South Florida Personal Injury Blog

A car accident in New York garnered national news in recent days, says Broward accident lawyer Andrew Alitowski. Diane Schuler was driving her car with several children inside when, according to law enforcement authorities, she plowed into another vehicle – while driving the wrong way. Schuler was killed in the accident, as were the other three adults in the vehicle she hit. Schuler’s daughter and three nieces, who were riding in her minivan, were killed in the accident, as well. Fort Lauderdale injury attorney Alitowski says that of the passengers in Schuler’s vehicle, her son was the sole survivor. In total, eight people were killed in the accident.

A very public police investigation concluded that Schuler was operating her vehicle while she was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana (DUI). Recently release toxicology reports show that Schuler’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.19 percent, far higher than the “legal limit” of 0.08 percent level at which the law presumes a driver is impaired. The tests also showed that she had marijuana in her system, although Broward accident lawyer Alitowski says it is unclear whether there is evidence that Schuler was under the influence of marijuana at the time the accident occurred (as opposed to evidence that traces remained in her system from smoking or ingesting the substance days or weeks prior to the deadly accident).

At this point in time, family members of the occupants of the vehicle that Schuler’s collided with are planning a personal injury lawsuit. They are likely to sue her estate to recover compensatory damages for their relatives’ deaths. This scenario is fairly common in cases like these, in which one person’s gross negligence or even criminal behavior causes the death of another individual.

Meanwhile, Schuler’s husband, Daniel Schuler, has maintained that there is something else wrong. He even contests that toxicology report, saying that he had never during the time he knew her seen her intoxicated. Her sister backed that claim. Law enforcement officials, however, allegedly found a broken vodka bottle in the backseat of the vehicle, which could have been the source of the 0.19 percent BAC – if her family’s claims are correct. They contend that others present at the picnic Schuler was returning from with her children did not see her consume any alcohol at all. Schuler’s family may seek another autopsy to rebut the claim that Diane Schuler was heavily intoxicated at the time of the accident and to fend of wrongful death lawsuits. Daniel Schuler’s attorney has publicly speculated that Diane, who had health problems including diabetes, had a stroke while driving.