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lawyerlee
04-14-2007, 04:19 AM
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was badly injured Thursday night in an incident that was, oddly enough, related to the big news story of the week - Don Imus. He was on his way to host a meeting between Imus and the Rutgers women's b-ball team when the crash occurred.

New Jersey governor critically injured in motorcade crash (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/13/corzine.crash.ap/index.html)
CNN
CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine was critically injured when his motorcade crashed en route to a meeting between radio personality Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team, a doctor said.

Corzine, 60, suffered numerous broken bones but his injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said. He was recuperating early Friday at Cooper University Hospital in Camden after two hours of surgery to repair a seriously damaged leg and other injuries.

Dr. Robert Ostrum said that Corzine's surgery was successful but noted that the governor would need two more operations on his leg in the coming days.

Doctors also inserted a breathing tube that would remain "for days to weeks, until [Corzine] is able to breathe on his own again," Ostrum said.

Corzine had a broken sternum, a broken collarbone, a slight fracture of his lower vertebrae, a broken left leg, six broken ribs on each side and a laceration on his head, said Dr. Steven Ross, head of trauma for the hospital.

Corzine Facing Severe Hurdles in Intensive Care (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/14/nyregion/14corzine.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin)
NY TImes
By DAVID W. CHEN and DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Published: April 14, 2007

TRENTON, April 13 — Relying on a ventilator to help him breathe, Gov. Jon S. Corzine was in intensive care at a Camden hospital on Friday night as his children and colleagues wrestled with a litany of medical and political uncertainties after a devastating traffic accident in which he was by all accounts not wearing a seat belt.

On the surface, at least, state officials vowed that the business of New Jersey would continue uninterrupted. At a news conference on Friday afternoon in the State House, Senate President Richard J. Codey, who became acting governor Thursday night, appeared with Mr. Corzine’s chief of staff, Tom Shea, and said, “It’s their administration, not mine.”

But medical experts cautioned that Mr. Corzine still faced considerable hurdles and even life-threatening complications in the days ahead, including the possibility of pneumonia and infection. He remained in critical condition and heavily sedated, and doctors said that he is to undergo more operations, one on Saturday and another on Monday.

Unfortunately, it sounds like Corzine failed to wear his seat belt. Please, everyone. Wear your seatbelts. It is so, so, so very important.

Sarah
04-14-2007, 08:39 AM
Imus strikes again!

Just kidding. I am very sorry the Governer is hurt, but they seem to be saying he'll be okay.

kris97
04-14-2007, 09:41 AM
I'm not so sure he's going to be okay. He's still sedated, and faces the possibility of more surgeries on his leg. Frankly, I don't know when, if at all, he'll be able to resume the governorship given his internal injuries.

What throws the importance of the seat belt into even more stark relief: of the two other occupants of the car, who were wearing seat belts, one was released from the hospital yesterday, and the other walked away uninjured other than feeling sore. :(

Ericka_Jarett
04-14-2007, 10:12 AM
Tough road ahead for him to recover fully, they were saying it will take him months and months to be able to walk properly again.

I read this story the other day and thought it was odd for a governor not to wear a seatbelt while in a car with a state trooper, who if it was anyone else would have given you a ticket for not wearing a belt. The governor should have known better, what sort of example does that set for the rest of the state, if the governor doesn't wear a seatbelt.

They are looking for the driver of the pick up that left the scene, but even if that person entered the roadway wrong, it was still the governor's responsibility to be wearing his seatbelt.

Told hubby I would hate to be a democratic governor in NJ (I grew up in NJ) they are always breaking their legs somehow. Whitman in a skiing accident in the Alps and McGreevy broke his doing something don't recall now.

kris97
04-14-2007, 10:20 AM
I agree it was his responsibility to wear a seat belt, but I find the talk of issuing him a citation after the fact (which hasb een reported her) eye-rolling. The guy is paying for his mistake dearly. I think the massive internal and leg injuries are enough punishment without issuing him a ticket.

(also, Christie Whitman was a Republican, though NJ Republicans often lean more to the left than Republicans from other states).

Ericka_Jarett
04-14-2007, 02:57 PM
I was not saying to give him a ticket now, although if it was someone else, you know they would have given a ticket just the same with or without injury, it happens everyday.

Wish him well on recovery and hope that he doesn't end up with long term problems from this. Next time I hope he wears his seatbelt, this is a high price to pay, possibly losing his life due to not following the law.

jnettie
04-15-2007, 09:48 PM
I agree it was his responsibility to wear a seat belt, but I find the talk of issuing him a citation after the fact (which hasb een reported her) eye-rolling. The guy is paying for his mistake dearly. I think the massive internal and leg injuries are enough punishment without issuing him a ticket.

ITA.

Apparently the driver of the pickup that caused the accident has been found. He didn't even know he caused an accident! There have been serious questions on whether he's mentally disabled in some way. He wasn't arrested or fined for anything.

State Police interviewed the driver of a red Ford pickup believed to have set off the chain-reaction crash in which Gov. Jon Corzine was critically injured Thursday night. The 20-year-old man, Kenneth Potts Jr., probably will not be charged with a crime because he was unaware he caused the accident.

Potts was identified by police in Little Egg Harbor, Ocean County, where he lives, after patrolman Tom Maino realized the description of the truck being sent across the Teletype closely matched one belonging to Potts. Friends identified Potts as cook at Harrahs casino in Atlantic City.

Source (http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates/2007/04/sunday_morning_digest_of_gov_c.html#more)

kris97
04-16-2007, 08:10 AM
Sorry, I wasn't clear: I heard on the radio that some people were demanding he be issued a ticket, and that's what I was reacting to, not the prior post.

But I'm not so sure that the police would issue a ticket to a person critically injured in a car crash for not wearing a seat belt. The injured are generally taken away by ambulance right awya, and I can't see a cop either issuing the ticket on the scene and sticking it on the gurney or following the ambulance to the hospital and waiting until surgery's over to hand it to him. For other crimes (DUI, etc.) yes, but not for failure to wear a seat belt.

Sin Nombre
04-19-2007, 01:44 PM
They determined that Corzine's driver (a New Jersey State Trooper) was going 91 mph at the time of the crash. Even for the Garden State Parkway, where drivers typically drive at around 85 mph in a 65 mph zone, that's a bit excessive.

LittleFredPunkinHead
04-19-2007, 01:58 PM
What's Jersey's seatbelt law? Are passengers in the backseat required to wear a seatbelt? Was Corzine sitting in the front or back?

ysolde
04-19-2007, 02:01 PM
Corzine was sitting in the front passenger side, IIRC. Not wearing a seatbelt.

Ericka_Jarett
04-19-2007, 02:29 PM
ysolde is correct.

They said that the trooper may be charged for the accident once they investigate further.