Roberto Rodriguez, state Division of Highway Traffic Safety director, announced his retirement today, one day after he made comments criticizing the high incidence of DWI violations among Latino drivers. Gov. Jon Corzine and Rodriguez both participated in a traffic safety symposium yesterday in Long Branch.

"Director Rodriguez is retiring at the end of this year for personal reasons. He informed the attorney general earlier this month that he wanted to retire, before the attorney general learned about the director's interview in Reporte Hispano on alcohol related traffic fatalities in the Hispanic community," said David Wald, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety. "The attorney general did meet with Director Rodriguez about the article and told him he thought some of his comments were inappropriate and insensitive." (12/13/06)