AS a regular commuter and road user, I am forever grateful when I am able to leave Herefordshire and travel on the safer roads of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

Both counties successfully employ traffic-calming mechanisms as opposed to Herefordshire’s more laissez-faire approach.

The A4103 between Hereford and Worcester has to be one of the most dangerous roads and driving on it is a truly ‘white knuckle’ experience. I regularly witness many near misses, reckless overtaking on double white lines and unrestrained speeding of which the HGV is playing a much larger role.

Closure of the road due to accidents is a regular feature and as of late the road has descended into lawless chaos.

The worst areas are the three-lane ‘racetracks’ east and west of Fromes Hill and Lower Eggleton. Whilst these areas may not be the site of greatest carnage, the unfettered aggression in these zones sets the tone for the rest of the A4103 in Herefordshire.

I am not aware of any action taken by Hereford- shire Council to address this crisis. I am, however, aware that there are stretches of this road where the council has deemed that traffic conditions are so dangerous that the collection of waste, via the wheelie bin, is prohibited to safeguard operatives.

Surely if a road is too dangerous for this, it has to be too dangerous for all road users.

I truly empathise with home owners whose properties adjoin this highway; they must be constantly living with the worry of an HGV or speeding car colliding with their dwelling.

I wonder whether other readers share my fear of driving in Herefordshire and would like the council, combined with the power of the police force, to take urgent definitive action to calm traffic on the A4103.

Surely we must protect our young drivers from these weekly accidents on our county roads.

MARY POWELL Cradley