# I Pit Bob Novak for being a hit-and-run driver **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 24, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572 "2008-07-24T01:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/41 "2008-07-25T14:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Caffeine.addict] I bet this kind of accident happens quite a bit in DC. DC has a bad combination of aggressive drivers and aggressive pedestrians. [/QUOTE] Another factor increasing the danger in DC intersections is the position of the traffic lights. In order to maintain the quaint architectural beauty of the city, the lights are often not strung directly over the travel lanes, but set off to the side on poles standing on the corner sidewalks. These poles are pretty short and ornate, covered with colorful Parking/No Parking restrictions, and festooned with posters from local bands and crazies. Being off to the side means you have to look away from traffic and the crosswalk to check the light – then back to where you’re driving, during which time the light may go yellow. It seems like a dangerous pattern. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/42 "2008-07-25T14:50:30Z")
Add to that about half the intersections in DC are at odd angles. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/43 "2008-07-25T14:52:36Z")
Does everyone feel skivvy after defending Novak, or is it just me? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/44 "2008-07-25T14:57:37Z")
I think that defending the fact that accidents happen, even to assholes, is what’s going on. What’s inexcuseable, and what noone’s defending, is his keeping going after the accident and pretending he didn’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/45 "2008-07-25T15:27:20Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen] Does everyone feel skivvy after defending Novak, or is it just me? [/QUOTE] Well I feel quite skeevy contemplating Novak in his underwear. Ewwwwwww! How can a supposedly aware driver not sense that he’s making enough contact with a pedestrian to knock them off their feet, even if they don’t roll up on the hood or make contact with the windshield? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/46 "2008-07-26T02:35:29Z")
Novak had another [unfortunate incident in 2004](http://www.tmz.com/2008/07/24/right-winger-a-serial-dinger/), when he, “…failed to obey a red traffic light … entered into the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 6th St. at a high rate of speed and violently struck the motor vehicle being operated by Plaintiff Chad Clarke.” He was sued for $100,000 plus costs. The case was settled out of court with an undisclosed settlement. If I have my timing right, Novak had attended a racing school in Florida a year earlier in 2003 (or at least it was reported in 2003 in WAPO’s Reliable Source column). "I’ve wanted to be a race car driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/47 "2008-07-26T03:10:52Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] 1. He admitted his mistake [/QUOTE] If he continued, knowing he’d hit a pedestrian, it’s not a mistake, it’s a crime. And if he really wants to maintain that he was oblivious to having hit a man with his car, I hope he loses his license for being clearly incompetent to drive. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/48 "2008-07-26T12:26:43Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen] Add to that about half the intersections in DC are at odd angles. [/QUOTE] 18th and K intersect at right angles, though, so that didn’t come into play here. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/49 "2008-07-28T21:12:00Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] Nope, “it’s” is the contraction of it is, and “its” is the possessive of “it.” I might suspect a whoosh, if not for the overconfident triple grinning smilie. Here’s a tip, if you are going to be pedantic on this board, you’d better be good. And that was fourth-grade stuff, maybe eighth-grade if you went to public school. [/QUOTE] It was a whoosh. Mommy was a schoolteacher. Daddy was a newspaperman. I screwed up that level of grammar? Lawdy god, it was like Carrie White being locked into Her Special Closet with the glow in the dark Jesus At Golgotha. :eek: However, fighting ignorance is about putting the truth out there even at the expense of a smarmy moment. ETA: **Gala Matrix Fire** - what??? Please cite the story to which you refer. Who died?? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/50 "2008-07-28T21:25:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] ETA: **Gala Matrix Fire** - what??? Please cite the story to which you refer. Who died?? [/QUOTE] As a teenager, she blew a stop sign while driving and hit a car, killing [the driver, who happened to be an ex-boyfriend or previous love interest.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dutton_Douglas). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/51 "2008-07-29T00:28:48Z")
Apparently hitting something with your car and not realizing it [can be a symptom of a brain tumor](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/206001.php), and doctors are sometimes taught to check for the latter when people don’t realize they’ve hit something with their car. Who knew? This Pitting may have been wrongheaded. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/52 "2008-07-29T03:01:46Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Apparently hitting something with your car and not realizing it [can be a symptom of a brain tumor](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/206001.php), and doctors are sometimes taught to check for the latter when people don’t realize they’ve hit something with their car. Who knew? This Pitting may have been wrongheaded. [/QUOTE] I don’t think so. I think there is a fair chance this is scheme by Novak to wiggle out of the impending and severve consequences of the hit and run. I would need independent medical confirmation (ie not his own doc) of his self proclaimed tumor before I believed a word of it. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/53 "2008-07-29T12:25:27Z")
[QUOTE=astro] I don’t think so. I think there is a fair chance this is scheme by Novak to wiggle out of the impending and severve consequences of the hit and run. I would need independent medical confirmation (ie not his own doc) of his self proclaimed tumor before I believed a word of it. [/QUOTE] You think he’s faking a brain tumor!? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/54 "2008-07-29T12:35:11Z")
[QUOTE=muttrox] You think he’s faking a brain tumor!? [/QUOTE] Creating a cover story is one thing, but having an unnecessary biopsy would really be something else. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/55 "2008-07-29T13:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Creating a cover story is one thing, but having an unnecessary biopsy would really be something else. [/QUOTE] Maybe he’s just jealous of all the attention Ted Kennedy’s getting. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/56 "2008-07-29T14:03:50Z")
[QUOTE=astro] I don’t think so. I think there is a fair chance this is scheme by Novak to wiggle out of the impending and severve consequences of the hit and run. I would need independent medical confirmation (ie not his own doc) of his self proclaimed tumor before I believed a word of it. [/QUOTE] From what I recall, all he is facing is a $50.00 fine. I don’t think he would risk trashing his reputation any further to get out of paying $50.00. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/57 "2008-07-30T01:31:41Z")
[QUOTE=muttrox] Maybe he’s just jealous of all the attention Ted Kennedy’s getting. [/QUOTE] Life imitating art? " The Bag List " comes to the Senate !!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572/58 "2008-07-30T12:10:45Z")
He’s stopping writing and getting ready for treatment. > **[Columnist Novak is diagnosed with brain tumor](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jul-29-na-novak29-story.html)** > > He will take a break from work while he undergoes treatment. I gotta admit, this guy \*commits \*to a bit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bob-novak-for-being-a-hit-and-run-driver/457572.md?page=2)