The figures, obtained in a Freedom of Information request by the London Assembly Green group, come just days after Sri Lankan Jeyaratnam Kandiah, 43, was knocked down and killed in Croydon by a BMW driver who went through a red light at 60mph and then sped away.
Last night a 72-year-old woman was killed in East India Dock Road by a driver who failed to stop but who then returned to the scene later. The total number of hit-and-runs in London fell to 23,066 in 2013 — a rate of 63 incidents a day — compared to 24,059 the previous year.
However, campaigners say the proportion of hit-and-run accidents is rising and now makes up a fifth of all collisions in London.
The Green Party’s Jenny Jones said: “This is a worrying trend which the Met Police need to treat as a priority. Hit-and-runs are associated with other illegal activities such as drunk driving, speeding, being disqualified or simply having no insurance.
“When a city has almost a fifth of its injuries from road collisions being linked to hit-and-runs, then the Mayor ought to be demanding that police enforce the rules of the road”. She called for police to get “the resources and political backing to get on top of our lawless roads.”
The Met said it “treats road crime with the seriousness it deserves”, and Mayor Boris Johnson’s office said: “We take Londoners’ safety very seriously.”
