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Columnist Novak Cited for Hitting Pedestrian
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ShareJuly 23, 2008 12:21 PM
ABC News' Theresa Cook and Pierre Thomas Report: Columnist Robert Novak said he felt "terrible" after an incident in which he allegedly hit a pedestrian with his black Corvette while driving to work in downtown Washington Wednesday.
ABC News affiliate WJLA interviewed Novak at the scene, but he told them "I don't really know" what happened.
Asked if he hit a pedestrian, Novak said, "That's what they [police] said, yes. I didn't know I hit him."
Fire officials tell ABC News the pedestrian is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Novak said the man is at the hospital.
The incident occurred near 18th and K Streets Northwest, police told ABC News. According to Novak, a bicyclist stopped him down the street from the scene to tell him that he hit someone.
The 77-year-old conservative writer, interviewed after he exited the passenger seat of a police cruiser, said his citation was for "failure to yield the right of way."
Novak, who was unhurt, said "I feel terrible," and mentioned that he'd try to check on the man's condition later.
After receiving the citation and briefly speaking to reporters, Novak returned to his vehicle and drove away.
According to the Washington Post's "The Reliable Source" column, this was not Novak's first pedestrian run-in.
Dubbing him "Road-Rage Bob," the column reported in 2001 that Novak lobbed an expletive at a pedestrian crossing the street in downtown Washington.
Novak explained the incident to the paper, saying, "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jay walkers. 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."
"The Reliable Source" also quoted Novak in a column two years later, after he retuned from a Florida trip in which he completed some race car driving lessons that he had won in a charity auction.
"I've wanted to be a race car driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that," told the paper in 2003.
As for any basis for road rage title the column had given Novak: it "was a figment of your imagination," he told the paper.
July 23, 2008 in Veepstakes | Permalink | User Comments (49)
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Corvette, nice!!
Posted by: david | Jul 23, 2008 12:34:50 PM
What a total waste of a beautiful corvette!
Posted by: dgfiit | Jul 23, 2008 12:39:38 PM
Yeah, Novak is so old he can't remember hitting someone...it's not like he was driving a bus...damn
Posted by: Frankie Boy | Jul 23, 2008 12:42:00 PM
The ABC reporter said that the man was on his hood of Novak's car so there's no way he didn't know he had hit someone. Novak is a scumbag with a known reputation for having run-ins w/pedestrians, particulary jaywalkers.
Posted by: Liz | Jul 23, 2008 12:43:37 PM
Novak thought he was driving the Obama BUS
Posted by: nowaty | Jul 23, 2008 12:50:30 PM
Novak is a Republican. They don't ever take responsibility for anything they do. Laws and rules are for other people, they don't apply to them.
Just deny you know anything about it, regardless of all the evidence.
Posted by: Truth Matters | Jul 23, 2008 12:55:04 PM
Was he drunk? Was he given a breathalyzer?
Posted by: Question | Jul 23, 2008 1:02:09 PM
It's hard to imagine Novak feeling "terrible" about the consequences of his actions. The man is a right-wing sociopath, incapable of compassion. But like most right-wing sociopaths, he fools a lot of the people a lot of the time.
Posted by: Bill | Jul 23, 2008 1:02:43 PM
These are the same people who NEVER can manage to put themselves, their spouse, or their kids in jail when they ACTUALLY HIT SOMETHING or SOMEBODY, but always the first ones to want to ignore the reality of someone else’s perfect driving record and preemptively put them in jail for having beer on their breath… The worst part is that everyone is so brainwashed by the MADD commercials in the last 20 years that we’ve lost our ability think logically. Chumps like this walk away with a “citation”.
Posted by: jason | Jul 23, 2008 1:08:51 PM
Only non-life-threatening injuries? Maybe he could be elected to a house seat from Mass. but if he wants the senate he'll have to show more commitment.
Posted by: Peter | Jul 23, 2008 1:23:06 PM
This should come as no surprise - after all, this what his party has done to the country.
Posted by: malik | Jul 23, 2008 1:24:32 PM
I had to drive my bosses corvette once -the line-of-sight was terrible. I can totally believe he could hit someone and have no clue.
Posted by: BMurphyNYC | Jul 23, 2008 1:42:46 PM
Thanks for sharing that evil Bob wasn't hurt what about the guy without a metal car to protect him? Add Bob's not knowing you hot someone to ur list of not knowing things Bob!
Posted by: EJS | Jul 23, 2008 1:49:19 PM
Only the most cold and callous would try to make an incident like this political. It has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with a man who thinks he's above the law. Novak is only sorry that he got caught.
Posted by: Liz | Jul 23, 2008 1:52:03 PM
So Robert Novak hits a pedestrian with his car and doesn't stop to help the victim? Just more of that Republican “compassionate conservatism" at work I guess!
Posted by: Michael | Jul 23, 2008 2:07:24 PM
Lucky thing he was driving a Corvette, unlike Sean Hannity who thinks every American should have a $56,000 Yukon Hybrid like his, and can't understand why everyone doesn't rush out and buy one, otherwise the pedestrian probably would have been 'smushed'.
Posted by: devilkev | Jul 23, 2008 2:17:09 PM
Talk about watering down a story. Non mainstream media have quotes from the bicyclist who chased Novak down. He was clearly fleeing and the cyclist had to get in front and block him. According to this Good Samaritan, Novak was still trying to flee when being confronted.
Why doesn't ABC give us the real story?
Posted by: Janet Place | Jul 23, 2008 2:45:57 PM
To Jake Tapper:
Obama today said he was on the senate banking committee.
Only problem is he isn't.
You haven't posted on this. Why won't you post on this HUGE gaffe.
If McCain said this you liberal reporters would have all gone to your battle stations.
Posted by: Steve | Jul 23, 2008 2:51:57 PM
I bet the pedestrian looked like Valerie Plame.
Posted by: Richard Rasmussen | Jul 23, 2008 2:53:49 PM
He's 77 years old and driving a Corvette? Maybe he needs to be retested to see if he is still 100% capable of safely driving a car. It's not a bad idea. And if the car he is driving is such that he does not have a clear view of pedestrians and traffic around him, perhaps he needs to drive a car that will enable him to drive in a safer manner. Lord knows he probably has the money to buy one.
Posted by: jsp81355 | Jul 23, 2008 2:54:50 PM
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