THE statistics of death and injury speak for themselves. Nearly 50 accidents on a three-kilometre stretch of the A64 between York and Malton since 1995 meant the Highways Agency had to act.

Today's announcement that a plan has been devised to tackle the problem is but a teetering step forward. The plan does nothing to address the most serious section of road, Golden Hill, where a "crawler" lane has claimed life after life.

Three lanes on a single road - two going one way, one the other, separated only by white lines - do not work. Never have.

They were outlawed around most of the country more than 20 years ago after being responsible for much motoring mayhem.

Instead of tackling the root of the real problem by getting rid of this third lane on Golden Hill, the Highways Agency has come up with a package of measures which it admits are experimental and which will be monitored over the next few months.

That package includes some road markings, including chevrons and red surfacing, more road signs and extra visibility on "wider" bends. The difficult approach to the York-bound A64 from Malton will be narrowed.

It all smacks of pennypinching, a cheap box of tricks that may be no more effective than sticking a plaster on a severed artery. Of course, the Highways Agency faces the dilemma of keeping traffic moving at a reasonable speed on a major road. Eradicating the crawler lane would mean heavy lorries slowing down the traffic up Golden Hill.

No scheme will ever make road conditions idiot proof. Drivers have to accept responsibility where conditions are hazardous. But contra-flow, three-lane carriageways are an infamous hazard and an irresistible temptation to irresponsible drivers.

Hopefully the experimental measures will achieve some improvement. But the guinea pigs in this experiment are human beings.

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, January 11, 2001