April 19, 2007

Hypocrisy? Arrogance? Stupidity? All of the above?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jim @ 9:44 pm

I continue to wish Governor Corzine a full and speedy recovery from the injuries he suffered when the SUV in which he was riding was involved in an accident on the Garden State Parkway.

Once he’s back on his feet, I hope he explains to the citizens of New Jersey why seatbelt laws and speed limits apply to us but not to him.

After the accident, the explanation offered by the police was that a reckless driver caused the accident by veering onto the Parkway from the shoulder, causing a second car to swerve into the path of the Governor’s SUV. The police then revealed that, at the time of the accident, the Governor was not wearing a seatbelt, which constitutes a violation of New Jersey law.

Now, the police have added significant new details to the description of the accident. It seems that the Governor’s car, part of a two-car motorcade, was blasting down the Garden State Parkway at 91 miles per hour, with flashing emergency lights and a blaring siren, so that other motorists would get out of the way.

It now seems fair to conclude that the accident happened because the other two vehicles were trying to get out of the way of the Governor’s speeding SUV. Simply put, but for the Governor’s car traveling 91 miles per hour (26 miles per hour over the posted speed limit), with flashing emergency lights and screaming siren, the accident would not have happened.

Was the Governor responding to a genuine emergency, which would have justified the speeding and the use of flashing lights and siren? No, he was in a hurry to get to the meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers women’s basketball team, which on that day was the hottest news story in the United States and a world-class photo-op.

If there is any good news in all of this, it is that no law abiding motorists were injured.

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