Family Feuds·
CRASHING INTO CUSTODY
A bitter divorce feud centers on a mother's dangerous driving, escalating custody disputes and a chilling sequence of crashes that threatens the kids and reshapes a family.
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A woman kept crashing her car, and her husband decided he could not wait for the next one to kill one of their children.
He says this was never just about a single accident. His wife, he wrote, had a long history of bad driving and a suspended license, though not for DUI. She distracted herself behind the wheel, sometimes reaching into the back seat instead of pulling over. He had already told her the line was simple: he did not care how she drove when she was alone or with her own kids, but if he or their children were in the car, she had to keep her eyes on the road and her hands on the wheel.
Then came the crash that made the argument impossible to ignore.
In August of the previous year, he said, she took her foot off the brake at a red light to pick up his son's soother. All four children were in the car. Only she was injured. After that, he says, he warned her plainly that if she kept doing "stupid shit while driving," their relationship would be over. He also began changing his own routines to reduce the risk: he drove as much as he could, stopped drinking when they went out, traded his car for an SUV, and even offered to pay for Uber.
He says the warnings got sharper. He told her he would make it part of any divorce that she not be allowed to drive with his kids in the car. He wrote, "I have had it." "My children have to be safe." "I am sick to death of her driving habits and I will not wait for her to injure or kill one of our kids with her bullshit."
Her family and ex reportedly backed him. Her ex said he would go for full custody or seek to bar her from driving with his kids in the car. Her parents threatened to stop helping with her insurance premiums.
Then, on May 14, 2024, he says it happened again. Another single-vehicle accident. This time she was seriously injured. He went to the hospital, then straight to a lawyer. He says he moved for full custody, with only supervised visitation for her. "I feel bad for doing this while she is in the hospital and facing charges," he wrote. "But I can't take any more chances on her."
A later update, posted in 2025, brought more of the same, only worse. He said his ex "must have had ADHD or something," describing a canal crash after she failed to put the car in park. He and her ex went for full custody, and part of the divorce settlement barred her from driving the children anywhere.
Then came the final turn. He said she got a dog, and later died after drifting into oncoming traffic when she turned to look at the dog making puke noises in the back seat. "My kids lost their mom," he wrote. "Their older siblings lost their mom. I lost a co-parent I still cared about."