The Los Angeles City Council agreed Friday to a $6.6 million payment to the family of a woman killed by a speeding police patrol car.

The unanimous decision marks the largest amount of taxpayer funds the city has ever paid to resolve a Los Angeles Police Department traffic collision, surpassing a $5 million payout it made in another fatal LAPD crash last year.

Car crashes have emerged as an intractable problem for the LAPD that, in turn, has cost the city considerably as it is forced to either settle the resulting lawsuits or fight them in court. Including the current settlement, the city has paid about $30 million to resolve about 400 LAPD traffic-related lawsuits over the past decade and must contend with dozens more pending cases, city records show.

Despite assurances made in recent months by police officials that the department will improve the way it investigates officer accidents, some council members have grown increasingly frustrated with the LAPD’s apparent inability to get a handle on the issue.

The steady run of lawsuits often puts the council in a no-win situation as it is left little choice but to approve the large settlements in order to avoid the risk of a jury imposing an even greater amount.

“We have no choice,” said Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who would not discuss the particulars of the case.

The payment stems from a 2010 collision in which 27-year-old Jovanna Lugo’s car was broadsided by a LAPD vehicle as she pulled out of her driveway and onto a city street where the posted speed limit was 35 mph.