The woman who died in a head-on crash into an sport-utility vehicle while driving a minivan the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester County last week — killing her daughter, three nieces and three men in the S.U.V. — was drunk and had marijuana in her system, officials said Tuesday.I can hear the interviews with friends and family members now, about how kind and generous and loving this selfish bitch was.
The woman, Diane Schuler, 36, of West Babylon, N.Y., had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, Maj. William T. Carey, a troop commander with the New York State Police, said at an afternoon news conference. In addition, a 1.75-liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in the minivan, he said...
I'm not interested in anyone's whiny excuses, like "I'm a good drunk driver" or "I wasn't that drunk" or "I only had one drink" or "I didn't know what I was doing" or especially "Someone should have stopped me". You can go ahead and fuck yourself up if you want to &mdash and when you do, shut up whining about it, you made your choice. In fact, take yourself out of the gene pool and get it over with. But under no circumstances do you have the right to screw up or kill anyone else because you made a selfish and thoughtless decision. Either find a friend who is willing to stay sober and be responsible for your selfish ignorant ass, or take a cab/a bus/public transportation/walk, or stay home.
You can't help but be heartbroken for the three men in the SUV who this cow* hit head-on, or the young children who hopefully died quickly and didn't know what happened. Imagine how her poor son is going to feel once he's old enough to know what happened. As for Ms. Schuler, the only good that comes out of a tragedy like this is that she is dead and won't be killing or maiming anyone else, or ruining another family's lives.
*My sincere apologies to all bovines.
6 comments:
Intervention.
The follow-up articles say the family didn't have a clue. Wow.
You really got your rant on there wabbit. I see folks who are totally straight that drive like assholes.... and shouldn't be on the road. But, they keep driving away, swaying to and fro.
The person on cold med's, the cop who's on the phone or looking at his computer on the dash, the tailgater, the speeder, the snail, backing up without looking, the talker, the tight grip on the wheeler, the woman with highheels, the teen with flipflops, the make-up afixer, texting, the guy with the beer, the convertable blowing hair in eyes, no rearview mirror, the tire with low air, the bee in the car, the cig ash in the lap, the ketchup drip on the shirt, the angry driver, the stoned driver, the dirty windshield, the no headlights, the I'm cool, the nervous, the never use a blinker. We could make a huge list i'm sure.
All have caused deaths on the road. All are careless acts in a car. It's the wild west out there on the road these days.
Lead by example folks, show care while on the roadways, in a machine that can kill.
Oh yeah, they never have a clue.
Sorry about the rant, it's just that when someone is going to be driving, that should be their focus.
Agreed with all the other distractions and problems for drivers. I know of two people who dropped cigarettes and let go of the steering wheel, diving down beneath the dash to retrieve them. I was a passenger in one of those two cars - never let her drive me anywhere again.
Add to your list people who are tired. I saw a study a few years ago that said a lot of collisions attributed to alcohol years ago, before on-site breathalizers, were really caused by people who fell asleep behind the wheel.
I drove into Boston yesterday and kept an eagle eye on the cars around me. I bet at least half of the drivers were on their cellphones. I want to wring their necks. But not while I'm driving.
And lest anyone think I've never made this mistake, the reason I am so vehement about it is because I have. I still get upset thinking about the time I made you drive home from a party, without your glasses. I don't think you even had your license yet. I think about doing that to you, putting you in that position, and I want to bitchslap myself.
Actually, I've been bitchslapping myself about that ever since, but that episode, learned when I was 17 years old, is why I feel about this the way I do. We were very lucky that night, but I count that as my one pass and don't expect to ever have that kind of luck again.
wabbit,
although you have told me this on several occasions, that it bothered you, putting it out on the blog is what I hope will let you.... let it go... At the time, we giggled in the car, I mean I was really using you as a co-pilot to let me know (since there were no yellow lines, white lines or ANY LINES, on the road) if I was driving Okay.... we got home... I got a really small car MGBGT as my first car after that as you remember. It was a good move for me... the back roads weren't busy as they are today... we both were okay,,, and we could have stayed the night at the party but we both were too nervous to hang with the group and just wanted to get home.. You had a great time as I remember,, and I wasn't drinking but was vain and not wearing contacts or glasses because of that thinking you'd be driving, so I could "get home" so to speak. We did get home wabbit, did you throw up? I can't remember... I doubt it.. Anyway,, we were lucky that night for sure and I felt finally like I was needed and was grateful to be of service. I idolized being you sister and would have drove you to heaven or hell if you asked me to.
Thankfully, it was just "home".
On a side note... of truth.
My husband drove home after drinking alot tonight...
Am I pissed at him......
I could show him his maker...
Nuff said.
I did have a good time, which wasn't always the case. I never was very social, and I've only gotten less so as I've aged. But booze doesn't make me social either, it just makes me stupid.
I never did throw up - probably would have felt better if I had. I remember having to work at Beaconway the next morning and I felt like crap. The hangover alone might have cured me.
But I don't want to let go of that feeling of guilt. I should feel guilty about doing that. I knew I could count on you to get us home, you've always been an excellent driver, but I should have been responsible and not gotten wasted, and I certainly never should have put you in that position. That guilt, the acceptance of my failure to be responsible when you were counting on me, is what has kept me from ever repeating that behavior.
The bright spot, of course, was YOU. You got us home with very little help from me. I'm not sure we'd be so lucky today, what with the traffic and all, but I've always been thankful that you were willing to stand up and be there for me that night.
Post a Comment