Sir, – In the trial resulting from the recent tragic accident near the Shepherd and Flock roundabout, the judge called for safety measures to be reviewed there.

The whole arrangement of this flawed gyratory system should be inspected by a competent highway engineer. The access points on the north side of this vast traffic island need traffic lights. At present, drivers heading for Alton have to cross three lanes of non-stop traffic, resulting in long queues. How much town centre congestion is caused by motorists avoiding this hazard?

Any driver who succeeds in reaching the roundabout is then faced with a unique peril. The only exit from the system is onto the fast lane of a busy dual carriageway. No matter how large or slow moving, every vehicle heading south, starts off on the wrong side of the road. Any driver attempting to move in the the nearside lane, will find this already filled with fast through traffic, which has by-passed the roundabout completely.

This arrangement breaks the most basic British Rule of the Road, that overtaking must always be on the right. Even the general roundabout rule of giving way to traffic from the right, is suspended here.

Junctions with altered priorities are not uncommon, but these are normally well signed and protected. There is not a single sign on this section to warn either lane of the dangers ahead. That there is not a serious accident every day, is a tribute to the skill of those who have to negotiate these hazards.

The A31 is a busy road, much used by tourists and others who may not be familiar with its fatal peculiarities. The section between Runfold and Bentley, has long been a toll road, with the tolls paid in human life and suffering. The particular dangers at the Shepherd and Flock must be known to the authorities, yet nothing is done to remove them.

The latest accident has resulted in more lives lost, and others ruined. How great a disaster must there be, before those minor improvements are made, which will remove this potential death-trap for ever?

J S Harwood, Nightingale Road, Godalming.