A bus driver from Bethlehem is being lauded as folk hero in the cycling community after his quick work to prevent a would-be hit-and-run driver from fleeing the scene.
LANTA bus driver Richard Gubish, Jr. was watching in his rear view mirror when a 17-year-old driver rear-ended a local cyclist. When the driver attempted to flee the scene, Gublish acted fast to prevent escape, even inspiring other motorists to cooperate in the arrest, according to the police account of the situation:
Mr. Gubish took immediate and decisive action and positioned his bus across the lanes of the bridge, effectively blocking the path of the getaway driver. Another witness to the crash, Judson Smull, stopped to render aid to the injured Pavlick, who implored Smull to go after the offending driver to get the license plate. Smull also took immediate action, and following the lead of Mr. Gubish, positioned his car directly behind the offending vehicle, further blocking any attempt to escape.
The next person to cross the bridge was a local police officer. He apprehended the juvenile driver and charged him with violating the state's brand new four-foot passing law, passed earlier that morning.
Here's another interesting twist: the blogosphere credited Bethlehem's Coalition for Appropriate Transportation for helping educate the local police force about the law. The victim, Frank Pavlick, works for the organization, helping manage the Bethlehem Bicycle cooperative. He was not badly injured.
