New figures reveal that the number of hit-and-run collisions in England and Wales has risen by nearly half in four years.
A Freedom of Information request by BBC News discovered that there were 28,010 recorded incidents in 2017, up 45 per cent from 19,239 in 2013.
Of the 45 police forces approached for information, 27 responded, with nationwide increases recorded in each year.
No data was provided for Northern Ireland, while in Scotland the number of hit-and-runs fell across the period.
Calling for tougher sentences for the offence than the maximum six months in jail that currently applies in the absence of a separate conviction for careless or dangerous driving, road safety charity Brake said: “Hit-and-run drivers who kill must face the same penalties as those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, removing the current incentive for some to flee the scene.”
However, the Home Office highlighted a 39 per cent drop in road traffic casualties during the decade to 2017 and put the onus on police forces to tackle the issue.
In a statement, it said: “It is for chief constables and locally elected police and crime commissioners to decide how to deploy their resources in response to local priorities.”
7 thoughts on “Hit-and-run collisions in England and Wales up by nearly half in four years”
Penalties are fucking
Penalties are fucking worthless if there’s no fucking police.
See also: penalty points for using your phone while driving.
Why is anyone surprised, we
Why is anyone surprised, we already know that over 1million motorists have niether insurance, VED, MOT or even a driving licence, why would these scumbags and obviously many of those with all the correct documentation,checks worry about driving away when the police are more bothered about whether you as a cyclist have a helmet, hi-vis or if you’d antagonised or ‘swerved’ 10cm.
Yup, we clearly need new laws for cyclists with this level of criminality occuring!
Quote – However, the Home
Quote – However, the Home Office highlighted a 39 per cent drop in road traffic casualties during the decade to 2017 and put the onus on police forces to tackle the issue.
In a statement, it said: “It is for chief constables and locally elected police and crime commissioners to decide how to deploy their resources in response to local priorities.” – Unquote
Not our problem. Now if we close our eyes, pass the buck, wash our hands and put a spin on the problem, hopefully it will all go away!
Pushing50 wrote:
Odd that the home office distances itself from the problem and blames local police forces when the funding cuts *by central government* are arguably the cause of the problem…
brooksby wrote:
I don’t think it’s arguable. Police forces have to make some tough decisions and roads policing is, for the most part, lower priority than chasing some of the many other scumbags that are prevalent.
I would like to include Councils to that sentence but IME Shropshire Council has plenty of money for stupid large-scale projects and ever decreasing budgets for adult and child social care, public transport and other stuff that councils are supposed to provide.
If anyone voted Conservative thinking that they would provide a more ‘efficient’ use of taxes than Labour then they have ignored Tory fiscal policy for the last 40 years – ever more generous tax breaks for the rich, demonisation of the poor, running down and selling off public property. They have had a worse record than Labour since WWII (source) and ‘austerity’ is Cameron & co’s excuse to embolden those plans and screw as many people as possible before sailing off into their gilded, even more wealthy sunset.
Not odd at all. They’re
Not odd at all. They’re insulating themselves from the problem. It’s the same issue with the terrible state of the roads. Road repairs are the council’s responsibility. Council funding has been slashed, but that was all in the name of austerity and no one can argue with that. You end up with a huge disconnect between the problem and the resources needed to fix it.
vonhelmet wrote:
The net result of ‘devolution’ in England has been the outsourcing of responsibility for making cuts across the board.
Central funding slashed, like you say – and you can blame your council when they stop collecting your bins or close your library, because it was the council’s choice as to what was actually cut.
Of course, ‘austerity’ hasn’t really meant ‘austerity’ under New Labour and the Tories. It’s actually meant ‘find £4-500bn for the banking system, and then cut facilities for people at the bottom of the pile who really need them, in order to pretend to be clawing some of the money back’. But that isn’t as catchy.