New Jersey Names Highway After Drunk Driving Congressman
One night in 1993, then-Congressman Robert Roe of New Jersey, with a .17 blood-alcohol level, "veered out of his lane in Rockaway Township and ran head-on into a minivan carrying a family of three." For this service to his country, the New Jersey state government recently renamed a highway after him. Congratulations to drunk ex-Congressman Robert Roe of New Jersey, America's Highway Hero!
The legislature and seatbelt-hating Governor Jon Corzine "overwhelmingly" approved a bill that renames New Jersey Route 23 after Roe, a champion of the people:
The driver of the minivan, Julia Worosila, then 47, suffered a fractured pelvis and other internal injuries. More seriously hurt was her 15-year-old daughter, Jodi Worosila, who was asleep in the back of the van. She suffered a lacerated spleen, fractured ribs and numerous broken bones, requiring multiple surgeries. In a deal that seemed to be tailor-made for a congressman, Roe was allowed to enter pretrial intervention, a program that resulted in the charges being dismissed. All in all, things worked out pretty well for Roe, but in the words of John Worosila, whose wife and daughter were injured, "This guy caused a nightmare for us."
But was he drunk and destroying families with his car on this particular Route 23? No, so it doesn't count.
An undeserved honor [NJ Star-Ledger]