They come up with the most mind-bogglingly stupid ideas on some occasions, and you just think that if they had ever been behind the wheel at that junction or this blind bend, they would have seen how ridiculous it was.

Not so, and the reason is because they see the world through a great big fog of statistics.

Endless numbers are punched into endless data files and come out with a result that proves that their latest ridiculous idea is not only sensible, but essential to improve safety and reduce accidents.

Their latest devastating piece of brilliance has been the removal of the little bit of dual carriageway on the A 143 to Bury St Edmunds, just beyond Stradishall crossroads.

I have never heard of one person complaining about this bit of road.
Furthermore in 30 years I cannot remember one fatal accident there, or even a serious one, although they say there have been some.

I may be wrong and I may have missed or forgotten some tragedy there, for which I apologise in advance, but if that is the case, the very fact that I have forgotten it proves this is not a stretch of road which has given an impression of danger.

Rather the complete opposite. I would hazard a guess (impossible to prove either way) that this little bit of dual carriageway has actually saved quite a few lives.

The A143 between Haverhill and Bury is a notoriously frustrating road, because it gives very few opportunities to overtake a vehicle travelling at 40-50mph, particularly a lorry.

If you are very lucky and have a car with reasonable acceleration, you can do it on Chedburgh straight.

I have seen many people take ridiculous risks on that bit of road, probably because it was pretty much the only place between Bury and the Stradishall dual carriageway.

Now it is pretty much the only place between Haverhill and Bury.
The dual carriageway acted as a safety valve.

Travelling from Haverhill you would wait for it – if you were sensible.
When I was younger and more foolhardy, and when there was a lot less traffic on the road, I used to try to nick by around Stradishall Cherry Tree, but I wouldn't do it now because you just can't see far enough – and I can remember fatal accidents there.

The other day I followed two learner drivers from around Barnardiston heading to Bury. You know they are going there because that's what learners do.

They travel around 40-50mph, and quite right, too.

Everyone has to learn and I was one once, so I always have respect for them.

A few weeks ago it wouldn't have bothered me at all, because I knew I would pass them on Stradishall dual carriageway.

But now I knew I was in for a slower journey to Bury than it might have been.

It didn't matter, but if I had been in a hurry, the temptation would have been to try to sneak by somewhere else along the road – and that is what people will now do.

The traffic engineers tell us the dual carriageway was too short to be safe, and people had accidents at either end, trying to get past one more vehicle.

That happens on all dual carriageways, due to the apparently inbred impatience of many drivers.

What the engineers have totally failed to take into account is the safety valve function of the stretch of road they have now removed.
Maybe accidents won't happen there, but I wouldn't mind betting they will happen elsewhere because of this change.

The figures, of course, will then show that some other part of the road is dangerous, and that is all the engineers' tunnel vision will allow them to see.

If that's the vision they use on the road, better steer clear of them.