8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[sharkeyes]

Just a suggestion; visit www.taconictragedy.com

You may want to read the book The Taconic Tragedy, there is quite a bit of information that was not released or (realized) to the public.
Interesting!

The photo of Diane in McD's with the two big cups is a first [for me anyway] as well as the info about her request for them to make Brian the chicken selects. The video of her pulling out of Sunoco is faster than in the doc, looks like she's in a hurry.

It would be great if the Sunoco clerk and McD's server statements were available.

The Guestbook posts are interesting - never thought she may have asked if the Sunoco sold booze rather than a painkiller - and why the clerk would lie if that was the case. Haven't been to a gas station yet that didn't sell Tylenol/Advil/Bufferin.

Tom Ruskin and Nick Barbara - enough said.

 

[sharkeyes]

I think Daniel is telling the truth about what he thought his wife's drinking habits were.

I'm with ya on that. I don't think Daniel (or Jay for that matter) had a clue as to how much Diane drank, that being said, I can understand how Daniel just cannot grasp the findings on the toxicology report.

 

[Nova]

...I think most drunk people behave in exaggerated versions of themselves....

This must be why I'm such a sweet drunk. But seriously, I agree.

...I don't think a conscientious person would assume they'd actually die in a deliberate car accident.

I agree that a traffic accident is a very iffy way to attempt suicide, but some are going to insist (understandably) that Diane wasn't "conscientious." But there's no evidence that Diane was stupid, nor is there any testimony that she actually swerved to hit other cars. Instead, she was described as hyper-focused, barreling down the freeway in the fast lane.

Drunk? Obviously. Confused as to where she was? Most likely. But so stupid as to think she could guarantee a fatal accident in a mini-van? I doubt it.

 

[NebraskaGirl]

I'm a newbie here and have not posted before. After seeing the HBO documentary, I read every single one of the posts on this case. I was able to find the lawsuit that DS filed. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this. If I am, please let me know.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/29/WrongWay.pdf

After all the reading I've done, I'm still not any closer to coming up with a theory of what happened. I definitely don't agree the murder/suicide theory. After that, I'm just now sure.

I do look at DS as more of a victim than anything else. I'm sure he has been less-than-honest about things, but part of me doesn't fault him for that, as he was probably fearful of losing everything he had, including his son. I also don't fault him for filing his lawsuit, although it does leave a bad taste in my mouth that he named one of the victims and his brother-in-law (who had already lost enough). However, being in that field of law (I'm NOT an attorney!), I understand it had to be done. He deserves an equal part of the insurance settlement, just as the other victims' families do.

NebraskaGirl

 

[twinkiesmom]

That he says it doesn't make it true. If the stories are mere fabrications, why do they cause him pain? Why not ignore them and go on with the process of healing?

More importantly, painful or not, doesn't Daniel have an obligation to pursue what he believes to be the facts. Don't we usually applaud a search for the truth?

He's created a media spectacle around the denial of this crime at the expense of the victims. I'm not saying he *can't* do that...I'm saying it's outrageous and mitigates any pity I would have felt for him otherwise.

The truth is Diane was drunk and killed all those people, simple as that.

 

[twinkiesmom]

I finally read the police report. Now, I'm convinced this was a drunk driving accident, plain and simple.

I was leaning toward possible suicide after reading some ideas about that, but, to me, there's too much that goes against that idea.

My theory of the case is that she was experiencing a blackout. It would have been her limbic system not her frontal lobe in charge of the situation. The limbic system is responsible for powerful emotions such as suicidal rage...It is the frontal lobe that controls the impulses of the limbic system. The concern for the children in the car would have been mediated by the frontal lobe. Her frontal lobe was anesthetized at the time of the accident.

The Diane that everyone knew as a loving, caring responsible person had left the building....It's still possible that this was a suicide committed by a Diane other than the one they knew.

 

[Stella5]

I'm a newbie here and have not posted before. After seeing the HBO documentary, I read every single one of the posts on this case. I was able to find the lawsuit that DS filed. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this. If I am, please let me know.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/29/WrongWay.pdf

After all the reading I've done, I'm still not any closer to coming up with a theory of what happened. I definitely don't agree the murder/suicide theory. After that, I'm just now sure.

I do look at DS as more of a victim than anything else. I'm sure he has been less-than-honest about things, but part of me doesn't fault him for that, as he was probably fearful of losing everything he had, including his son. I also don't fault him for filing his lawsuit, although it does leave a bad taste in my mouth that he named one of the victims and his brother-in-law (who had already lost enough). However, being in that field of law (I'm NOT an attorney!), I understand it had to be done. He deserves an equal part of the insurance settlement, just as the other victims' families do.

NebraskaGirl

Welcome NebraskaGirl! And thank you SO much for finding the lawsuit. I'm glad to finally have read it, but now my blood is boiling again... item #21 on pages 4 & 5 are placing blame on Guy Bastardi, in addition to Diane. I have a HUGE issue with this. Guy did nothing wrong other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and for that he lost his life.

 

[Stella5]

Based on what another poster wrote above, I think the "35 minutes" was the driving time for Daniel at 7 a.m. Diane didn't start back until late morning, so she probably hit the massive traffic of people returning from their weekends.

(For those who don't live in NYC, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, millions of people leave the city every weekend to go to cooler places at the shore or in the woods.)

My husband lived in NYC and LI year ago, so I'm familiar with the traffic. No matter which way you slice it, you cannot make the drive in 35 minutes. Here's the info I found just using googlemaps...

Hunters Lake Campground to West Babylon - 147 miles, 2 hours 48 minutes
Hunters Lake Campground to Tappan Zee Bridge - 95.2 miles, 1 hour 44 minutes
Hunters Lake Campground to Floral Park - 123 miles, 2 hours 20 minutes

West Babylon to Tappan Zee Bridge - 68.7 miles, 1 hour 23 minutes
Floral Park to Tappan Zee Bridge - 41.9 miles, 56 minutes

The only two destinations even remotely close to a 35 minute travel time are:

Floral Park to West Babylon - 23.4 miles, 36 minutes
Hunter Lake Campground to Liberty, NY - 7.7 miles, 18 minutes

I still don't get the 35 minute time quoted in the docu... unless you're traveling by plane or helicopter, it's impossible by car.

 

[Nova]

I'm a newbie here and have not posted before. After seeing the HBO documentary, I read every single one of the posts on this case. I was able to find the lawsuit that DS filed. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this. If I am, please let me know.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/29/WrongWay.pdf

After all the reading I've done, I'm still not any closer to coming up with a theory of what happened. I definitely don't agree the murder/suicide theory. After that, I'm just now sure.

I do look at DS as more of a victim than anything else. I'm sure he has been less-than-honest about things, but part of me doesn't fault him for that, as he was probably fearful of losing everything he had, including his son. I also don't fault him for filing his lawsuit, although it does leave a bad taste in my mouth that he named one of the victims and his brother-in-law (who had already lost enough). However, being in that field of law (I'm NOT an attorney!), I understand it had to be done. He deserves an equal part of the insurance settlement, just as the other victims' families do.

NebraskaGirl

Wow! Welcome to Websleuths!

That's one hell of a debut post.

Technically Daniel is suing in the children's names in order to get their share of insurance monies from Diane's estate as well as the Bastardis and Hances. This is probably essential for Bryan to get the care he may need throughout his life.

So, yeah, I understand the legal reasons behind it, but this is one of those times where the difference between legal norms and everyday principles don't really correspond.

 

[Stella5]

Just a suggestion; visit www.taconictragedy.com

You may want to read the book The Taconic Tragedy, there is quite a bit of information that was not released or (realized) to the public.
Interesting!

Welcome Travel, and thank you so much for that website... some new info there I haven't read/seen.

 

[sharkeyes]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/29/WrongWay.pdf

:welcome:

Thanks for the link and welcome Nebraska Girl!

Okay, I read the complaint. So, basically Daniel Schuler is suing his dead wife, the driver of the vehicle she hit who was also killed, and his BIL.

I do not get the statement in paragraph 21 - "the occurrence aforementioned was caused by the negligence of ....Guy T. Bastardi...so carelessly, recklessly and negligently operated each said motor vehicle..."

I'm no attorney, but this is ridiculous, what court would even consider hearing such a case? Mr. Bastardi was minding his own business, driving on the correct side of the road...in what way was he being "reckless".

I had no idea you could sue one of the people your wife killed and have him named as a defendant (via the Administratrix of his estate), but still, I hope this is tossed out of court so fast it makes Daniel's head spin.

I don't understand what restitution Daniel hopes to recover - maybe I'm just tired/having a moment :waitasec:, but this makes absolutely no sense.

 

[deelytful1]

As many earlier posts here described, some people are able to be heavy drinkers without others knowing about it. Because I couldn't imagine that, as I've only seen the type of drinkers that are obviously drunk when they're drunk, I really didn't consider this as a possibility. But, now I do believe it's possible because I think Daniel is telling the truth about what he thought his wife's drinking habits were. Based on the toxicology reports which were re-examined and confirmed, I don't think she was trying to medicate a bad tooth or that any other medical problem occurred.

The only mystery left for me is how Diane thought she'd get by with being intoxicated when dropping off her nieces. But, putting that aside, it does appear that she chose to get drunk while driving home, and horrible tragedy resulted. Simple as that.

Respectfully snipped by me
BBM
Your post made me smile because I have been intimately acquainted with alcoholics and it would be when they WEREN'T drinking that you would find their behavior odd. She somehow lost control that morning. Her body's hormones, organs, and ultimately her brain function could not handle the stress she was putting it under, whether by too much alcohol and marijuana at one time or the fact that she had abused her body for the weekend with drinking and smoking and not enough sleep. IMHO.
My opinion is let Daniel search til the cows come home. It's his right in this wonderful country... BUT, unless you have solid, verifiable proof.. why sue the family that lost 3 precious children and a sister in this situation? It's absolutely ludicrous, evil and beyond appalling in my humble opinion. Sigh...
To the poster that insinuated the family should be healing no matter what Daniel does...
Picture a big scab on your knee... it's painful, SO painful and then gratefully it begins to start to heal over, gradually. Then someone begins to pick at it over and over. The pain starts all over again and the HEALING has to start all over again! Emotions are similar. You can't heal unless you are given time to heal without the wound being opened again and again. IMHO.

 

[Nova]

He's created a media spectacle around the denial of this crime at the expense of the victims. I'm not saying he *can't* do that...I'm saying it's outrageous and mitigates any pity I would have felt for him otherwise.

The truth is Diane was drunk and killed all those people, simple as that.

Look at your own post. You make a clear distinction between Daniel and "the victims." Your prerogative, of course, but I don't understand it and I have to think that distinction influences your view of Daniel's actions.

Since I see Daniel as one of "the victims," I think he not only deserves my pity, but has a right to respond in his own way.

 

[Nova]

My theory of the case is that she was experiencing a blackout. It would have been her limbic system not her frontal lobe in charge of the situation. The limbic system is responsible for powerful emotions such as suicidal rage...It is the frontal lobe that controls the impulses of the limbic system. The concern for the children in the car would have been mediated by the frontal lobe. Her frontal lobe was anesthetized at the time of the accident.

The Diane that everyone knew as a loving, caring responsible person had left the building....It's still possible that this was a suicide committed by a Diane other than the one they knew.

Just because we disagree about Daniel, I especially want to thank you for your medical insights into what may have been going on with Diane. Thank you very much!

 

[sharkeyes]

Technically Daniel is suing in the children's names in order to get their share of insurance monies from Diane's estate as well as the Bastardis and Hances.

So Daniel is acting on behalf of Erin and Brian, which I can understand, although it would be unlikely that his/Diane's insurance company would pay a claim/settle a suit given the fact she was DWI, right?

As far as suing the Bastardi's/Hance's, I don't get it. The way I see it, Daniel doesn't have a leg to stand on. The insurers of Warren Hance's van and the Bastardi's SUV are probably laughing their arses off....unless I'm just not getting it...I see Daniel as being up the creek. I can only try to imagine how badly Daniel wants to kick someone's arse, unfortunately, it seems like this is one of those times when there's just no arse to kick.

 

[Nova]

Welcome NebraskaGirl! And thank you SO much for finding the lawsuit. I'm glad to finally have read it, but now my blood is boiling again... item #21 on pages 4 & 5 are placing blame on Guy Bastardi, in addition to Diane. I have a HUGE issue with this. Guy did nothing wrong other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and for that he lost his life.

That's not technically true, Stella. Per reports such as this one...

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/06/30/police-ny-driver-was-speeding-before-wrong-way-crash/


Bastardi was driving 74 mph in a 55 mph zone. Obviously, it doesn't compare to Diane going the wrong way on the freeway (or her speed of 85 mph), but Bastardi's speeding was also a factor in the accident.

What Daniel's lawyer has done is S.O.P. He has sued everyone involved in the crash (including Diane herself) and, by extension, their insurance companies, and will let a judge or jury sort out how much liability each party has. I'm sure we all expect Diane (and her insurance company) to be assigned the lion's share of the blame.

 

[Nova]

My husband lived in NYC and LI year ago, so I'm familiar with the traffic. No matter which way you slice it, you cannot make the drive in 35 minutes. Here's the info I found just using googlemaps...

Hunters Lake Campground to West Babylon - 147 miles, 2 hours 48 minutes
Hunters Lake Campground to Tappan Zee Bridge - 95.2 miles, 1 hour 44 minutes
Hunters Lake Campground to Floral Park - 123 miles, 2 hours 20 minutes

West Babylon to Tappan Zee Bridge - 68.7 miles, 1 hour 23 minutes
Floral Park to Tappan Zee Bridge - 41.9 miles, 56 minutes

The only two destinations even remotely close to a 35 minute travel time are:

Floral Park to West Babylon - 23.4 miles, 36 minutes
Hunter Lake Campground to Liberty, NY - 7.7 miles, 18 minutes

I still don't get the 35 minute time quoted in the docu... unless you're traveling by plane or helicopter, it's impossible by car.

You convinced me. I was thinking I'd watch the doc again anyway. I'll look for that reference and see if I can transcribe it exactly.

 

[sharkeyes]

Bastardi was driving 74 mph in a 55 mph zone. Obviously, it doesn't compare to Diane going the wrong way on the freeway (or her speed of 85 mph), but Bastardi's speeding was also a factor in the accident.

Oh man, I was not aware of this,...thanks for this post, I get it now.

 

[Nova]

So Daniel is acting on behalf of Erin and Brian, which I can understand, although it would be unlikely that his/Diane's insurance company would pay a claim/settle a suit given the fact she was DWI, right?

As far as suing the Bastardi's/Hance's, I don't get it. The way I see it, Daniel doesn't have a leg to stand on. The insurers of Warren Hance's van and the Bastardi's SUV are probably laughing their arses off....unless I'm just not getting it...I see Daniel as being up the creek. I can only try to imagine how badly Daniel wants to kick someone's arse, unfortunately, it seems like this is one of those times when there's just no arse to kick.

I'm not at all sure this has anything to do with vengeance against the Hances or Bastardis.

I haven't worked at a New York law firm for 20 years, but I think the way it still works is that a judge or jury assigns a percentage of responsibility to each party. So they might decide that Diane was 80% responsible for driving drunk and Mr. Bastardi was 10% responsible (for speeding) and Hance was 10% responsible for loaning the van to his sister. (I'm totally making up numbers here as an example. Please don't rely on them.)

The judge or jury would also assess total amount of damages. Then each party's insurance company would pay its percentage.

There may also be caps to the amount of coverage each party has, so a good lawyer sues them all, then works to see what he can get from each for his client.

 

[Stella5]

That's not technically true, Stella. Per reports such as this one...

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/06/30/police-ny-driver-was-speeding-before-wrong-way-crash/


Bastardi was driving 74 mph in a 55 mph zone. Obviously, it doesn't compare to Diane going the wrong way on the freeway (or her speed of 85 mph), but Bastardi's speeding was also a factor in the accident.

What Daniel's lawyer has done is S.O.P. He has sued everyone involved in the crash (including Diane herself) and, by extension, their insurance companies, and will let a judge or jury sort out how much liability each party has. I'm sure we all expect Diane (and her insurance company) to be assigned the lion's share of the blame.

Well that's true... he was speeding. I'm having a huge issue with most of that paragraph, especially... "operated each said vehicle while in an inappropriate physical condition and state of mind" I'm sure at that point in time Guy's state of mind was sheer panic & terror! I've been hit head on one time at a pretty slow rate of speed thank goodness, and I was scared out of my mind watching that car come at me with nowhere else to go but straight into it's path.

Anyone see this article? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-tian-dayton/dianne-schuler-when-denia_b_351295.html

"A New York Times article today reported that Dianne Schuler's sister in law, Joan Schuler, told investigators that Dianne was, in fact, a very heavy user of both alcohol and marijuana. The truth that Daniel Schuler, Dianne's husband, has tried so hard to hide from the world and probably from himself is coming out."

Who is Joan? Jay was in the docu. I know they comped to the pot usage, well Jay has... but this is the first thing I've read from someone within the family acknowledging Diane was a heavy alcohol user. If a SIL knew it, who else did?

When I discovered my sister using Vodka to deal with her life (single mom, 4 kids, ex paying no support) I told EVERYONE in our immediate family so we could help her. I would think if one person knew it, they all did... or most of them. At least on the Schuler side. How often was she with her own brothers? I find it odd that not one of them has spoken up about this tragedy or Diane. There is 3 or 4 brothers and I just find it odd.