I AM one of the drivers who has to travel on a stretch of the A34 every day to and from work.

Oftentimes, I get off at my junction and think, 'there but for the grace.'

Whether it's lorries overtaking lorries, speeding, dangerous lane-darting or some big potholes (there's a huge, poorly-repaired one northbound just past the Marcham junction by the way, highways) –– there are myriad reasons that road is so dangerous.

Sometimes it really does feel like you take your life in your hands when you get on the A34.

And the statistics show this isn't an exaggeration - 3,412 people have been killed or injured in crashes in five years.

At the centre of all of this is one explanation – the A34 simply isn't adequate for the volume of traffic it now has to take. Huge HGVs use it as a daily route from Winchester right up to the Midlands, and lots of the people who've moved onto sprawling estates, like Great Western Park, jump on it for their morning commute. Easy links through Oxford are actually used on sales material for these housing estates!

The police are carrying out safety checks on HGVs right along the A34 as part of the ongoing Operation Trunk; but how much should it be up to the police, already under the strain of slashed resources, to, well, police? 

As drivers (and this also very much applies to the companies which own those HGVS), we all have a responsibility to heed the warnings and drive as safely as possible - on this road and any road. 

But put bluntly, the A34 is a killer and the government needs to take it seriously before it claims any more lives.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.