July 26, 2011, the day after the premiere of HBO's There Was Something Wrong with Aunt Diane , and on the second anniversary of the accident, Daniel announced that he sued the State of New York for not "keeping the road safe "and his brother-in-law, Warren Hance, for being the owner of the minivan that Diane was driving. In July 2014, all lawsuits by all parties were resolved or canceled. The judge closed all the settlements.
Child Passenger Protection Act
In August 2009, New York Governor David Paterson proposed a Child Purchase Protection Act, which would make it a crime to drive when drunk when a passenger under the age of 16 is in a vehicle. The proposal came to be known as Leandra Law, following the death of Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old passenger, a passenger in a drunk driving vehicle. The Child Passenger Protection Law was signed into New York law on November 18, 2009.
Media
In September 2009, a syndication talk show Dr. Phil broadcast an episode about a drunk driving mom who was very focused on Schuler and the accident. The following month, Oprah Winfrey devotes her show episode to the accident, interviews Schuler's private investigator Tom Ruskin via Skype and responds to some of her claims with disbelief.
The Law & amp; The episode of "Doped," which first aired in November 2009, centered on an accident very similar to the Taconic Parkway incident. This fictional version features a woman who speeds up the West Side Highway in the wrong direction before crashing and suicide, her daughter and two nephews, and three men in another car. Bastardi's relatives reacted angrily after hearing that the NBC show would base an episode on a real-life tragedy.
There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane, directed by Liz Garbus for HBO Documentaries, setting the schedule before the accident. The documentary suggests that Schuler could have suffered a severe illness caused by a tooth abscess during the trip home, causing him to seek painkillers at the gas station and to treat himself with drugs and alcohol. The abscess pain, combined with vodka and marijuana, can put it in a state of delirium that triggers its fatal behavior. In the documentary, Barbara and Daniel Schuler claim they are giving investigators Ruskin $ 30,000 to conduct independent investigations and to reexamine the sample. Throughout the documentary, Jay Schuler, Diane's sister-in-law, and Daniel claimed that Ruskin did not return their phone calls for nine months. At the end of the documentary, Ruskin told Jay that he had called him months ago with the result, and that he refused to pick up the phone. He is seen claiming that "he was told not to take" and "that he did not understand all that." Ruskin then informs him that his test reinforces the previous test; that Diane is very drunk on alcohol and marijuana. Jay and Daniel insist on refusing to accept the test results.
Jackie Hance wrote a book entitled I'll See You Again in which the tragedy was revisited, focusing on his initial grief and then reappearing into life. Stephen King's short story "Herman Wouk Still Alive" at the Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015) is, according to King, a fictitious attempt to find answers to the question of what caused the accident and "perhaps to get some sort of closure. "
The Hance Family Foundation
Jackie and Warren Hance form a foundation, the Hance Family Foundation, whose sole purpose is to honor the lives of three of their daughters by ensuring healthy, happy, and safe children through innovative self-esteem education programs. The foundation's center project is Beautiful Me, a self-esteem program designed to educate girls by promoting appreciation for their original qualities, accurate self-awareness, and the satisfaction of helping others.
See also
- Traffic collision list (2000-current)
- Carrollton bus collision, a similar 1988 crash in Kentucky involving a misfit drunk driver on a divided road; killing 27.
- Valhalla train accidents, class 2015 crashes, also in the city of Mount Pleasant and involving opposite and high-risk behavior by SUV drivers are among six casualties.
References
External links
- Police report
- Diane Schuler Autopsy Report
- Tragic Accident Anatomy Photo overhead from crash site, and route map ( The New York Times )
- Crash map Road crash map (maps.google.com)
- 911 calls by family and riders
- 2009 State Taconic State Park accident at Cari Mausoleum
- What Makes You Beautiful, the program of the Hance Family Foundation
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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