Speed

So, a report on the Corzine accident notes that speed wasn't a factor in the accident that badly injured New Jersey governor Jon Corzine despite the fact that the SUV that Gov. Corzine was being chauffeured in by State Trooper Robert Rasinski was doing 91 mph in a 65 mph zone.

Right.

Speed wasn't a factor?

The trooper who was driving Gov. Jon Corzine during a serious accident Thursday night was speeding at 91 miles per hour, a report released moments ago concludes. The speed limit for that section of the Garden State Parkway was 65 miles per hour.

State Trooper Robert Rasinski was driving the Chevrolet Suburban transporting the governor on the Garden State Parkway in Galloway Township on Thursday night. He swerved to avoid another car and crashed into a median guardrail. The report released today said the speed was 91 miles per hour about five seconds before impact with the guard rail. The speed at the time of impact was about 30 miles per hour. State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes has asked the State Polices Motor Vehicle Accident and Vehicular Pursuit Review board to look over the report. Attorney General Stuart Rabner has appointed a member of the state ethics commission to also be a member of that review board.

I'm well aware that cars routinely go faster than the speed limit on the GSP, and that more than a few cars will do 80 and above, but what is the excuse for going 91 mph other than the fact that they could do it. Saying that the speed had nothing to do with the incident doesn't make sense from an empirical standpoint either.

Consider that a car going 65 mph will cover a given distance in a period of time. Going 91 means you're covering even more distance in that same period of time. That means that the drivers around you have less time to react. The driver of Corzine's vehicle has less time to react to the situation around him. Corzine's vehicle was quickly approaching and overtaking the vehicles involved in the accident and one driver misjudged the situation.

Corzine's vehicle hit the barrier at around 30 mph. That's quite a wallop.

If a regular citizen was doing 91 mph, they'd be issued a bevy of citations and fined heavily. If they were driving without a seat belt, they'd be hammered with yet more fines. Gov. Corzine, being driven by a state trooper, was not only speeding, but driving without a seat belt. The law needs to be applied equally to regular folks but politicians as well.

And yet the speeding doesn't entirely bother me; the failure to wear a seat belt does. It's such a simple step to do and it saves lives. The failure to wear one almost cost Corzine his and that's despite the fact he was trying to enact even more stringent laws on the books.

That doesn't mean that you should pile on the state trooper either. He was probably under pressure to get Gov. Corzine back to the governor's mansion in Princeton and Corzine regularly ignored the seat belt law. The report also indicated that the officer was operating within the rules for the security detail. Perhaps the rules need to be adjusted, though the report includes the following new details that show that Rasinski did an amazing job once the accident began developing in earnest:

Steven Jones, president of the State Trooper Fraternal Association, said members of the security detail — just like their counterparts in the Secret Service, State Department and Department of Justice — “have a job and obligation not to be boxed in or have anybody in front of them.”

“He did an heroic and amazing job,” Jones said of Rasinski. “He turned that vehicle into that guard rail at his side in order to save the life of the governor, and that is not in dispute.”

The driver’s-side curtain airbag deployed, Fuentes said, and the guard rail penetrated the front driver’s side wheel well and ripped through the front floorboard.

Rasinski, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered cuts to his head and an ankle injury, Fuentes said. He remains on medical leave, and must be cleared by a state police doctor to return to duty.

Samantha Gordon, an aide traveling in the rear, also was not wearing a seat belt. Initially, investigators said she was not hurt, but a state police statement Tuesday said she had suffered injuries. Fuentes did not elaborate.

Curious about the injuries to Gordon, along with the revelation that she too wasn't wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.