More on the Traffic Safety Poster Child
Add to trooper Robert Rasinski's violations of law in the service of Governor Corzine (failure to make passenger buckle seat belt, failure to cite passenger for not wearing seat belt) this one: 91 in a 65 zone...with emergency lights flashing. Why does this man still have a job, after endangering the public and his boss the way he did? Yes, I know why he did it...but that defence didn't work for Adolf Eichmann either.
I've really tried to keep a lid on the Schadenfreud. But this is it. I really don't care if Corzine is ever well enough again to take on the duties of governor, because he has shown through his arrogance that he is unfit for the office of governor. Maybe he can limp into a TV studio and do "buckle up" commercials, or even "obey traffic laws" commercials. He probably doesn't realize how lucky he is that Cho Seung-Hui took him out of the spotlight. But we're going to remember here, and give you progress reports.
Comments
Posted by: diane
Posted on: April 22, 2007 11:16 AM
It was an accident how can you blame it on anyone? As many people travel up and down the turnpike and parkway at 75-90 miles an hour you can't possible make it sound as if he did it on purpose. Should he lose his job... no
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: April 23, 2007 08:26 AM
Diane, police blame accidents on people all the time, when they drive recklessly. I don't know what speeds are like in NJ, but even in Michigan where people drive like madmen, one very seldom gets above 80. And Rasinski DID do it on purpose; he had emergency flashers on so that people would get out of his way, so that an overscheduled governor could be somewhere on time. Well, we all overschedule ourselves...but since we're not the governor, we don't get to break the law with impunity. Ultimately, this is Corzine's fault, but he was not the driver. And while I can appreciate Rasinski's desire not to lose his cushy job driving around the governor (WTF, can't he drive himself like ordinary mortals do?), it was his job as a state trooper to enforce the law, and he didn't do his job. If you shouldn't be fired for not doing your job, just what can you be fired for?
Posted by: Brian Gray
Posted on: April 23, 2007 08:55 AM
I was a volunteer for my local fire department back in high school. Even if there is an emergency (which is very questionable in this example) and you are running flashing lights with sirens, you are still responsible for obeying the laws of the road. You can still be charged with breaking the law and causing an accident. The specific examples that were often given included running red lights, traveling through school zones, or coming up on slower traffic. You must adjust to the situation and not uses flashing lights as permission to drive dangerously.
I bet this officer comes under some lawsuits depending on who else was injured in this crash.