Rumors that New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was not wearing a seatbelt during last night’s crash that left him critically injured have been confirmed.
Today’s NY Times originally reported that Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, superintendent of the NJ State Police said last night that (my emphasis):
“he was unsure whether Mr. Corzine was wearing a seatbelt; he often does notâ€ÂÂ
But a more recent NY Daily News piece reports that a spokesman for the Governor now says that it “didn’t appear†he was wearing a seatbelt.
As NJ Law clearly mandates all frontseat occupants of passenger vehicles to be restrained, it would follow that Corzine’s injuries would have been much less severe had the highest level executive of the state been following the laws of that same state. Are you listening, kids?
Thankfully, although he was sitting in the passenger seat, he’s expected to make a full recovery after completing extensive rehab.
Ironically, at the time of the accident, the governor — a member of the not-too-exclusive club of Imus show guest alumni who were “shocked†by his recent words — was en route to his mansion to “attend†the Imus-Rutgers peace-pipe pow-wow.
Based on the comments he made last night, one can’t help wondering just how long the state’s highest ranking police official may have been laughing along with the Governor’s improvident behavior.
