A series of civil lawsuits have been filed by various family members of those killed or injured in an accident two years ago on the Taconic Parkway in New York State. The suits were filed in an attempt to place responsibility on those involved in the incident.

On July 26, 2009, while driving the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway, Diane Schuler crashed her van into an SUV, killing all but one of the passengers in her vehicle, and all three passengers in the SUV.

All told, the incident claimed the lives of Diane Schuler, her three nieces, ages 5, 7 and 8, her two year old daughter, Guy Bastardi, 49, Michael Bastardi Sr., 81, and Daniel Longo, 74. The only survivors were Diane Schuler’s five year old son, and both members of a third vehicle that was struck.

Initially Guy Bastardi’s sister filed a lawsuit against Diane Schuler’s estate for her negligent driving, and against the owner of the van, Diane’s brother, Warren Hance. Now two years later, Shuler’s husband Daniel Schuler has followed suit and right before the two-year statute of limitations expires, filed several lawsuits in a final attempt to place the blame for this accident on someone other than his wife.

He has sued the state of New York for not placing clear enough signs on the exit ramp to the Taconic Parkway, as well as his wife’s brother, Hance, because he was the owner of the van that Diane drove that fateful day and there may have been some mechanical failure with the vehicle that ultimately resulted in the tragedy.

Additionally, Hance and his wife, Jackie, have sued Schuler’s estate for the dangerous driving and fear that driving induced, which resulted in the deaths of their three young children. Longo’s brother, Joseph, has also filed a claim against Schuler’s estate for the wrongful death of his brother.

Initial toxicology reports from the autopsy indicated that Schuler had a blood alcohol content of .19, which is more than twice the legal limit in the state of New York, as well as high levels of marijuana. Daniel Schuler and Schuler’s sister, Jay, contended that she was not a drinker and she would never knowingly place her family at risk.

They spent thousands of dollars on lawyer Dominic Barbara and private investigator Thomas Ruskin to try to help clear her name of responsibility. A wide variety of theories were proposed including low blood sugar due to diabetes, an embolism, a stroke, a brain virus, an abscessed tooth or a migraine.

Eventually, as it came out in the recent documentary There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane, an independent lab retested Schuler’s blood to determine if the first toxicology report was accurate. In addition, the lab matched Schuler’s DNA to the toxicology report and determined once and for all that she really had alcohol and marijuana in her system at the time of the accident.

This was a difficult blow for Daniel, who felt sure that she must have had an abscessed tooth, and she wouldn’t have intentionally drank, especially with children in the vehicle. Daniel handled this new information by supposing that perhaps she self-medicated because she was in immense pain and accidentally drank too much vodka, or that she became delirious and thought the vodka was water.

In any case, there are several facts that cannot be denied. Diane Schuler, for reasons that may never be known, on the day of July 26, 2009 made the decision to ingest a large volume of vodka, later smoked several joints of marijuana, and, with five small children in the car, drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway for 1.7 miles before crashing into Guy Bastardi’s SUV, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals.

Perhaps with these new lawsuits, and the possibility of new information that it can uncover, the families of those involved can find some peace of mind and come to terms with their losses.

Margo Harrison / Shutterstock.com

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On Tuesday (August 9) the rapper was performing at the Bergen Calling event in Norway. The accident occurred when he was singing the song “All of the Lights”, which is featured on his 2010 album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”

According to the music magazine NME, “he took a tumble off one of the sides of the stage”.

A fan caught the incident by video, when the actor fall from stage, and a couple of seconds later he climbed the stage again, to continue with his performance. (Click here to see video)

Kanye is giving a lot to talk about, the past weekend at The Big Chill Festival; the star gave an awkward comment onstage by comparing himself to Adolf Hitler by saying:
“There is so much bullshit going on in the music industry right now. Someone needs to make a difference. People treat me like Hitler”.

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At least 38 people died while more than 200 were injured when two bullet trains collided in Zhejiang province on Sunday. Local television reported that the first train had been forced to stop after losing power due to a lightning strike, when it was rear-ended by another train, causing two carriages to fall off the elevated tracks.

While rescue and disposal efforts were set in motion, the Chinese authorities are facing mounting public anger over what is believed to be a ‘cover-up’ of the reasons for the collision. There has been reports that authorities have attempted to control coverage by ordering journalists not go to the scene, not to investigate causes and urging them instead to report on rescue efforts and blood donation under the banner of ‘great love in the face of great disaster’.

Microbloggers are attacking the overt pressure from propaganda authorities. “We have the right to know the truth!” wrote a web user under the name Kangfu Xiaodingdang. “That’s our basic right!”

Rail minister Sheng Guangzu has apologized for the collision and has launched a two-month nationwide safety review of the high-speed railway network. The government has also proposed compensation to relatives of the victims.

Still, the cause of the crash remains unknown and the reason for this is believed to be the propaganda directives that have muzzled investigation efforts.

“There must be no seeking after the causes [of the accident], rather, statements from authoritative departments must be followed,” read one directive, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. “No calling into doubt, no development [of further issues], no speculation, and no dissemination [of such things] on personal microblogs,” read another.

The development of high-speed railway is seen as a symbol of China’s development, but its prestige is viewed as a symptom of the country’s problem. Microbloggers blame officials for what they believe is a man-made disaster.

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A woman from Melbourne, Australia is recovering in hospital after her car plunged off the edge of the sixth floor of a car park in the city’s CBD.

 Police have still not determined how the safety barrier failed to stop the woman going over the edge.

The woman is in a stable condition in hospital, suffering a cut to the head.

The ABC reports Ambulance crews on the scene as saying the car had managed to drop to the ground and wedge between two buildings, which made it difficult to get access to the driver.

Investigations are continuing.

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