Click it or Ticket it
Posted on 06/21/2007 10:45:40 AM PDT by Calpernia
TRENTON, N.J. -- A team investigating the crash that seriously injured Gov. Jon S. Corzine has determined that the state trooper at the wheel could have prevented the April 12 accident, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported.
Citing an anonymous state law enforcement source, The Star-Ledger said State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes has received the conclusions of the State Police Motor Vehicle Accident and Vehicular Pursuit Review Board.
Fuentes is expected to issue a response to the finding this afternoon, according to the newspaper, which said the official did not want to be named so as not to upstage the announcement.
Corzine was critically injured in a crash on April 12 when his trooper-driven SUV slammed into a guard rail on the Garden State Parkway near Atlantic City.
The governor broke 15 bones and spent eight days on a ventilator; he is undergoing extensive rehab on a badly broken femur and returned to the Statehouse for the first time last month.
A black box recorder showed the SUV to be traveling at 91 mph seconds before the crash. Corzine, who was riding in the front passenger's seat, was not wearing a seat belt.
On the day of the accident, Corzine's driver had been on the road with the governor for about 12 hours, according to state police. Trooper Robert Rasinski logged more than 300 miles while driving the governor to Pennsylvania for an FBI agent's funeral and to Atlantic City for a speech.
The day after the crash, Fuentes praised the trooper for his driving acumen, saying Rasinski tried to correct it but couldn't avoid the guardrail.
"I believe that Trooper Rasinski should be commended for his valiant attempt to avoid this catastrophe,'' Fuentes said.
Less than a week after making that statement, Fuentes softened his praise. He said Rasinski could be charged if the state police Motor Vehicular Pursuit Review Board determined the crash was preventable.
Click it or Ticket Folks!
Rule #1 in elitist politics: Always blame a peon!
[sarcasm] I’m sure that Corzine was saying to his driver, before the accident, “Please slow down.” [/sarcasm]
If Johnny Boy could forgive a huge loan to his girlfriend, I am sure he could forgive/pardon his driver.
he and bloomberg would make a great pair, they both know what’s good for the shepeople and love to force their views upon us through legislation.
What do you bet Corzine was behind the seatbelt law. I haven’t heard yet if he got a ticket, anyone know?
He got a ticket. There was rumor that the check got misrouted or not cashed.
The click it or ticket is rumored to be a part of a planned slow down.
The afternoon local radio station got a hold of a police forum which was planning a state wide enforcement of sorts.
There is a lot of petty nonesense of the specific wording being used; but Click it and Ticket is sure as heck slowing everyone down.
http://www.nj1015.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=7058&z=1
Review Panel: Governor Crash Preventable
The April crash on the Garden State Parkway that nearly took the life of Governor Jon Corzine could have been prevented and the Trooper behind the wheel of the Governor’s SUV did violate departmental regulations. That does not mean Trooper Robert Rasinski caused the crash. These are the findings of the State Police Motor Vehicle Accident and Pursuit Review Board. Although the violations are not being specified.
State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes has signed off on the findings in a letter sent to State Attorney General Stu Rabner that was released yesterday, he recommends that Rasinski be suspended for up to five days although the Trooper remains with the elite Executive Protection Unit which protects the Governor.
In his letter Fuentes writes, “I must conclude that Trooper Rasinski’s pre-crash driving
conduct was culpably inefficient and in violation of the division’s rules and regulations.” One aspect of the probe focused on whether Rasinski had been distracted at the time of the crash by e-mails or text messages he may have received. The panel finds Rasinski was not using a Blackberry or cell phone and that electronic communication had no role in the accident. “If substantiated, such behavior would conflict with EPU policy and training,” Fuentes says, “Extensive inquiry into this issue” — including interviews with the governor — “disclosed that no such activity took place.”
Governor Jon Corzine says he spoke Rasinski and reiterated his personal gratitude, and the gratitude of his family, for the way he controlled the SUV on April 12. He says, “I have confidence in Rob and would expect him to remain in the Executive Protection Unit…..this has been a regrettable and painful experience for all involved, and no one is more aware of that than I. A lot of mistakes were made on April 12; chief among them was my failure to wear a seatbelt.”
The Trooper union calls Rasinski actions after the Governor’s SUV was hit by another vehicle, “heroic,” and says the accident review board holds troopers to a higher standard by assuming they can prevent accidents and that the board deems most trooper accidents preventable, but is not blaming Rasinski for the crash.
Corzine was critically injured in the accident. He broke 15 bones and spent eight days on a ventilator; he continues to undergo extensive rehab on a badly broken femur and returned to the Statehouse for the first time just last month. A black box recorder showed the SUV to be traveling at 91 mph seconds before the crash. Corzine, who was riding in the front passenger’s seat, was not wearing a seat belt.
By: Kevin McArdle
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