# RO: I'll just have a few drinks, smoke a few joints, then go the wrong way on a major highway. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 5, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410 "2009-08-05T13:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/41 "2009-08-06T15:27:00Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > There are some odd timeline issues…I’ve driven that route many times myself and it shouldn’t have taken her more than hour or so to get from the place she left at 9:30 A to the place she was at 1PM. Granted they stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast, but still… I drove down from the Catskills that Sunday - my guess is she might have wanted to avoid the potentially nasty construction delays on Rt. 17 around Middletown and hopped off to take backroads and got lost, maybe eventually saw a sign for Bear Mountain bridge and crossed the Hudson there or something. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/42 "2009-08-06T15:46:06Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I heard this morning on the local news that the husband is completely shocked and refuses to admit that his wife was intoxicated in any way. They are requesting the exhumation of the body for independent toxicology analysis. The husband needs to start coming to grips. > [@](#): > > Meanwhile the New York Post found a “drinking buddy” of Diane Schuler’s who said she routinely went to the bar and complained about her “failing marriage and stressful job.” > > “Her marriage seemed a bit rocky, and I think she felt trapped by it,” the buddy said. “For the last couple of months, she didn’t appear to be a happy woman.” > **[Wife's Hubby: “Something Happened to Her Brain”](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/grave-accusations-in-taconic-crash-case/1899906/)** > > Husband considers an independent autopsy and says he’s “never” seen his wife drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/43 "2009-08-06T15:52:47Z")
> [@mack](#): > > I drove down from the Catskills that Sunday - my guess is she might have wanted to avoid the potentially nasty construction delays on Rt. 17 around Middletown and hopped off to take backroads and got lost, maybe eventually saw a sign for Bear Mountain bridge and crossed the Hudson there or something. Accoring to the investigators, she crossed the Tappan Zee into Westchester County at about 1PM,shortly after the phone call to her husband. During that phone call her niece told her dad that she saw the signage for the Tarrytown exit which fits. Her phone was found on the ground near the Tappan Zee toll plaza. At that point her logical route would have been to continue east on 287 ------to then head south to her home on Long Island, or to continue south on 87, then head east. Instead, after the phone call she ditched her phone and exited the highway, traveling on local roads NORTH of the highway until she stumbled onto the Taconic going backwards. Her reported actions after the toll plaza sound to me like the behavior of someone in an alcoholic blackout. Still doesn’t mean she didn’t get lost but if she did she got found again and straightened out before the phone call…there has been some supposition that she was waiting around upstate to buy booze which wouldn’t happen until noon on Sunday …that would “fix” the timeline but still doesn’t make much sense since if she had left at 9:30 she could’ve been almost all the way home by noon. Now her husband is looking to exhume her for further examination,he still thinks a sudden illness caused her to act crazy and start drinking, I think he’s in deep denial. And she was also smoking pot…while a basic non-drinker might possibly “slip” and by a bottle and go on a binge I can’t see how she would’ve come up with pot while driving home on Sunday morning unless she had it with her or had significant experience in “scoring”. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/44 "2009-08-06T17:26:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And we still have Dopers suggesting milder DUi laws: > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=519683&highlight=drunk](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=519683&highlight=drunk) > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522907&highlight=drunk](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522907&highlight=drunk) > > And there was another thread where the OP claimed he could drive perfectly fine at .08. Because, you know, having harsher laws would have prevented this, right? AFAICT, she didn’t have any previous DUIs, so it’s not like they’d have had any reason to revoke her license. Oh, and I doubt harsher penalties would have made her think twice either, considering that killing herself and others is, IMO, worse than slapping a few more years on a jail sentence that she’d have to be caught to even see anyway; not to mention that her judgment was obviously seriously impaired given the toxicology results. How about we don’t isolated tragic events like this as emotional blackmail in support of our own ideas for social change. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/45 "2009-08-06T17:37:45Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > And I think they were a little young for Blackberries and cell phones. I see kids that age with cell phones all the time. Granted, that doesn’t mean _these_ particular girls had their own phones, or brought them along on the camping trip. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I heard this morning on the local news that the husband is completely shocked and refuses to admit that his wife was intoxicated in any way. They are requesting the exhumation of the body for independent toxicology analysis. It strains credulity to believe that her husband (or her brother, for that matter) were ignorant of her drinking problem, especially if she was so brazen to possess an open vodka bottle on her drive home. Naturally, their first step – both legally and psychologically – is to deny everything. That’s how the enabler mind works. And while there is a non-zero chance that this is one big coverup by the government to explain away some paranormal conspiracy…c’mon, let’s stick with reality. > [@Sound Mind](#): > > Her reported actions after the toll plaza sound to me like the behavior of someone in an alcoholic blackout. Which would explain why she appeared to drive straight & fully under control once she got on the wrong-way highway. I myself have driven in fugue states, due to cocaine & lack of sleep (yes, I was young and stupid at the time, and only by the “grace of God” did I avoid killing myself or others) and my passengers later commented that I appeared to be completely sober the whole time. (Of course, they were pretty wasted too…) > [@Sound Mind](#): > > And she was also smoking pot…while a basic non-drinker might possibly “slip” and by a bottle and go on a binge I can’t see how she would’ve come up with pot while driving home on Sunday morning unless she had it with her or had significant experience in “scoring”. First thing I would do is check with the medical marijuana clinics in her area (it’s legal in NY state, correct?) There would be a paper record if she acquired the pot that way, even if her husband has destroyed the records by now. The more I examine this story, the less sympathy I feel for the father and the brother. Yes, losing all their children is already a far greater punishment than any person deserves – but karma can be a royal bitch sometimes. _Especially_ if they were complicit in covering up the “family secret” that their wife/sister was a drunken lush. (And why did the brother call the police, before her accident? That sounds like a total over-reaction if she was merely “feeling strange”, unless he already _knew_ there was real danger that she’d gone on a drunken bender again.) The only genuine innocents are the men in the SUV who died, who have every right to sue for damages, and of course the kids themselves. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/46 "2009-08-06T17:44:58Z")
What complicity did the brother have? He told her to pull over and tried to call the police to go find her? What else could he have possibly done? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/47 "2009-08-06T17:51:31Z")
“Wonder Twin Powers, **ACTIVATE**! Form of… an _ice wheel clamp_!” ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/48 "2009-08-06T19:08:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What complicity did the brother have? He told her to pull over and tried to call the police to go find her? What else could he have possibly done? Not let his sister drive his kids (or her own kids for that matter) around, knowing she was an alcoholic? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/49 "2009-08-06T19:12:37Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > Her reported actions after the toll plaza sound to me like the behavior of someone in an alcoholic blackout. > > . > [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Which would explain why she appeared to drive straight & fully under control once she got on the wrong-way highway. I myself have driven in fugue states, due to cocaine & lack of sleep (yes, I was young and stupid at the time, and only by the “grace of God” did I avoid killing myself or others) and my passengers later commented that I appeared to be completely sober the whole time. (Of course, they were pretty wasted too…) > > ☹ Yep. I based my supposition on experience, for many years I was a “secret” alcoholic in the way that this woman seemed to be. 10 drinks a day was something I did several times a week, secretively. I have experience with blackouts, both first and second hand, which is why I really think she was in one at the time of the crash. The blackouts are very very scary things and I could see her being able to drive fairly competently on “autopilot” but still not realizing that something was wrong because all the other cars were going the wrong way. And in her blackout state of mind she probably realized that someone coming to find her meant she would be caught dead drunk, so not only did she not pull over and wait but she ditched the phone and left the expected route. And while like most heavy drinkers I had really high tolerances every now and then, out of nowhere, my tolerances would fail me and I would react like a normal person to a given amount of alcohol and this is when the blackouts would happen. At least I lived in an urban area so I seldom drove drunk, even during this time. I do remember once when I did and I had probably drunk as much as she had and I got pulled over for a minor violation. I got ticketed for it but the cop never suspected I had been drinking…this is how high my typical tolerances were. But I wasn’t married, and while my coworkers and close friends had no idea of how much I drank, many of them DID suspect a drinking problem…they never broached it with me but I could tell by the looks on their faces when they heard I had quit. And while I hesitate to make too many suppositions about a perfect stranger I noticed she was a professional sales rep, as was I. In many ways this job made it easy to "cover"my problem, there was a fair amount of social drinking that was accepted if not expected, even during weekday lunches and the flexible schedule made it easy to cover alcohol related absences…just claim a sales call. My background is one reason that this story socked me in the gut. I used to have a recurring nightmare of coming out of a blackout at a crash site, finding myself too drunk to speak or move and totally busted and in deep trouble. My first thought was “there but the grace of God go I” but that was not totally accurate…I QUIT…16 years ago now, and the fear of something like that happening was one of my prime motivators. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/50 "2009-08-06T19:16:35Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > First thing I would do is check with the medical marijuana clinics in her area (it’s legal in NY state, correct?) There would be a paper record if she acquired the pot that way, even if her husband has destroyed the records by now. > ☹ No, medical marijuana is not legal in NY, we have to get our pot the old-fashioned way, on the street, just like our parent and grandparents did. 🙂 But it is decriminalized, which means that the penalties for possession of small amounts is a “traffic ticket” type civil offense, not a crime. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/51 "2009-08-06T22:40:20Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > My first thought was “there but the grace of God go I” but that was not totally accurate…I QUIT…16 years ago now, and the fear of something like that happening was one of my prime motivators. Amen, brother. Best decision I ever made in my life was to put down the straw, clean up my act and become a responsible adult. I was lucky that my “problem” never became a _serious_ addiction, but it _could_ have, had I not caught myself in time. I’m confident that Diane Schuler had plenty of opportunities to fix her own problems, but she never did. And yes, I still believe that her family is indirectly complicit, by allowing her alcoholic behavior to fester. Naturally, they did not deserve to lose their children – NOBODY deserves that – but as I said earlier, karma can be a royal bitch sometimes. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/52 "2009-08-07T02:13:47Z")
The husband’s lawyer is ‘Bloated Attorney’ Dominic Barbara. There is no way this can end well. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/53 "2009-08-07T02:56:43Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > I’m confident that Diane Schuler had plenty of opportunities to fix her own problems, but she never did. And yes, I still believe that her family is indirectly complicit, by allowing her alcoholic behavior to fester. Naturally, they did not deserve to lose their children – NOBODY deserves that – but as I said earlier, karma can be a royal bitch sometimes. ☹ These comments are just gross. You’re talking about a family that has suffered about as much as it possibly could, and _actively looking for reasons to blame them for what happened_, despite the complete lack of evidence that they were in a position to keep this from happening. How unsympathetic is it possible to be? ---
**Author:** ![Cattitude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Cattitude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cattitude)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/54 "2009-08-07T03:43:34Z")
Add me to the list of people wondering wht the hell it took 4 hrs, to drive that route. I live around 20 minutes or so from the crash site and no way should it have taken so long. Ya have to wonder what else the family could possibly say though, “oh yes we knew all about her lush ways but girls will be girls _wink wink_” They have to say they were blindsided by the information she was drunk and high or they look like complete shits. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/55 "2009-08-07T04:21:50Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > The husband’s lawyer is ‘Bloated Attorney’ Dominic Barbara. There is no way this can end well. Yeah, what a mouth-breather. He could barely speak a coherent sentence. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/56 "2009-08-07T05:25:32Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > You’re talking about a family that has suffered about as much as it possibly could, and _actively looking for reasons to blame them for what happened_, despite the complete lack of evidence that they were in a position to keep this from happening. How unsympathetic is it possible to be? I’m intimately familiar with how families of alcoholics work, okay? Sure, she probably hid her drinking problem from her co-workers, casual friends, and possibly most of her family. But her closest family – esp. her husband – _had_ to know. They knew, but chose to ignore it. Even now, they are denying everything, and they will likely deny everything until their dying breath. That’s how these dysfunctional families operate – it’s all about DENIAL. We’re not talking about some baseless, unsupported allegation – the authorities have _confirmed_ she was drunk, twice the legal limit, AND had been smoking pot, AND had a vodka bottle in the car. Nobody contests those _facts_, despite what their celebrity lawyer claims…am I correct? ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/57 "2009-08-07T06:25:30Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > I’m intimately familiar with how families of alcoholics work, okay? Sure, she probably hid her drinking problem from her co-workers, casual friends, and possibly most of her family. But her closest family – esp. her husband – _had_ to know. They knew, but chose to ignore it. Even now, they are denying everything, and they will likely deny everything until their dying breath. That’s how these dysfunctional families operate – it’s all about DENIAL. > > We’re not talking about some baseless, unsupported allegation – the authorities have _confirmed_ she was drunk, twice the legal limit, AND had been smoking pot, AND had a vodka bottle in the car. Nobody contests those _facts_, despite what their celebrity lawyer claims…am I correct? See, your second paragraph is correct. However, the first paragraph is a big leap from the second. We don’t know how quickly the wife fell into alcoholism, who in the family knew about it, who suspected about it… and the big piece of added evidence you use is that the family is denying everything involving drugs and alcohol. Because only a disfunctional family would stubbornly defend the memory of a dead member. In short, you are taking a very limited set of data and coming up with the absolute least kind explanation available. That doesn’t strike me as a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/58 "2009-08-07T06:27:22Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > In short, you are taking a very limited set of data and coming up with the absolute least kind explanation available. That doesn’t strike me as a good idea. What’s your theory, then? ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/59 "2009-08-07T06:39:49Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > What’s your theory, then? Do I need one? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410/60 "2009-08-07T07:04:10Z")
I just wanted to add that I have been following this story and it is truly disturbing and tragic. It is extremely hard to believe that those close to her didn’t have a clue that she had a problem. The husband’s denial is almost comedic: From [the article here:](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Grave-Accusations-in-Taconic-Crash-Case-52574122.html) He suggested she had a tooth abscess that caused a brain infection; that she “had a ‘lump’ on her leg that was ‘moving’;” that she had a stroke or a diabetic attack. The attorney said, “Something happened to her brain.” Yeah - 10 shots of vodka happened to her brain! It will be interesting to see what details come out about her life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-ill-just-have-a-few-drinks-smoke-a-few-joints-then-go-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway/505410.md?page=4)