Tragedy on the Taconic | The Diane Schuler Wrong-Way Crash

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(12:24) - Madeline Kingsbury Update
(13:43) - Diane Schuler

In 2009, Diane Schuler was returning to her New York home after a camping trip with five young children in the minivan she was driving - her two children and three nieces.

She took the kids to McDonalds for breakfast and witnesses said the family seemed fine and nothing was amiss. Diane made another stop at a gas station looking for a specific over-the-counter pain medication, but the store didn't carry it.

After this, Diane pulled over multiple times and was seen hunched over appearing sick outside of the vehicle. One of her nieces called their father and said, ‘There’s something wrong with Aunt Diane.’ 

Family members told Diane to stay where she was, but Diane continued the drive regardless. She drove the wrong way onto the busy Taconic State Parkway and struck another vehicle head-on at a high rate of speed. 

The crash became known as the worst fatal motor vehicle accident in Westchester County. 8 people were killed, including Diane, her daughter and all of her nieces.

An empty bottle of vodka was found in the wreckage of the vehicle and Diane’s BAC was reported to be 0.19%. She also had high levels of THC in her system and was suspected to have smoked marijuana as recently as 15 minutes prior to the collision.

Diane’s husband remains adamant that driving under the influence is not what caused the accident and believes Diane suffered a medical emergency.


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