Over 4,000 people a year are injured by ‘hit and run’ drivers in London, according to new figures revealed by Green Party members of the London Assembly. Nearly 20 of these victims die every year and another 500 are seriously injured. Green Party London Assembly member Jenny Jones called for a clampdown on uninsured driving and more resources for traffic policing to end London’s epidemic of hit and run collision.
Green Party member of the London Assembly Jenny Jones – who also acts as the Mayor’s Green Transport Advisor – commented:
"We need more action by the police to end the cowardly crime of hit and run driving in London. It is terrible that people are being left for dead by drivers who believe they are beyond the law. The sad reality is that the drivers failure to stop is part of a well established pattern of behaviour in London, with over eighty people a week being injured in collisions involving hit and run drivers."
Hit and run collisions are a particularly serious problem in London, accounting for nearly 13 per cent of collisions causing death and serious injury compared to just 8.1 per cent nationwide. In some boroughs such as Hackney, drivers flee the scene in a quarter of all collisions. Jenny added,
"London has halved the number of traffic police in the last twelve years and as a result we live in a city where many drivers expect to break the rules and get away with it. We need a clampdown on road tax and insurance evasion, and we need the police to take these offences seriously again."
Notes:
1. Hit and run is a serious problem throughout London. In the UK in 2004, 12% of all injury collisions and 8% of all collisions resulting in death or serious injury involved hit and run. In London, 15% of injury collisions and 13% of collisions resulting in death or serious injury involved hit and run – significantly higher than the national average. Overall in London in 2004, there were 4,379 collisions involving a ‘hit and run’ vehicle. These collisions resulted in 4,898 casualties, of which 19 were killed and 499 were seriously injured and 4,380 slightly injured.
2. There is strong evidence that hit and run is associated with uninsured and unlicensed driving. In 2001, 30% of drivers who were convicted of failing to stop or failing to report an accident were also successfully convicted of driving without insurance.
3. The number and proportion of hit and run collisions in each London borough is available in table form from the Green Party Press Office.