New highway hero

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Updated Dec 14, 2009

“I don’t wear a cape, I don’t have a mask. I can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound. I’m no hero.” Such were the words of Pennsylvania-based trucker George Lantzy in a March 18 broadcast segment from ABC 7 news in Arlington, Va. (video is embedded below). He was responding to reports hailing him as a hero for a daring move he made in his rig to keep unconscious Joanne Haplin of Steubenville, Ohio, from swerving over the median on US 22 in West Virginia into oncoming traffic.

Lantzy says he noticed she was unconscious after pulling alongside her white sedan, after which he sped up and got in front of her car to slow it down with his trailer and brakes. One more remarkable thing about the whole incident is that it was caught at least partly on police video, some of which is in the segment below. Lantzy deserves a nomination for next year’s Goodyear Highway Hero award, wouldn’t you say? (As a side note, the owner-operator I wrote about a couple weeks back eventually was named for the highest honor at the Mid-America Trucking Show. More info here.)
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