The Corzine accident, a small bit of political arrogance
Topics: Regulation
18 Apr 2007
From: Ervan Darnell
> The sport utility vehicle carrying Gov. Jon S. Corzine was traveling
> about 91 mph moments before it crashed[...] He apparently was not
> wearing his seat belt as he rode in the front passenger's seat. [....]
> The state trooper-driven SUV was in the left lane with its emergency
> lights flashing when a pickup tried to get out of its way. [1]
Why does the governor get to violate the seatbelt law and the speed
limit? The arrogance of politicians ignoring their own laws stinks here
(I don't know that Corzine voted on auto safety, but he has a special
obligation to follow the law as the governor). Their "good ideas" are
for the rest of us.
The emergency light is even more telling. How does he get the privilege
to tell everybody else to just get out of the way because his going
somewhere is more important? If he were going to a true state
emergency, it would be reasonable to ride in a police car. But for his
ordinary duties?
Here's the real rub: where was he going? He was going to the
conference bewteen Imus and the Rutgers womens' basketball team [2].
Not only was that not an emergency, it's something he shouldn't have
been doing at all. It was a shallow political stunt aimed at his own
career instead of governing the state. Why should he even have any
authority of any sort in a situation like that? His very presence
carries the threat of legal action for what was an entirely legal act.
[1] http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/17/ap3622913.html
[2]
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/NEWS01/704180377/1006/news01
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