A Horrible Tragedy Turns Disgusting

Today we learned that the woman who drove her minivan the wrong way on a local New York highway, killing 5 children, 3 men, and herself, when she collided head-on with an SUV, was drunk and high.  According to the toxicology report, her BAL was .19, and had enough THC in her system to indicate that she had smoked pot as recently as 15 minutes before the accident.  Since she was near the end of a 4-hour trip, that means she had been drinking and smoking while the kids were in the car.

When I first heard about the accident, in which the driver, her 2-year-old daughter and 3 nieces were killed, along with the 3 men in the SUV, I was sickened by the tragedy of it all.  Four young lives ended.  (Miraculously, the woman’s 5-year-old son survived the crash.)  The driver’s brother, father of the 3 girls, had spoken to her (and to one of his daughters) while they were on the road, and told her to wait, and that he would come and pick them up.  Now his girls are gone.  His babies.  Gone.  Her husband lost his baby girl.  And the families of the 3 men lost loved ones.  For nothing.

It was vary sad.  At first, reports said she had called her bother to tell him she wasn’t feeling well, which is why he offered to pick everyone up.  So, even from the start, it did seem that poor judgment had caused the tragedy.  But still, it was just a very sad story.  Now, with the news of the woman being drunk and stoned, the story has turned disgusting.  As a father, I cannot help but be furious at this woman, who’s husband and brother trusted her with their children, and who then made the selfish decision to drive on, even though she knew (enough to call her brother) that she should not be behind the wheel.  It makes me feel physically sick to think about it.

Perhaps there’s more to this story.  The details are still sketchy.  How did she start out on a 4-hour trip, at 9:30 in the morning, “fine,” as witnesses have reported, and wind up drunk and stoned 4 hours later?  She would have had to guzzle vodka (a bottle of Absolut was found in the car) and smoke up in the middle of the trip.  Why would she do that?  Regardless of the reasons, it’s hard not to judge the woman as selfish and irresponsible beyond belief.  I’m sad for the children.  I’m sad for the parents who’ve lost them.  I’m sad for the families of the other men.  And I’m angry at this woman.

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Note:  I had originally linked to a NY Post article for this story, but decided to use a different source because of the Post’s inappropriate use of wordplay in their title: “CRASH MOM WAS FULLY ‘LOADED’”  Great time to make puns.  How embarassing.