The number of people killed or seriously injured in hit-and-run incidents on London’s roads rose last year by more than 12 per cent.
On average, 66 people were injured in such collisions in the capital every week.
Fatalities for the year rose by one to 15, while the number of victims seriously injured rose from 306 in 2011 to 345 last year, according to the Transport for London figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request. Altogether, 3,452 people were victims of hit-and-run accidents in London in 2012.
London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones said: “The police have got to take this issue seriously, there is no other way of tackling it.
“The Met has made a lot of progress in tackling the problem of ‘hit-and-run’ drivers in recent years by removing thousands of uninsured and unlicensed drivers from our streets.” She said she believed that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe had “a much more proactive attitude to it, but they must do more.
“Traffic police do one of the most dangerous jobs in the Met. They are in the front line of dealing with London’s lawless roads. We must support the police in their efforts to crack down on these illegal and criminal drivers.
“The police must keep going but the number of traffic officers is being cut year after year.”
