The number of hit-and-run collisions in London has hit a record high as campaigners warn that drivers not stopping after a crash has become “almost normalised”.
There were 7,708 incidents recorded in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, up 14 per cent on the 7,079 recorded the previous year.
A total of 761 people were seriously injured and 12 killed in fail-to-stop collisions in 2021. This compared with 682 serious injuries and 14 fatalities in 2020.
Caroline Russell, a Green member of the London Assembly who carried out the research, said the number of casualties had more than doubled since 2009.
At least 167 people have been killed in hit-and-run collisions in London between 2009 and 2021.
Earlier this month, a 28-year-old woman pedestrian and the two dogs she was walking were killed on the A10 at Edmonton. The driver sped off, according to police.
Ms Russell said: “This apparent increase in irresponsible and dangerous driving on our roads is worrying. In 2021 there were nearly two-and-a-half times as many hit-and-run casualties on London’s roads as there were in 2009.
"Not stopping after a collision seems to be almost normalised and the people that do it appear not to care about their victims or to fear any legal consequences.”
Ms Russell called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to introduce a “hit-and-run action plan” and to set a target to reduce such collisions as part of his Vision Zero strategy.
She also said there was a need for police and TfL to gather better data on hit-and-run collisions. She has been waiting almost a year for information on the number of people killed or injured in hit-and-run collisions in 2022.
Mr Khan has a target of eliminating all road deaths in London by 2041, but TfL admit an 11 per cent annual increase in deaths and serious injuries between 2021 and 2022 has made the target harder to achieve.
There were 102 road deaths in London in 2022. There is no specific target to tackle hit-and-run collisions.
It is a criminal offence under the Road Traffic Act to fail to stop at the scene of a collision. Offenders can be jailed for up to six months.
Ms Russell’s research named Tower Hamlets as the worst borough for fail-to-stop collisions, with 457 casualties in 2021. It was followed by Lambeth, Westminster, Newham and Southwark. Kingston had the fewest (75).
A total of 1,859 cyclists were injured by hit-and-run drivers in 2021, as were 1,327 pedestrians and 1,363 moped or scooter riders.
The research came as Transport for London revealed a link between poverty and road safety, with the most deprived postcodes having more than double the rate of casualties – from all kinds of road crashes – than the capital’s most affluent areas.
Lilli Matson, TfL’s chief safety, health and environment officer, said: “Protecting everyone on the road is a priority for us. Without safe streets people won’t choose the most healthy and sustainable modes of transport.”
