Posted on 04/13/2007 9:55:13 AM PDT by libertarianPA
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.
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 vertebrae. Authorities were searching for the pickup truck driver blamed for causing it.
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. The red pickup left the scene.
Fuentes said it was unclear whether the governor was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash, but Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said Friday that it appeared he was not.
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. Corzine, Trooper Robert Rasinski and a gubernatorial aide were flown by helicopter to the hospital. Rasinski had minor injuries and the aide was fine.
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 vertebrae.
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.
Those pesky laws are only for the little people anyway.
where did he have it inserted into.....
Say what?
jw
Man, I dislike the guy intensely but I hope he is OK. Sounds like he got banged up pretty good.
I’ll never understand why people refuse to wear their seat belts. I had two friends who aren’t here anymore because they weren’t wearing seat belts.
So is the inconvienence of a universal health care system.
Yeah right. Who breaks their leg by just walking. More like he probably got beat up by some guy he tried to hit on.
On the other hand those pesky laws of physics aren’t so discriminatory.
He was on the way to a meeting between Don Imus and the Basketball team.
No doubt to pile on against Imus and show his concern for minority rights.
Imus claims another victim :) Sounds like some of the gov’s injuries could come from an air bag if he was unrestrained at the time. After all, he was in the front seat and I’m sure it wasn’t an old enough vehicle not to have passenger-side air bags.
The rich, famous, and powerful believe that the laws of physics don’t apply to them.
Princess Diana is not here anymore for the same reason. However Barbara Mandrell is because she wore hers.
Corzine, 60, did not suffer any brain damage in the crash.
Well then, when exactly did it happen?
ROFL.
Mr G had an accident (while wearing his seat belt) and broke his sternum. He was OK after the accident, however, deep bruises show up days later and he ended up in the hospital with internal problems.... bruised lungs and heart. I expect the Gov. has some rougher days ahead of him.
This smells Bad!!!....Hillary+Imus=?????fill in the words!!!..
He wasn’t wearing a seat belt - against the law but typical of the nanny state mentality of laws are for the peasants.
He was driving a humongous gas guzzling Chevy Tahoe SUV - and would be dead if he was not in it. But the liberal “Global Warming” elite crowd doesn’t seem to mind...
So really we could say that Al Sharpton caused this accident. But that wouldn’t be PC.
Exacty. The elite who govern us have no need of the laws they pass for the rest of us.
Now note that it was a trooper that was driving. In NJ law, it’s the driver’s responsibility to ensure the front seat passenger is wearing a seat belt. But the troopers don’t enforce the law with our corrupt governors.
The previous governor should have been arrested for lewdness in a public bathroom and made a spectacle of al-la George Michael. Instead, McGreevey got a police escort to the rest-stop toilet of his choice so he could engage in acts that are illegal in public no matter hetero or homo.
Quite frankly I’m disappointed in the NJ State Police. I know some and they are professional and for the most part friendly. However, I’m tired of the double standard the state police give to the politicians. Yes I know they influence your work conditions from the macro level to the micro level but can we get a whisle blower every now and then please?
I'm willing to bet that the state trooper was also driving 20 to 30 mph over the speed limit.
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