NJ Gov Corzine recovering fast - to consider Turnpike future soon
Posted Sun, 2007-05-06 08:19
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is recovering more quickly than doctors expected from the serious injuries he received on the Garden State Parkway April 12. He expects to retake the governorship Monday from the state senate president who has been acting governor.
The future of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is the major item on the Governor's agenda, and his treasury secretary has said he will have detailed proposals before the end of the month.
Corzine was almost killed by hazards on the Garden State Parkway - now operated by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Lack of a rightshoulder clearzone caused motorists trying to get out of the way of his speeding two vehicle motorcade to swerve, setting off the accident in which the right front of his police trooper driven vehicle was bumped, causing it to spin and skid, and run off the roadway. There it hit an inadequately buffered guardrail end which produced the traumatic collision. Inadequate anchoring of the guardrail caused the railing to spring up and spear through his vehicle.
Corzine, aged 61, had his upper left leg badly mangled, eleven ribs broken and other abdominal injuries and lost half his body's blood before he was stabilized by medics. In hospital he was on a breathing machine and fed intravenously for a week, and had several operations on his leg.
But now he is able to get around on crutches, including use of stairs, and is doing three sessions of physical rehab each day. (Corzine sitting reading in the garden of governor's mansion in Princeton by AP)
AP quotes him as saying he was engrossed in reading and editing staff papers as he was being driven north up the Parkway from Atlantic City back to Princeton. He trusted his police driver and was paying no attention to the trip - which like all VIP trips these days was moving 80 to 100mph (130 to 160km/hr) on the lightly trafficked section of the parkway. The first thing he remembers, he told AP, was the vehicle getting "clipped" or bumped.
"And the next thing I know we’re in a slide, with the driver’s side going towards the guardrail. (In fact the passenger side where he was sitting hit the guardrail, according to the police report). I know (recall) the moment of impact. The next thing I recognize is I’m laying in the back in unbelievable pain... I was wondering if I was going to make it... I was wondering if I was going to live and trying to keep my balance, find out whether the other people were hurt."
He remembered calling out "What the hell's going on."
A witness remembers him calling out for help and yelling about his horribly hurt leg.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-04-06
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is recovering more quickly than doctors expected from the serious injuries he received on the Garden State Parkway April 12. He expects to retake the governorship Monday from the state senate president who has been acting governor.The future of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is the major item on the Governor's agenda, and his treasury secretary has said he will have detailed proposals before the end of the month.
Corzine was almost killed by hazards on the Garden State Parkway - now operated by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Lack of a rightshoulder clearzone caused motorists trying to get out of the way of his speeding two vehicle motorcade to swerve, setting off the accident in which the right front of his police trooper driven vehicle was bumped, causing it to spin and skid, and run off the roadway. There it hit an inadequately buffered guardrail end which produced the traumatic collision. Inadequate anchoring of the guardrail caused the railing to spring up and spear through his vehicle.
Corzine, aged 61, had his upper left leg badly mangled, eleven ribs broken and other abdominal injuries and lost half his body's blood before he was stabilized by medics. In hospital he was on a breathing machine and fed intravenously for a week, and had several operations on his leg.
But now he is able to get around on crutches, including use of stairs, and is doing three sessions of physical rehab each day. (Corzine sitting reading in the garden of governor's mansion in Princeton by AP)
AP quotes him as saying he was engrossed in reading and editing staff papers as he was being driven north up the Parkway from Atlantic City back to Princeton. He trusted his police driver and was paying no attention to the trip - which like all VIP trips these days was moving 80 to 100mph (130 to 160km/hr) on the lightly trafficked section of the parkway. The first thing he remembers, he told AP, was the vehicle getting "clipped" or bumped.
"And the next thing I know we’re in a slide, with the driver’s side going towards the guardrail. (In fact the passenger side where he was sitting hit the guardrail, according to the police report). I know (recall) the moment of impact. The next thing I recognize is I’m laying in the back in unbelievable pain... I was wondering if I was going to make it... I was wondering if I was going to live and trying to keep my balance, find out whether the other people were hurt."
He remembered calling out "What the hell's going on."
A witness remembers him calling out for help and yelling about his horribly hurt leg.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-04-06