Corzine crash totally preventable
After releasing the police report Tuesday on Gov. Corzine's accident, which stated the SUV he was traveling in was doing 91 mph just prior to the crash, State Police Superintendent Joseph Fuentes announced that a seven-member review panel consisting of six State Police officers and a member of the State Ethics Panel will determine whether the accident should be classified as preventable or non-preventable. Of course it was preventable. See today's editorial for our read on the matter.
In the hours and days after the accident, State Police blamed it on the driver of a red pickup truck. They said he had allegedly been driving erratically on the shoulder of the road, before veering into the right lane of the Parkway, causing another vehicle, a white pickup truck, to run into the governor's car.
But after reading the police report, there is little question that the governor's SUV was responsible for the crash. It was doing 91 mph in the left lane of the Parkway, which is just two lanes where the accident occurred. The white pickup truck had been in the left lane, not the right lane, as originally reported. It had to move into the right lane when it saw the SUV, with its flashing lights, bearing down on it. If the govenor's SUV had been doing the speed limit - or something close to it - the chain of events never would have occurred.
In addition to convening a review panel top-heavy with people who are answerable to the State Police superintendent - whose credibility was severely damaged by his original accounts of the accident - Fuentes has asked Attorney General Stuart Rabner to undertake "a critical review of the practices of our Executive Protection Unit with regard to vehicular transportation of those officials with state troopers as drivers." He shouldn't have to ask. Rabner should have begun his investigation as soon as he sensed that the account of the accident given by the State Police failed to pass the sniff test.
As for the review of the practices of the governor's "Executive Protection Unit" here are three suggestions that should be implemented immediately.
1. The governor and the troopers who accompany him should not be exempt from the laws of this state, including those governing use of seat belts and compliance with motor vehicle laws.
2. Troopers should be expected to adhere to posted speed limits in nonemergency situations.
3. Flashing lights should not be used in police or other emergency vehicles unless there is an emergency or legitimate law enforcement need.
Two final thoughts:
Anyone who provided false information about the circumstances surrounding the Corzine accident should be terminated.
Had it not been for the black box that recorded the speed of Corzine's SUV shortly before the crash, it's doubtful the truth about how fast the car was traveling would have ever been revealed.
In the hours and days after the accident, State Police blamed it on the driver of a red pickup truck. They said he had allegedly been driving erratically on the shoulder of the road, before veering into the right lane of the Parkway, causing another vehicle, a white pickup truck, to run into the governor's car.
But after reading the police report, there is little question that the governor's SUV was responsible for the crash. It was doing 91 mph in the left lane of the Parkway, which is just two lanes where the accident occurred. The white pickup truck had been in the left lane, not the right lane, as originally reported. It had to move into the right lane when it saw the SUV, with its flashing lights, bearing down on it. If the govenor's SUV had been doing the speed limit - or something close to it - the chain of events never would have occurred.
In addition to convening a review panel top-heavy with people who are answerable to the State Police superintendent - whose credibility was severely damaged by his original accounts of the accident - Fuentes has asked Attorney General Stuart Rabner to undertake "a critical review of the practices of our Executive Protection Unit with regard to vehicular transportation of those officials with state troopers as drivers." He shouldn't have to ask. Rabner should have begun his investigation as soon as he sensed that the account of the accident given by the State Police failed to pass the sniff test.
As for the review of the practices of the governor's "Executive Protection Unit" here are three suggestions that should be implemented immediately.
1. The governor and the troopers who accompany him should not be exempt from the laws of this state, including those governing use of seat belts and compliance with motor vehicle laws.
2. Troopers should be expected to adhere to posted speed limits in nonemergency situations.
3. Flashing lights should not be used in police or other emergency vehicles unless there is an emergency or legitimate law enforcement need.
Two final thoughts:
Anyone who provided false information about the circumstances surrounding the Corzine accident should be terminated.
Had it not been for the black box that recorded the speed of Corzine's SUV shortly before the crash, it's doubtful the truth about how fast the car was traveling would have ever been revealed.
posted by Randy Bergmann at 1:05 PM
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