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The 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash was a traffic collision that occurred shortly after on Sunday, July 26, 2009, on the Taconic State Parkway in the town of Mount Pleasant, near the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York. Eight people were killed when a minivan driven by 36-year-old Diane Schuler, after traveling 1.7 miles in the wrong direction on the parkway, collided head-on with an oncoming SUV. The deaths included Schuler, her daughter and three nieces, and the three passengers in the SUV. The crash was the worst fatal motor vehicle accident to occur in Westchester County, New York, since July 22, 1934, when a bus accident in Ossining claimed 20 lives.〔Ali, A., ("4 Kids, 4 Adults Die on Taconic )," ''The Journal News'' (Lower Hudson), July 26, 2009.〕 The ensuing investigation into the crash's cause received nationwide attention. Toxicology tests conducted by the medical examiner revealed that Schuler was heavily intoxicated with both alcohol and marijuana at the time of the crash. Schuler's husband, Daniel, has consistently denied that she used drugs or alcohol excessively, and has made multiple media appearances to defend his wife and call for further investigation into other possible medical causes for her erratic driving. An independent investigator hired by the Schuler family obtained DNA testing and toxicology testing of Diane Schuler's samples, which confirmed the results of the original testing.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Interview with Tom Ruskin )〕 ==Day of incident== At approximately on Sunday, July 26, 2009, 36-year-old Diane Schuler left the Hunter Lake Campground in Parksville, New York, in a red 2003 Ford Windstar. Riding with Schuler were her 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter, and her brother's three daughters (ages 8, 7, and 5). Her husband, Daniel Schuler, left the campground at the same time in a separate vehicle.〔("Crash Mom Was Fully 'Loaded'" ), ''New York Post'', August 5, 2009.〕〔(NY Police: Woman Was OK at Restaurant Before Crash ), WCBS, Aug 7, 2009.〕〔Fitz-Gibbon J, Bandler J., ("A Week after the Crash, Questions Remain )," ''The Journal News'' (Lower Hudson), August 3, 2009.〕 A co-owner of the campground later said that Diane Schuler appeared sober when she departed.〔Gendar, A., Chapman, B., Goldsmith, S.,(Driver in deadly Taconic crash Diane Schuler was drunk, had marijuana in system ), New York Daily News, August 4, 2009.〕〔("Taconic-Crash Mom Drunk, High, Tests Reveal )," ''Times Herald-Record'', August 5, 2009.〕 On the way to West Babylon, New York, Schuler stopped at a McDonald's fast-food restaurant and a gas station in Liberty, New York. While at the gas station, she attempted to buy over-the-counter pain-relief medication, but the store did not sell any.〔("Private Eye: Wrong-Way Driver Stopped at NY Store )," ''Associated Press'', August 14, 2009.〕〔Lam, C., (Schuler's husband meets again with State Police ), New York Newsday, August 14, 2009.〕 Schuler left Liberty just after , traveling along Route 17/Interstate 86 and the New York Thruway (Interstate 87), entering the Ramapo service area, and crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge, heading east.〔 Witnesses later reported seeing a red minivan driving aggressively on Route 17/Interstate 86 and Interstate 87, including aggressively tailgating, flashing headlights, honking the horn, and straddling two lanes.〔 At , Schuler called Warren Hance, her brother and the father of the three nieces in Schuler's car. She reportedly told him that they were being delayed by traffic.〔Baker, A., and Kovaleski, S., ("Alcohol and Phone-Call Details in Wrong-Way Crash )," ''The New York Times'', August 8, 2009.〕 According to a police report, Schuler was seen at approximately by the side of the road with her hands on her knees, as if vomiting; she was seen again in the same position a short time later, north of the Ramapo rest stop.〔Crowley, Kieran. ("Taconic ma twice car sick." ) New York Post, 2009-11-09.〕 At about , another call was made to Hance from Schuler's cell phone. During this call, one of Schuler's nieces reportedly told her father that Schuler was having trouble seeing and speaking clearly. Schuler herself then talked to Hance and said that she was disoriented and couldn't see clearly. Police believe that the car was stopped in a pull-off area beyond the Tappan Zee Bridge tollbooths for at least part of this call. Hance reportedly told Schuler to stay off the road while he came to meet them; follow-up calls from Hance to Schuler were not answered.〔〔〔Cohen S, and Bandler J, ("Driver Spoke on Phone with Brother 25 Minutes Before Fatal Crash )," ''The Journal News'' (Lower Hudson), July 30, 2009.〕〔Baker, A., ("Investigators Reconstruct a Route That Led to 8 Deaths )," ''The New York Times'', August 2, 2009.〕 A motorist later found Schuler's cell phone by the side of the road near the toll lanes of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Investigators were trying to determine how (and why) Schuler got from the Tappan Zee Bridge to the Taconic State Parkway ramps near Briarcliff Manor, which is where the next information in this timeline comes from. At , two drivers called 911 after noticing Schuler's van edging onto the northbound exit ramp of the Taconic State Parkway near Briarcliff Manor, New York. The end of the exit ramp (), at the intersection with Pleasantville Road, is marked with two signs that read ''Do Not Enter'' and two signs that read ''One Way''.〔Foderado, L.W., Schweber, N.,("Bad Omens, a Fateful Turn, and 8 Lives Lost )," ''The New York Times'', July 28, 2009.〕 The exit ramp itself is unmarked.〔Marchant, R., ("Wrong-way Turn onto Taconic Puzzles Many )," ''The Journal News'' (Lower Hudson), July 28, 2009 (Video).〕 Within the next minute, four more 911 calls were placed by motorists who reported that a car was traveling the wrong way down the parkway. Schuler's van traveled south for 1.7 miles in the parkway's northbound passing lane before colliding head-on, at approximately , with a 2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, which then struck a 2002 Chevrolet Tracker. Schuler, her daughter, and two of her nieces were dead at the scene of the crash, along with the three men in the TrailBlazer: 81-year-old Michael Bastardi, his 49-year-old son Guy, and their friend, 74-year-old Dan Longo. The two occupants of the Tracker suffered only minor injuries. Schuler's severely injured third niece and Schuler's 5-year-old son Bryan were taken to area hospitals, where the niece died later that day.〔〔Gorman, S., ("Child's Helpless Eyes Haunt Ossining Firefighter )," ''The Journal News'' (Lower Hudson), August 10, 2009.〕 Bryan is the sole passenger of Schuler's vehicle to survive, suffering from broken bones and severe head trauma. He remained hospitalized before returning home in early October.〔Lysiak, Matthew and Gaskell, Stephanie. ("Sole Survivor of Taconic Parkway Crash, 5-Year-Old Bryan Schuler, is Home from Hospital )." ''New York Daily News'', 2009-10-08.〕 According to reports issued after the accident, a broken bottle of vodka was found inside the wreckage of her minivan. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2009 Taconic State Parkway crash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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