Cycle Commuter Catches Hit-and-Run Corvette-Driving Bob Novak
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.23.08
In 2001, syndicated columnist Bob Novak almost hit a jaywalker, called him some names and was quoted as saying : "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."
Today he took option two, except the 66 year old man splattered over the windshield Novak's Corvette had the green light. Novak then took off, and might have got away with it.
Except cycle commuter David Bono of Harkins Cunningham thought what every good lawyer should think: “This car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away.”

According to Politico,
"He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street, finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blaring, until commuters behind Novak backed up so he could pull over.
Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a news personality but could not precisely place him.
Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”
A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about.
"This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted Bono as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic."
Congratulations to David Bono, who has just developed an entire new customer base of cyclists and pedestrians looking for justice!
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CC?? what a waste of space this man is!!
Isn't a Corvette louder than a Prius?
Good on him!
[quote]Isn't a Corvette louder than a Prius?[/quote]
ROTFL
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a hit and run not a minor transgression? The way it sounds, Bob should be arrested and charged based on eye witness accounts. Or, at the very least, have the bicyclists claim investigated.
There goes his credibility. Hard to talk about personal responsibility when your speeding away from an accident.
It's bad enough that you have someone sprawled across your windshield, but to have a cyclists that's a lawyer chase you down to tell you...
I smell lawsuit!
meanwhile, the old man dies in the street. What a hero!
Kudos to David Bono! Hit & run (whether of cyclists, pedestrians or cars) has become epidemic in the US. We need more involved citizens to track down these criminals.
Uh, so in other words it is ALLEGED that he hit someone. And it sounds like Novak did not deliberately flee the scene, as the author and several commenters are trying to imply. He didn't even realize he had hit anyone. Nice spin Treehugger has put on this story. But hey, who needs "fair and balanced" when you are dealing with a NOTORIOUS CONSERVATIVE, eh?
"Compassionate conservative"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
I really didn't know it was possible to hate someone more the Bob Novak. But Bob Novak has shown me it is actually possible to hate him more than I already did.
This is probably the first of a whole lot of bad Car-ma coming to him.
(groan)
How do you hit someone with a corvette and not notice? He is a fu**ing liar. A hit and run is a felony and this guy should be going to prison for a few years.
If for whatever reason he did hit someone and not notice he obviously is too old to be driving, and should never be allowed behind the wheel of a car again.
Uh, didn't anyone read any of the reports on any of the major news outlets? The man was treated for MINOR injuries -- I hardly believe that this was a serious impact.
Liberal bias abounds -- if this were someone not so publicly conservative this post would very different.
as long as it's minor injuries, that's fine is it?
good on the cyclist.
looks like the guy in the car needs glasses!
He still hit someone. That is a crime. His punishment can be adjusted to fit the degree of violation.
I must say, though, almost hitting people with cars is fairly easy these days. Way to many people drive their cars all the way into the cities.
Go go public transportation!
I want to know why he was in the front seat of the patrol car and not in the back in cuffs. What was this? A catch and release?
Uh... so what you're saying, Quinn, is it's okay to hit someone with a car and then flee the scene of the accident as long as the injuries are minor?
Wondering would you be so cavalier if someone hit your child? You know -- doesn't matter, she's only got skinned knees, that kind of thing. Doubt it.
Look -- It doesn't matter if the old man was only treated with neosporine and a bandaid, hit and run driving is illegal.
And I seriously doubt the "i didn't see the guy" excuse. If a I hit a bird while driving; I hear it. I can only imagine the noise that a human being would make.
Bob Novak is a weasel.
To all those making excuses for Novak here and elsewhere - give it up, the man was "sort of splayed onto the windshield" and then rolled off as Novak drove away. This is according to an eyewitness, not spin from the liberal media.
Hopefully the arresting officer gets in trouble for failing to charge him with leaving the scene of an accident and driving without due care and attention.
Actually he didn't ALLEGEDLY hit him - since he acknowledges he did. That means he admits hitting him. He just denies KNOWING he hit him.
And no matter how softly, if you hit ANYTHING driving a car and don't know you hit it then you shouldn't be driving - period. That's the option for if a court proceeding determines it was just 'hit' not 'hit and run'. If, on the other hand, it is determined that he ran deliberately as well then he should see jail time.
Let's be clear - people aren't upset because he's a conservative - they are upset because he's an a^^%$^%$