It's necessary, but not very satisfying, to discipline the state trooper who crashed Gov. Corzine's SUV on the Garden State Parkway in April.
A state police review panel has found that Trooper Robert Rasinski, the governor's driver that day, lacked "situational awareness" and used poor judgment in the moments leading up to the crash that seriously injured the governor. Rasinski was operating the SUV at 91 m.p.h., 26 m.p.h. over the speed limit, and had the vehicle's emergency lights flashing. Both factors are against department policy.
Rasinski faces a suspension of up to five days. And he certainly bears some of the blame. The person at the wheel is ultimately responsible for controlling a vehicle, whether your passenger is a VIP or a child.
But punishing the trooper hardly explains all the reasons for the accident and the governor's injuries. Speaking of "situational awareness," Corzine has acknowledged his own lack of it.
As he's admitted repeatedly, Corzine should have been wearing a seat belt. The governor had become so lax about this basic precaution that his security detail apparently had given up trying to persuade the governor to buckle up. Corzine, who spent eight days on a ventilator at Cooper University Hospital in Camden and is undergoing rehabilitation, understands that mistake better than anyone.
In addition to the governor's overlooking his own safety, a second investigation into this accident should consider whether Corzine or his staff created conditions that made an accident more likely. Was his schedule that day unrealistic, trying to cram too many stops into too short of a time frame?
Rasinski had logged more than 330 miles that day, driving the governor to a funeral in Pennsylvania and then to Atlantic City, over a period of more than 12 hours. They were returning for a meeting between radio jock Don Imus and the Rutgers University women's basketball team at the governor's mansion in Princeton when the crash occurred.
Apparently, nobody had ordered the trooper to "step on it," but did the governor's schedule put extra pressure on him to drive too fast?
A panel headed by former Gov. Christie Whitman is investigating procedures of the governor's security detail and should submit its report next month. It should assess all the factors, including those that caused a trooper to believe he needed to drive 91 m.p.h. with lights flashing.