A year ago, a mystery driver struck Damian Kevitt as he was riding his bike near the Gene Autry Western Museum.
The driver dragged him a quarter mile, breaking dozens of bones, fracturing his ribs, shattering his shoulders and severing his leg. Then the driver left Kevitt in a pool of blood.
"This was a bad day," Kevitt said. "Worst day of almost my death. I'm still recovering. I'm still doing physical therapy."
He lives with the pain of unanswered questions. Who did this? Why aren't they facing justice? Will they ever?
"As soon as you run — whether or not you're at fault — you're a criminal," Kevitt said.
Kevitt is launching a billboard campaign within a week. His message: that the epidemic is bad and getting worse. Some 7,500 people are injured or killed every year in Los Angeles County.
"We're talking one every hour," Kevitt said.
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He said his campaign will appeal to peoples' sense of decency.
Robert Bonanomi, whose son, Michael, was struck and killed by a mystery driver in Studio City, thinks the campaign is a good idea.
"Hopefully, it makes everybody realize that it's a community issue, a community responsibility," Bonanomi said.
Like all the other victims and their families, Bonanomi and Kevitt are already living with their pain. They're thinking about future victims.
"It's got to stop," Kevitt said.
