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LAPD Says There Were An Estimated 20,000 Hit-And-Runs In 2012

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A city council committee met Friday to discuss efforts by the Los Angeles Police Department to curb hit-and-run accidents.

Members of the Los Angeles City Council's Public Safety Committee asked the LAPD to provide clear numbers identifying the scope of the problem and specific ways to deal with it.

The LAPD estimates that there were 20,000 hit-and-run accidents in 2012. Of those, about 4,000 involved injuries, CBS2's Randy Paige reports.

"I want to see it geographically as well to see if there is an issue that we have to address in a particular part of the city," said Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander who also serves as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

"We want to make sure that we go after these people that are committing these types of heinous crimes," Englander said.

Marie Hardwick, a hit-and-run survivor, told Paige she's glad the city is responding to the problem of hit-and-run drivers.

The 25-year-old jewelry artist was struck by a hit-and-run driver while legally crossing a street in downtown Los Angeles last March.

"My femur was broken in 5 places. The knee cap was broken. Fractures and things like that. And then my right leg, one of my ligaments just blew out and like three-quarters of the knee cap came out," she recalled.

"People also need to be more aware when they're driving a car that they are driving a weapon," she said.

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