Learn from Corzine - Buckle up and slow down

On the road, disaster can strike without warning. For example, last Thursday, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine sustained serious injuries in an accident as the 2005 Chevrolet Suburban he was in collided with a pickup truck. The impact caused the driver of the large SUV to lose control and strike a guard rail on the Garden State Parkway. The crash reportedly left passenger Corzine with a compound leg fracture, a dozen broken ribs, broken sternum, broken collar bone, and fractured vertebra. It could have been worse, and clearly, it could have been a whole lot better.

The Suburban driver, State Trooper Robert Rasinski, had minor injuries and gubernatorial aide Samantha Gordon had no significant injuries. New Jersey State Police have confirmed earlier reports that the governor wasn't wearing his seat belt--in violation of state law--resulting in him "being thrown within the vehicle during impact."

Making matters worse, in a released statement, the State Police report, "...all investigative data points to a speed of approximately 91 mph five seconds before impact with the guide rail. The vehicle's speed at the time of impact with the guide rail was approximately 30 mph."

The New York Times has an interactive that demonstrates how the accident may have happened.

This very public case where a seatbelt could have reduced injury should serve as a reminder to all who drive or ride in a car--buckle up and slow down. The three-point seatbelt is arguably the single most important piece of automotive safety equipment. It is found in every modern car and takes just a few seconds to secure.

In 2005, 14,914 automobile drivers made the fatal mistake of driving without a seat belt, accounting for 31.3 percent of passenger car and light truck deaths, according to the government Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This figure is down a full 10 percent from a decade ago, though the number is quite significant.

In addition to basic seat belts, enhanced belt features are helping seatbelts do their job more effectively.

Adjustable upper anchors for the shoulder belts can make a meaningful safety difference. These movable anchors help position the belt across the chest instead of the neck to prevent neck injuries. They also can help keep the belt from pulling down on a tall person's shoulder, making it more comfortable and therefore more likely to be used.

Seatbelt pretensioners instantly retract the belts to take up slack during a frontal impact. This also helps position occupants properly to take full advantage of a deploying air bag. Force limiters, a companion feature to pretensioners, manage the force that the shoulder belt builds up on the occupant's chest. After the pretensioners tighten it, force limiters let the belt play back out a little.

When buying a new or used car, we encourage consumers to look for these enhanced features, as well as other key safety equipment, such as antilock brakes, electronic stability control, and side and side-curtain airbags. Also, be sure to consider the vehicle's performance in government and insurance-industry crash tests, and Consumer Reports dynamic performance tests.

Driving can be dangerous. Choose your vehicle carefully, buckle up, and drive responsibly.

--Jeff Bartlett

Comments

[Bruce Alexander]

A report released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated large and very large SUVs among the highest driver death rates. This topic has been come very prominent in regards to Governor Corzine’s accident. The Suburban, which is the type of vehicle that Gov. Corzine was riding in, was rated among the second worst among large SUVs in terms of multiple vehicle driver deaths, single vehicle driver deaths and vehicle roll-over.

When it comes to Executive Protection, SUVs have a role but that role is limited to certain situations. An SUV should not be used as a regular means of transportation for Executive Protection. SUVs are difficult to control and simply do not perform as well in emergency situations typically encountered in Executive Protection which includes accident avoidance in addition to vehicle ambushes etc… Compounding this problem is that most Executive Protection driver’s training programs do not spend the same amount of training time in an SUV practicing evasive driving techniques as they do in a sedan. Consequently when it comes time to drive an SUV in an Executive Protection mission, driver skill isn’t usually as proficient.

It time to put to rest the notion that “bigger is better” when it comes to vehicle size and safety and Executive Protection.

Bruce Alexander
Publisher
Executive Protection web log
http://protectivesecurity.wordpress.com/

[Norm Drexel]

Politicians like Corzine may exempt themselves from traffic laws but, along with celebrities like Princess Diana, they are still subject to the laws of physics. If they believe their personal safety would be put at risk by obeying traffic laws, they should avoid endangering the public by staying off the roads.

[Arlene Stromberg]

Does a trooper get a ticket for disobeying the law? He flaunted it. And the Governor certainly knew both the speed they were traveling and that he wasn't wearing a seat belt. And is he going to get a citation?

Politicians and civil servants including police should not be above the law. I didn't hear an apology about speed, just the seat belt.AND THEN the Governor was driven home from the hospital, again by a trooper, at speeds well above the speed limit. What was the hurry?