Posted on 04/13/2007 12:09:29 PM PDT by Bluestateredman
CAMDEN, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine was apparently not wearing his seat belt as required by law when his official SUV crashed into a guard rail, leaving the governor hospitalized in critical condition, a spokesman said Friday.
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A state trooper was driving Corzine to a meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team Thursday night when another vehicle, swerving to avoid a pickup truck, hit the governor's SUV and sent it into the guard rail on the Garden State Parkway.
The crash broke the governor's leg, six ribs, his sternum and a vertebra.
Authorities on Friday were still searching for the red pickup truck, which had been "driving erratically," state Police Capt. Al Della Fave said.
Corzine, 60, did not suffer any brain damage in the crash. But he won't be able to resume his duties as governor for several days, if not weeks, and he won't walk normally for months, Dr. Robert Ostrum said performing surgery on the governor Thursday night at Cooper University Hospital.
Friday morning, the hospital's trauma chief, Dr. Steven E. Ross, said Corzine was stable and improving, and that he could be removed from a ventilator within the next few days. Corzine remained heavily sedated because the pain from chest injuries made it difficult to breathe, Ross said.
Senate President Richard Codey became acting governor Thursday evening after getting a fax from Corzine's office saying the governor had been injured.
"He's in serious shape, but he's alive and going to survive. Hopefully, he'll be back to work in a few weeks," Codey said Friday on WNBC-TV.
Corzine was riding in the front passenger's seat of the SUV when a white pickup truck swerved to avoid a red pickup truck that had moved onto the highway from the shoulder, State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said. The white pickup hit the passenger side of the SUV, sending it skidding into a guardrail.
Bobby Juska said he came upon the crash scene shortly afterward and said he saw Corzine's feet hanging out the passenger side window.
"He was screaming, 'My leg! My leg!," Juska said. "He was definitely hurt."
Corzine apparently wasn't wearing his seatbelt, governor's spokesman Anthony Coley said Friday. Seat belts are mandatory for everyone in front seats in New Jersey; the fine for violating the law is $46.
Troopers in a vehicle following Corzine's administered first aid and called for help, and Corzine, the driver, Trooper Robert Rasinski, and a gubernatorial aide were flown by helicopter to the hospital. Rasinski had minor injuries and the aide was fine.
"I believe that Trooper Rasinski should be commended for his valiant attempt to avoid this catastrophe," Fuentes said.
When Corzine arrived at the hospital, doctors said he was conscious but had several injuries: a femur bone broken in two places that had lacerated his skin, a broken sternum, six broken ribs on each side, a head laceration and a minor fracture on a lower vertebra.
Ostrum said a rod was inserted in Corzine's left leg, and additional operations were scheduled for Saturday and Monday. The injuries were not considered life-threatening, but it would be at least three to six months before Corzine could walk normally, he said.
"He's got a pretty significant rehab in front of him," Ostrum said.
The crash occurred around 6 p.m. while Corzine was en route from Atlantic City to the governor's mansion in Princeton to moderate a meeting between the Rutgers women's basketball team and radio personality Don Imus.
Imus was fired from his CBS radio program Thursday amid furor about racially charged comments he made about the team on air. The closed-door meeting went on without Corzine, and lasted for about three hours.
Corzine, a Democrat who gave up his seat in the U.S. Senate to become governor, went into politics after being ousted from Goldman Sachs, where he had been CEO, in a power dispute in 1999. He was elected to the Senate the following year.
The acting governor, Codey, also served as acting governor for about 14 months before Corzine took office last year following former Gov. James McGreevey's resignation over an extramarital affair with a man.
Corzine was the third straight New Jersey governor to break a leg while in office. James E. McGreevey broke his left leg in 2002 during a nighttime walk on the beach, and Christie Whitman broke her right leg while skiing in the Swiss Alps in 1999.
___
Associated Press Writer Angela Delli Santi in Trenton contributed to this report.
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Will he cut a check to New Jersey for the amount of that fine?
Badda Bing...
Does your story involve the words “truckstop” or “bookstore”?
Call the WH Press offcie and ask.
Was he walking on the beach, or walking at a truck stop?
The Kennedys would certainly agree with you. Particularly Teddy, the DUI, vehicular homocide, leaving the scene, obstruction of justice, and perjury guy who got a life sentence in the United States Senate serving the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts.
Hope he’s fined $150-$200 for not clicking it given that politicians have pushed the seatbelt laws to the limit on we consumers.
Payback time for buying the governorship.
"as usual" = corruption, as usual.
“Corzine was the third straight New Jersey governor to break a leg while in office.”
HMMM is right! Maybe they should give up politics for the stage!
Red pick up, red pick up....guess the prime suspects are Fred Thompson and Janet Reno.
Corzine didn't suffer any burns, so that rules out Reno.
Corzine is ABOVE the LITTLE PEOPLE and the LAW.
“Corzine, a Democrat who gave up his seat in the U.S. Senate to become governor, went into politics after being ousted from Goldman Sachs, where he had been CEO, in a power dispute in 1999.”
The honest to God truth is he was “ousted” because he IS a shyster and BLACK BALLED on Wall Street. NO ONE would hire him because of that - and THAT is the truth. He is a SCUM BAG.
That one is just too easy ;)
I would bet you dollars to donuts that President Bush does not wear his seatbelt when he is being chauffeured around.
According to Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), fatalities per 100 Million, went down from 2.4 in 1987 (pre seat belt law) to only 1.47 in 2005. I would have expected a bigger drop considering the number of states with Seat Belt laws.
Well, there was a state trooper IN THE CAR, and probably a blinking “passenger not wearing seat belt” light flashing at him all during the trip.
So first of all, he obviously didn’t do everything he could to avoid the tragedy, he could have done what I do whenever there’s a person in my car — looked at him and said “this car’s not going anywhere until that stupid blinking light is off”.
Second, who gets the fine if you are in a car without a seat belt? I think it’s the driver, not the passenger. If so, the DRIVER (the state trooper) is at fault, and should get the ticket.
The other thing that seemed contradictory or at least unclear from the article was about the red truck. First, they said the “red truck was driving irradictally”.
Then they said it pulled onto the road from the shoulder.
I suppose this could mean that the red truck had driven onto the shoulder and then swerved back, but if so I would think they would say that. Instead, it sounds like it was parked on the shoulder, and then started up and pulled into the road.
In which case how would another driver at the scene know it was “driving iractically” (I wish I could remember how to spell that now).
I’m betting he’s not in the front seat.
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