Seriously injured New Jersey governor was not wearing seatbelt

NEW JERSEY Governor Jon S Corzine was apparently not wearing his seatbelt as required by law when his official SUV crashed into a guard rail, leaving the governor hospitalised in critical condition, a spokesman said Friday.

A state trooper was driving Mr Corzine to a meeting between controversial broadcaster Don Imus and the Rutgers women’s basketball team on Thursday at around 6pm when a vehicle, swerving to avoid a pickup truck, hit the governor’s SUV and sent it into a guard rail.

When Mr Corzine arrived at the hospital, doctors said he was conscious but had several injuries: a femur bone broken in two places that had lacerated his skin, a broken sternum, six broken ribs on each side, a head laceration and a minor fracture on a lower vertebrae.