Corzine Supports Tougher Seat Belt, Teen Driving Rules

NJ Governor Jon Corzine, who was critically injured after not wearing a seat belt when his state vehicle crashed, endorsed a proposal requiring all passengers wear seat belts in vehicles on NJ roads. He also supported recommendations for stricter restrictions for drivers under age 20, even admitting his three children had been in accidents as teen drivers.

Corzine had been riding in his SUV's front passenger seat last year when he was ejected, breaking a leg, twelve ribs, a collarbone, and a breastbone. Even though NJ state law requires front passengers to buckle up, Corzine wasn't and later admitted he set a terrible example, even making a PSA showing him hobble around with his injuries. Corzine said yesterday, "Unfortunately, I can speak to the fact that seat belt usage is a very real protector of lives."

The seat belt requirement recommendation was from NJ's Teen Driver Study Commission, which noted that 5% of NJ drivers are teens, but they cause 12% of the accidents. The Star-Ledger reports teen drivers with learner's permits or provisional licenses would need to display a decal or placard saying as much for easier police enforcement of those drivers' "curfew, tougher seat-belt and cell phone regulations and restrictions on the number of passengers they can carry."

Photograph of Corzine leaving the hospital last year by Mel Evans/AP

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By Jen Chung in News on March 27, 2008 7:09 AM

Comments [rss]

sonyactivision

Always wear your safety belt...otherwise you'll end up looking like John Corzine.

PnonG

seat belt laws have popped up around most of the country, there is little evidence that safety has been significantly enhanced, it's one of those it's obvious things that isn't really true

i fail to understand why someone cares whether someone else is protecting themself to the level they think appropriate, if u don't want to wear a seatbelt why should i care?

nice revenue with more tickets i suppose

pickycapellit

your mom's a jug handle!

Politburo

"You're the first person I've seen defend the idiotic roads in NJ."

Then you're not looking. A lot of people who grew up with the system prefer jughandles. The only time it's a real issue is on roads where the planners couldn't make up their minds and alternated between left-turn arrows and jughandles.

JRod5417

"Corzine looks like some whacked out preacher there."

So true! LOL

sakebalboa

jug handles rule

bklynd

Actually, the weird surburban highways of NJ seem intelligently designed in that they actually provide for U-turns and give you signs telling you where you can do them.

At the average left-turn signal in NYC, you are not supposed to pull a U. There's usually a sign telling you not to do it, but we all do it anyway.

EricRoberts

@Outter Burrougher - Aren't there traffic solutions other than jug-handles that would serve the same purpose like left turn arrows? You're the first person I've seen defend the idiotic roads in NJ.

Outter Burrougher

Novanglus, I think you were just lost. Unless you were on the Turnpike or Parkway or in the middle of the Pines (where there's usually little enough traffic that you can pull a U), it's not possible to go 7 miles past your destination without the opportunity to turn around. Perhaps you had to go one mile past your destination and make a left turn using the jug-handle, but you'll forgive them if they don't think it prudent to allow left-hand turns across the middle of extremely busy roads in the middle of densely populated areas.

As for the teenage driver decals, I was once a teenage driver who did not have her own car. I used my older sister's car on the occasions when she didn't have it at college and the rest of the time I borrowed one of my parents' cars. Would that mean that any family with a teenager would have to have the decal on all of their cars? Would that mean that the teenager would have to move the decal from one car to the other every time he or she wanted to drive?

Rocknrope

I don't know about you guys, but I always wear my seatbelt when I'm in a car. It's just common sense. Is this a real or personal issue to Corzine?

Novanglus

Actually, Spitzer DID push for tougher laws against prostitutes.

Corzine looks like some whacked out preacher there.

GaryK

What's next? Spitzer campaigning for tougher laws against prostitutes? Do as I say, not as I do - the American Way.

nonumentalart

he looks like george carlin here

Novanglus

Tickets for seatbelts has been shown to work all over the country. It's actually probably the most effective ticket out there in terms of enforcing the law and improving safety.

Jersey has the worst road system I've ever seen. Main roads are built like highways, and you can't get off or make a u-turn before driving 7 miles past the "exit" you missed.

jt10000

This doesn't make sense - the threat of death wasn't enough to get him to do something, so now he's going to try to legislate it with tickets.