While I understand the importance of seat belts and exercise the option myself. I am deffinately with you that I haven't seen voters get excited over seatbelt wearing. You never know though.

Marc: Are you trying to tell us that politicians are arrogant jerks who think they are above the law?

Was that supposed to be news?

Politicians (and others) who do not wear seatbelts simply confirms the axium: "stupidity never sleeps".

Regarding the quote that you "haven't seen voters get excited over seatbelt wearing", then you haven't read the alt.law.enforcement and rec.autos.driving USENET newsgroups lately.

Plenty of people are not only incensed that Corzine doesn't follow New Jersey law, but, also clamor for the driver of the SUV to be ticketed for speeding and illegal use of four-way emergency flashers for non-emergency purposes.

The USENET is roughly half the Internet (the "web" roughly being the other half) so what goes on in the newsgroups represents a good portion of the Internet population at large.

Check it out!

I would love it if durring a national debate, all the candidates were asked if they buckled up on their trip to the debate. What would be the answers?

i dont ever wish apon some one what happened to this pol. Yet, what is it going to take to prove to these guys that these laws were set into motion for a reason? I hope a lot of people learn from this.

I think the other side of this story has received very little attention - that the SUV Corzine was in was going 91 mph. As alluded to by a previous poster, where is the ticket for that? It always annoys me when I see cops that aren't responding to a call traveling way too fast. Granted, they shouldn't go exactly the speed limit, as this would just create a rolling roadblock, but they could at least move with the flow of traffic.

I am outraged that the press has not made the combination of a speeding vehicle + a roll-over prone SUV + no seat belt equal a bigger scandal. Go interview the politicians and ask them if they wear seatbelts. Photograph them and show not just how many don't wear belts but how many will then lie about it. On this one simple issue, let's hold our politicians accountable.

When the chief law enforcement officer in the nation, the President, says without fear of consequences, that he's breaking laws and ignoring the Constitution that he swore to uphold, because they don't apply to him, why should a politician be concerned about possible consequences of not wearing a seat belt?

I just find it facinating that everyone seems to believe that there should be a law against not wearing a seat belt. Just because it is a smart thing to do, should government dictate one's personal choice. What's next? A law against not exercising for at least 30 min. a day?

Politicians think they are above the law?

What an amazing piece of news......

Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.

Yep, pretty soon pols will start taking drugs and bribes, having sex with office staff, and one of them may even drown a girl in Massachussets. But I'm sure it will all be handled just as it would be if I were to do such a thing.

Ha! Ha!

i think the state of NJ might be "suable" if the governor's reckless behavior had caused injury to or the death of other motorists on the turnpike that day. i had occasion recently to look at NJ traffic laws and there are some specific exceptions from certain restrictions in favor of law enforcement officers and physicians in an emergency. i did not see any exception for governor who likes to go fast. i think it is outrageous that a governor would so endanger the lives of other travellers as governor corzine did on that day. he has apologized for endangering himself by not wearing a seat belt but not for the danger he posed for the public at large.

Sorry susan but your comments about usenet are about 10 years out of date. I wouldn't go measuring public opinion based on usenet posts.

Maybe the reason the public isn't so worried about this issue is that it's a personal choice - wear one, don't wear one - it's your problem.

And, might I add, this "politicians-not-wearing-seatbelts" thing might be wonderful for natural selection. :)

Cathryn

I think it's time we remove the req to wear seat belts, I think you will still have 80% compliance and police can spend their time tracking down anarchists in LA rather then wasting time making sure we are all belted in. Organ donors are in short supply, partaily due to seat belt and helmet laws.

Most, if not all, governors are driven by State Police officers (in one form or another). Each and every one who have driven a govenor that did NOT buckle up should be fired for nonfeasance of duty. They are supposed to uphold the law. They travel with flashing red lights and sometimes sirens on routine business, causing drivers to scurry out of the way while they drive to a Mall opening, or a Women's Auxillary Luncheon, or some other nonsense. Politicians, governor's especially, feel that they are too important to be bothered with the safety of other drivers. They hide behind this by saying that they "follow the recommendations of the State Police." Accidents that do happen are ALWAYS "the other guy's" fault, even though speeding is near always the primary factor, simply by saying that the flashing red lights were on. It's a crock. But hey, we elected them.

As a retired CHP officer, I can tell you some peace officers and politicians think the seat belt laws and other laws (speeding) do not apply to them. That's a very elitist and conceited attitude.

Currently in some States there is legislation being considered to require seatbelts in school buses. Until you view what I experienced you may think this an absurd idea, but I support the idea. While an active duty Air Force Chaplain a school bus loaded with children from my unit drove into the backend of a highway truck loaded with asphalt. The early morning sun had blinded the driver. The driver was killed along with two of the commander's children and another died before the day ended. What I saw was a scene similar to battle field casualties except they were all children of school ages with broken bones, lacerations, and internal injuries. Let's stop kidding ourselves about the value of seatbelts. Whatever they cost can't be compared to the value of the lives they save every day.

choosing to wear ... or not wear a seatbelt should be a choice that one makes ... like any other choice one makes each day in assessing risk and choosing to (or not to) do it.

the seat belt law is an example of big brother 'protecting you from yourself'. individuals should make these choices for themselves and bear the responsibility for those choices.

who cares he didn't wear the belt ... who is really surprised that they were beyond the limit (everyone drives beyond the limit on the gsp) ... who thinks that he's really just like everyone else ... cause he isn't ... there's only one governor in all of the 8 million residents of nj.

and for all the righteous 'but he was speeding' posters ... the accident was not a speed only issue ... there were many contributing factors involved ... including another driver w/ less than 1 year experience ... and vehicles swerving across lanes ... and it wasn't corzine or his driver.

what appalls me is that Corzine validates the 91mph by saying 'we were just keeping up with traffic'. BS! While some idoits can get up to that speed on the Parkway, most are going at least 20mph slower.

Seatbelt use should be another leadership litmus test. Don't vote for someone who doesn't have the common sense/good judgement to buckle up!

Dear Nanny Fisher. So what if someone choses not to wear a seat belt? Damn if somebody isn't always minding someone else's business.

For all those folks who think NOT wearing a seatbelt impacts only the idiot who is belt-less:

I would like to propose a national auto/liability/health insurance policy for all you folks. You can pay the higher rates for your delusion that going without a seatbelt is somehow your "right" because it only affects you (and it is all about you, correct?).

The rest of us (who wear seatbelts, wear motorcycle helmets, use turn signals to change lanes, don't drive 91 F---ing MPH!!) can pay a much lower rate.

That way we are all happy, right?

91 mph, reckless op.,suv...accident...evading and avoiding tickets and real responsibility...another day in the life of our liberal left, who continue to invade our personal space, give lip service to the green revolution, bash america and its sitting president for personal gain, and primp and pose as our moral protectors: yet another fine example of our "do as i say, not as i do" elitist, hypocritical, self righteous, defenders of the little people...kudos to "killer of giants"

CS Laurie: We all hope you don't have kids and never have any.

Dear SoMD,
Did your insurance rate go down when the seat belt law was enacted? Neither did mine. How about when it became mandatory to carry insurance? Neither did mine. Has your health insurance gone down since they banned smoking almost everywhere? Neither did mine, you'd think that now that I'm not subjected to second hand smoke my rate would go down.

Oh yeah, and I dread the day that they ban all high cholestral food, and salt, and walking in the rain, only because those who don't do those things outnumber those who do.

the next question is will gov corzine get a ticket for breaking the law?

[I would like to propose a national auto/liability/health insurance policy for all you folks. You can pay the higher rates for your delusion that going without a seatbelt is somehow your "right" because it only affects you (and it is all about you, correct?).]

I'd assume that this new 'delusion' policy will also include qualifiers on things like: talking on the cell phone, tuning your radio, talking w/ someone else in the car, attending to the child in the back seat, putting on makeup, how many years driving, how old your car is, how familiar you are w/ the car you're driving, current time of day, how you currently feel, how many other cars am i usually driving around, how far do i drive, what's average speed for time in car, what type of roads do i drive on ....

shall we move on to health insurance ... cause i'm afraid i'm going to need a dna sample ... and a blood sample every year at a random time.

[another day in the life of our liberal left, who continue to invade our personal space, give lip service to the green revolution, bash america and its sitting president for personal gain, and primp and pose as our moral protectors:]

yea ... it's pretty well known that even though mr. corzine is worth roughly $350 million dollars, was a former ceo and cob of goldman sachs, and spent most of his career in the financial/investment business ... that he's a left wing zealot responsible for all the world's problems.

it's been told that on weekends he goes out on greenpeace boats blocking whaling ships ... with rosie o'donnel no less.

I support you right not to wear a seatbelt, motorcycle helmet, etc. provided you do not require public assistance if you become a vegetable due to your stupidity. Being a part of society has its obligations.

Where did "CLICK IT OR TICKET" go?I guess it does not apply to governor's in which i might add they are the one's who made this law and break it at the same time.91 MPH!I get pulled over for 5 miles over the speed limit so he should be treated and held responsible for his action's just like the rest of us on this planet what makes him any different?Nothing...

Francis,
I suppose then that I don't have to pay taxes to provide public assistance to anyone who is obese and eat's foods high in cholestral, has a heart attack and requires your assistance? Why stop with seatbelts, and helmets, and smoking? Is it because you favor those laws, what happens when they decide to ban something you enjoy because it's "bad" for you or make something mandatory that you don't like because it's good for you?

Scott,
A specious argument at best, get real!

Francis,
The only false or invalid inference in the argument is your idea that you can segregate to whom your "public assistance" goes. The rest is logical progression.

the most egregious and dangerous violation in this case was the over the top speeding violation. at that speed, a seat belt is pretty much useless. and yet Corzine was quoted in the Post over the weekend as saying how proud he was of his driver. For what? Almost killing him?

Corzine's helicopter ride? Taxpayers' dime. Medical care for a state employee? Taxpayers' dime. Long-term care had he been permanently di$abled? Again, Garden state coffers.
Until & unless there's a check box for me to say, "I'm not paying that dumbass' medical bills"- he OBEYS THE LAW and wears a seatbelt.
Don't like it? Then get out of government, Jonny.

[Corzine's helicopter ride? Taxpayers' dime. Medical care for a state employee? Taxpayers' dime. Long-term care had he been permanently di$abled? Again, Garden state coffers. Until & unless there's a check box for me to say, "I'm not paying that dumbass' medical bills"- he OBEYS THE LAW and wears a seatbelt. Don't like it? Then get out of government, Jonny.]

'jonny' is paying for all of those things out of his own pocket.

not bad huh?

quite a standup thing to do ... now say you're sorry.

here's a thought for all you morons who think wearing a seatbelt should be optional:

seatbelts are life savers. YOu say you want to take your life into your own hands? well so manhy people dont.

With that, I have no problem with people not wearing a setabelt. The law should read: IF YOU DO NOJT WEAR A SEALTBELT AND GET IN A CRASH WHICH CAUSES YOU PHYSICAL INJURY, THAN YOU WILL BE LIABLE FOR 100% OF YOUR OWN MEDICAL COSTS, WHICH DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PAID BY YOUR INSURANCE.

You see, morons who dont wear a seatbelt are just like morons who dont wear a helmet on a motorcycle. BUT, DONT MAKE MY INSURANCE RATES GO UP becuase you were stupid. And make no mistake,the reasons why insurance rates go up is becuase of idiots like you.

Why should Corzine's lack of seat belt use and his driver's speeding and reckless driving suprise anyone? Obviously, he's just another politician who feels he is above the law! What would happen to you or me if we were guilty of such practice? When do you think we would be allowed to drive again? As long as the voting public continues to elect those who think themselves exempt from the laws they pass for us, this practice will continue.

For goodness sakes people, at least read the stories before adding your rambling thoughts.

ACTUA-RY: Corzine (governor of NJ - see article above) is paying his medical bills out of pocket.

EO-MCMARS: The driver apparently shielded Corzine from flames with his own body until they were able to get him out. So he was probably thanking him for that and not the driving.

And on a less pc note,

CRAZY "YOU"RE DRIVING UP MY INSURANCE RATES" PEOPLE: Seatbelts do have a record of saving lives, but not of preventing all injuries. More money is spent on the paralyzed guy trapped in a heap of metal than the dead guy splattered on the street. Either way, seatbelt laws are facist. Facism has it up-sides, but you should at least realize what cause you're really championing

If the politicians were the only ones they were putting at risk, it would not be so bad. I have nothing against Corzine overall, but his behavior, and that of his driver, is absolutely intolerable. Risking a catastrophe, which is not much different from terrorism.

SoMD, I began wearing my seatbelt before the law was enacted but my insurance rate didn't go down just because I use a sealtbelt. What auto insurance company do you use?

[... his behavior, and that of his driver, is absolutely intolerable. Risking a catastrophe, which is not much different from terrorism.]

well almost the same as terrorism ... all that was missing was the suv being loaded w/ explosives, corzine and the state trooper as fundamentalist jihadists, and a target beyond a couple of cars on the gsp.

"But are voters really exercised about this kind of bad boy behavior? I haven't seen any evidence of it--have you?" Marc good observation. I guess we in New Jersey realize there are no lack of politicians waiting to replace whomever is foolish enough to drive our congested highways without a seat belt. Therefore we don't get "exercised" about it.