New Jersey ? Gov. Jon S. Corzine was breathing on his own again Friday after doctors removed a breathing tube he’d been using since he was critically injured in an April 12 high-speed crash, his spokesman said.

Doctors removed the tube shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday, spokesman Anthony Coley said.

Breathing unassisted moves Corzine closer to having his condition upgraded. He has been listed as critical but stable since he was brought to Cooper University Hospital last week.

Corzine broke a leg and several bones in his chest, including 11 ribs, when the sport utility vehicle he was riding in wrecked on the Garden State Parkway north of Atlantic City. He was placed on a ventilator to ease the pain of breathing, doctors said.

The SUV, driven by a state trooper with Corzine in the front seat, was traveling 91 mph and the governor was not wearing his seat belt, officials have said.