‘EXCRUCIATING’

Pedestrian Safety Campaign Star Seriously Injured in Hit-and-Run

A car hit Stephen Grasty so hard that his shoes flew off.

A man who was once the face of a Washington, D.C., pedestrian safety campaign was severely injured in a hit-and-run over the weekend. Stephen Grasty, 29, appeared on billboards for the safety program Street Smart 10 years ago, with images showing a black tire mark running down his face alongside the phrase: “Pedestrians don’t come with airbags.” Early Sunday, Grasty was hospitalized after being hit by a car as he rode a scooter near the Washington Monument. A police report said the car had jerked sideways and struck Grasty before driving off. “He was in excruciating pain,” Shelly Grasty, his mother, told The Washington Post. The impact, which was powerful enough to knock the safety campaigner out of his shoes, left him with injuries including a broken leg, foot, and vertebra. He underwent neck surgery on Wednesday and authorities were still investigating the incident as of Thursday, according to D.C. police.