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TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) ― Gov. Jon S. Corzine was breathing on his own Friday after doctors removed a breathing tube he'd been using since being critically injured in a car accident April 12, his spokesman said.

Corzine broke a leg and several bones in his chest, including 11 ribs, in the collision on the Garden State Parkway. He was placed on a ventilator to ease the pain of breathing, doctors said.

Corzine continued to be listed in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital. But Friday's development is a major improvement and could clear the way for other good news. Hospital officials have said a patient using a ventilator generally would not be upgraded from critical condition.

Doctors removed the breathing tube at about 12:25 p.m. Friday, spokesman Anthony Coley said.

"His respiratory function will be closely monitored to ensure that he can continue to breathe on his own and cough efficiently," Coley said. "Doctors do not entirely rule out the possibility that the breathing tube will need to be reinserted."

Though breathing on his own is a major milestone, it was not immediately clear when Corzine would be able to resume his official duties. Doctors said it could take six months before he's able to walk without a cane or walker.

Corzine was riding in the front passenger seat of a Chevrolet Suburban on the Garden State Parkway April 12 when his SUV veered into a guard rail after being clipped by another driver who was swerving to avoid a third vehicle.

The governor's SUV, with a state trooper behind the wheel, was traveling 91 mph seconds before the crash and Corzine was not wearing a seat belt, officials have said.

Corzine was the only person seriously injured. He broke his left thigh bone in two places -- requiring three surgeries so far -- as well as 11 ribs, his breastbone and collarbone. He also fractured a vertebra and has a cut on his forehead that required stitches.

Though he lost about half the blood in his body, there was no brain damage or injuries to internal organs, and Corzine is not paralyzed, his doctors said. On Wednesday, doctors said his brain function was as good as anyone's could be while on a ventilator.

Corzine was able to speak when he arrived at the hospital, before the breathing tube was inserted. Once on the ventilator, the 60-year-old former investment banker could not speak but was able to communicate by nodding, doctors said.

Corzine has undergone three surgeries on his broken leg and doctors have inserted tubes into his chest to drain fluid from his lungs. They have also put catheters into his back to deliver a local anesthetic to the area around his broken ribs.

Doctors say that Corzine still is at risk of blood clots and infection, including pneumonia.

His staff did not say Friday whether Corzine was able to speak again. They also did not say how long it might be before he might be well enough to resume his official duties.

State Senate President Richard J. Codey, also a Democrat, is serving as acting governor.

Codey said Friday that he doesn't understand why there's been so much attention on the fact Corzine wasn't wearing a seat belt.

"My thought is, let's get him well, let's get him back on the job, and then he can talk about no seat belt, going too fast," Codey said in a news conference in Newark.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)