Jackie Hance has filed a lawsuit against the estate of her sister-in-law, saying her three daughters knew they were going to die when a drunk Diane drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway on July 26 2009.

What a shame. First Diane Schuler‘s husband Daniel Schuler sues his brother-in-law Warren Hance and New York State, and now we learn that Warren’s wife Jackie Hance filed a lawsuit against the Schuler estate last week, for the “extreme horror” her three daughters, Emma, 8, Alyson, 7, and Kate, 5, suffered before the crash that killed them.

All this coincides with the two-year anniversary of that devastating day and the July 25 release of the HBO Documentary, There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane, based on the crash.

The New York Post reports that according to Jackie Hance‘s suit, her daughters, “suffered . . . terror, fear of impending death, extreme horror, fright, [and] mental anguish.” During those final moments, Emma Hance made a desperate phone call to her father, telling him: “There’s something wrong with Aunt Diane,” heartbreaking words that became the title of a film the Hances never wanted made.

The family’s lawyer, Kenneth Pryor, wouldn’t say how much money Jackie and Warren, who are expecting their fourth child, were seeking, but noted to the Post that the suit was filed in state Supreme Court in Suffolk because lower courts limit awards to $25,000.

A terrible tragedy that seems to be never-ending. We hope this family can come to terms with their grief and realize that all this back and forth won’t get them anywhere in the end — or bring back their loved ones.

–Leigh Blickley

Daniel Schuler is also suing New York state on the two-year anniversary of the devastating car accident.

Last night, HBO aired the documentary, There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane, based on the tragic story of Diane Schuler, who drunkenly drove the wrong way down New York’s Taconic State Parkway on July 26, 2009, slamming head on into another vehicle, killing eight people, including her 2-year-old daughter, three nieces and herself. Now, her husband Daniel Schuler is trying desperately to clear her name.

On the two year anniversary of the crash, one of the worst in New York’s history, Mr. Schuler says he is suing the state and his brother-in-law Warren Hance, whose three daughters, Emma, 8, Alyson, 7, and Katie, 5, were victims.

According to the New York Post, he claims the Taconic highway was badly designed and inadequately sign-posted, which led his wife Diane Schuler to drive the wrong way into traffic. Mr. Schuler also claims that the Ford Windstar minivan the family had borrowed from Diane’s brother Warren Hance, was faulty.

But, toxicology reports at the time of the accident revealed Diane’s blood-alcohol level to be 0.19 — the equivalent of 10 drinks — and discovered considerable levels of THC in her system from smoking marijuana.

“It’s a terrible tragedy,” Tom Ruskin, who was hired by the Schulers to investigate the accident, tells the Post. “His wife was drunk and high at the time of the accident that killed seven innocent people. You don’t keep suing people…If she was alive today, Diane would likely be in jail.”

The documentary, directed by Liz Garbus, tried to uncover the psycholigical puzzle surrounding the accident and Diane Schuler, who was known by close friends and family to be a devoted mother, wife, employee and friend who would NEVER do such a thing as drink and drive, especially with five kids in the car, two being her own. Even her sister-in-law Jackie Hance admits that Diane was “the most responsible person I knew.”

The lone survivor of the accident was Diane and Daniel’s now 7-year-old son Bryan, who was diagnosed with ocular nerve palsy after the fatal accident. He remembers nothing except, “Mommy’s head hurt. She couldn’t see” and, “I flew out of the car like superman.”

There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane will air on HBO through Aug. 24. I’ve seen it and so should you.

–Leigh Blickley