TPMDC
Christie Hit Motorcyclist With Car In 2002, Wasn't Ticketed
Eric Kleefeld | September 4, 2009, 9:36AM
Former US Attorney Chris Christie
Share
Send to a friend!
The plot just keep getting thicker and thicker for former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey this year, and his bad driving record: In 2002, the Star-Ledger reports, Christie hit a motorcyclist while driving his car the wrong way on a one-way street -- but was not ticketed.
"This was an unfortunate accident and just like a lot of us, Chris knows he can always be a better driver," campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella told the paper.
Elizabeth Police Director James Cosgrove confirmed to the paper that Christie did identify himself as the U.S. Attorney. The Star-Ledger asked whether Christie's position factored into the officer's decision to not ticket him: "I don't think I want to make that kind of deduction, but I think the facts speak for themselves."
Other Stories Featured at TPMDC
Join the Conversation!
Leave a comment
Follow us!
PollTracker
Most Popular
- How Clemmons Went From Prisoner To Alleged Cop Killer -- And Why It Matters For Mike Huckabee
- Another Huckabee Pardon
- Why Are Dem Voters Now Less Motivated Than Republicans?
- CBO: Health Care Reform Will Lower Out-Of-Pocket Burden For Most Consumers
- Bachmann: Just Over A Year Ago, The Private Economy Was 100% Private
- Rep. Hinchey: Bush Purposely Let Bin Laden Escape To Justify Iraq War
- Radio Host Bill Press: Glenn Beck Is A 'Ticking Time Bomb' Who Will 'Explode In The Face Of Roger Ailes'
- Family Guy Mocks Chris Matthews' Inflated Ego
- Latest High-Flying Accused Ponzi Schemer Has Ties To Indiana Guv
- Limbaugh: Obama Is 'Wimpy Little Man-Child'
- Obama Issues New Orders On Afghanistan
- Why Are Dem Voters Now Less Motivated Than Republicans?
- Dems Add Entitlement Reform To Packed Agenda Ahead of 2010 Elections
- Huckabee Cites System's 'Failures' In Response To Washington Police Killings
- Gibbs: Social Office Not Problem With Dinner Crashers
- How Clemmons Went From Prisoner To Alleged Cop Killer -- And Why It Matters For Mike Huckabee
- Rep. Hinchey: Bush Purposely Let Bin Laden Escape To Justify Iraq War
- Bachmann: Just Over A Year Ago, The Private Economy Was 100% Private
- Radio Host Bill Press: Glenn Beck Is A 'Ticking Time Bomb' Who Will 'Explode In The Face Of Roger Ailes'
- Why Have We Subjugated Ourselves?
- Why Have We Subjugated Ourselves?
- Obstructionism Trumps Transparency
- Progressives (and Obama) are Doing Better Than We Think -- and We Won't Know What We've Got 'Til It's Gone
- Jeff Goldberg Faults Obama For Suggesting Settlement Expansion Leads To Violence
- A Dime In My Pocket
- Great Moments in CNN Journalism
- Return to Sender: Feigning Indifference & Losing My Religion
- Basic Investment Advice
- Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics
- The Pivot
TPM Stories Now Surging on Digg.com
TPM Top News
© 2009 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Moose49
September 4, 2009 9:41 AM
IOKIYAR
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Xantar
September 4, 2009 9:51 AM
Isn't Corzine the one who got badly injured when a car cut off the state vehicle he was riding in and it turned out he hadn't been wearing a seat belt? As I recall, he immediately owned up to the mistake and said that nobody should follow his example.
I'm not Corzine's hugest fan, and the fact that he felt entitled to ride without a seat belt irks me. But at least he didn't try to avoid blame.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
bilejones
September 4, 2009 3:17 PM in reply to Xantar
The real issue with the Corzine accident - the suv was doing 90+ is why the trooper driving wasn't charged with dangerous driving, you would have been.
(There's also the little matter of the attempt to frame the truck driver but hey, who remembers stuff like that?)
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ogliberal
September 4, 2009 9:51 AM
There's a real opening for Corzine here:
"Hey, when I got in an accident, I wasn't the guy driving. And I was the one who got hurt. In addition, I didn't throw my office around to try to get out of trouble with the cops. In fact, a cop was driving my car!"
OK...so we now know that Christie is a crappy driver and one who doesn't care much for traffic laws. That description probably fits most NJ drivers. But he seems to be in the habit of using the "Do you know who I am?" defense. Jeez, why doesn't the guy just whip out a PBA card...he must have a collection of them.
I love how his campaign just blows this stuff off - "Oh, so he hit a guy while driving the wrong way. Doesn't everybody do that? What's the big deal?"
Expected wingnut response:
"You know what the biggest car wreck is? Corzine's governing."
Zing!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
markg8
September 4, 2009 10:00 AM
I don't know about you but a US attorney, one of the highest law enforcement officials in the region who acts as if he's above the law isn't the kind of guy I'd want as governor.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Walter Mitty
September 4, 2009 10:10 AM in reply to markg8
Exactly the point Corzine should hammer him on.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jeffgee
September 4, 2009 11:06 AM in reply to markg8
He would have been a perfect fit in Bushworld.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Moose49
September 4, 2009 11:28 AM in reply to markg8
Agreed. Which explains why he was exactly the kind of guy Karl Rove wanted in the U.S. attorney's office.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
GTFOOH
September 4, 2009 10:14 AM
Who does this guy think he is? Robert Novak?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ogliberal
September 4, 2009 10:17 AM in reply to GTFOOH
Ooof...that's tough. I was far, far from a fan of Novak but I think his brain tumor may have had something to do with his accident.
As for Christie, the only evidence of a tumor that I can see on him is his meathead and fat neck.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Hussein Stemper
September 4, 2009 10:15 AM
What's the greater danger to school children -- listening to the President speak or walking the streets while Jersey's former U.S. Attorney is driving?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ogliberal
September 4, 2009 10:21 AM in reply to Hussein Stemper
Neither. It's Czar Van Jones. He's using his position in the administration to bring about his long dreamed of hemp and biofuel driven communist revolution. Green Workers of the World Unite! (But wait...didn't the commies hate the czars?)
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
nanotheater
September 4, 2009 11:41 AM in reply to ogliberal
look- let's work in the Nazi theme here- Volks-wagon. Czar Van Jones wants us all to drive GM National Socialist mobiles powered by hemp-oil. Presumably while deflowering virgins and using cocaine and getting our STD's treated on the National Health Plan.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
markg8
September 4, 2009 11:48 AM in reply to nanotheater
Well ok but only if the front seats fold down. I'm not having sex in cars without fold down seats ever again. Almost lost an eye to a window crank in a Ford back in the 1970s.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Stiggs
September 4, 2009 12:40 PM in reply to nanotheater
Are you running for office? Because that is a vision of America I could get behind. (Actually maybe not driving. Perhaps riding a bike or using clean and convenient public transportation. Though, have you ever tried deflowering a virgin while riding a bicycle? It is a tricky proposition.)
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
holyhandgrenaid
September 4, 2009 10:37 AM
What this is showing (hopefully) for NJ voters is that while Corzine hasn't been a very good governor, at least he isn't more crooked than scoliosis, which Christie certainly seems to be.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
johnmccsf
September 4, 2009 10:50 AM in reply to holyhandgrenaid
I defer to Kleefeld on this but I think somehow Corzine needs to pivot the growing concern about Christie into something positive for him, something involving a state issue
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
musical_fan
September 4, 2009 10:37 AM
There's a vast difference between being able to be a better driver and driving recklessly then skirting blame by saying you're a US Attorney. If he really was in a hurry and needed to get to the swearing-in ceremony, fine, but at least be open about it. It seems like he just erased this from his memory and now it's rearing its ugly head. I hope he at least sent a condolence card to the motorcyclist, but I doubt that happened either.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Xantar
September 4, 2009 10:51 AM in reply to musical_fan
I find it hard to imagine a circumstance in which he would be in such a hurry to get somewhere that he would drive the wrong way down a one-way street. I know that's not what you're suggesting, but I'm just trying to point out that in this case, the egregiousness of the bad driving tends to rule out simple hurriedness.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
johnmccsf
September 4, 2009 10:48 AM
I saw the same sort of thing on a couple Sopranos episodes
BFD
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Ouroboros
September 4, 2009 11:01 AM
Christie looks and sounds like he stepped out of the Sopranos, and acts like it, too. That is to say he acts like a fucking idiot. But New Jersey has a way of rewarding that kind of thing.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
oleeb
September 4, 2009 12:32 PM in reply to Ouroboros
New Jersey's politics are nothing if not corrupt. The Republican Party in New Jersey, however, makes the Democrats look like boy scouts.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jeffgee
September 4, 2009 11:05 AM
Better get a room ready on C-Street for Christie. In their world, God makes exceptions for his chosen "leaders". They can do no wrong.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
SqueakyRat
September 4, 2009 11:07 AM
Excuse me, but "no ticket?" How about no arrest?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
BluGrass
September 4, 2009 11:07 AM
Who was the officer who completed the accident report and who was the shift supervisor? Somebody made a deliberate decision toss the arrest. Public records must show this.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Douglashh
September 4, 2009 11:10 AM
Going the wrong way on a one way street and hitting a motorcycle. Sound to me like alcohol might have been involved. Does Christie have any history of alcohol abuse?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
SqueakyRat
September 4, 2009 11:13 AM
And this guy's been in six accidents since 1985? Thirteen moving violations? How does he still have a license?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
LFC
September 4, 2009 11:18 AM in reply to SqueakyRat
Do you have a link to this? A driving record like this puts the guy WAY past "I made a stupid move once" and well into "I am a f***ing public menace on the road."
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Ann Arbor
September 4, 2009 12:15 PM in reply to LFC
Here's the Star-Ledger story from last week on their drving records:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/neither_gov_corzine_nor_chris.html
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
GTFOOH
September 4, 2009 11:33 AM in reply to SqueakyRat
I'm guessing there was alcohol involved. Something that does not come up in any of the reports.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
kenga
September 4, 2009 12:57 PM in reply to SqueakyRat
The same way Ferd Janklow still had his, before he killed a motorcyclist.
I believe, now that he's out of jail, he has it back again.
What is it with Republican politicians hitting motorcycles?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Egypt Steve
September 4, 2009 12:03 PM
Definitely alcohol related. I recall being stopped once for turning the wrong way down a one-way street in an unfamiliar area. The first thing the officer asked me was whether I'd been drinking. That is the obvious assumption. The question isn't why Christie didn't get a ticket -- the question is why he didn't get a sobriety test!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
oleeb
September 4, 2009 12:30 PM
Have another beer Mr. Prosecutor!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?