'If it was London it would be 5 lanes' - 14 things you said about safety on the A19

Motorists have been sharing their views on the A19 one year on from the launch of a safety campaign.
The Safe A19 campaign launched last year.The Safe A19 campaign launched last year.
The Safe A19 campaign launched last year.

Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, led calls for a safety review into the road due to the number of collisions and traffic jams on the section of the route stretching from Boldon to Wolviston.

We backed his appeal with the launch of our Safe A19 campaign, which has been signed by more than 2,000 people. Mr Morris said the road was suffering from a lack of Government investment - and one year on from the launch of the appeal, he has pledged to hold the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency to account.

The Safe A19 campaign launched last year.The Safe A19 campaign launched last year.
The Safe A19 campaign launched last year.
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Some have insisted there is nothing wrong with the condition of the road, and instead have blamed drivers' stupidity and errors for constant delays and collisions.

But the MP has said he is not willing to accept that driver error is solely responsible, and added: "The A19 remains an accident black spot."

A spokesman for the DfT said the government is spending more than £13 billion to transform northern transport by 2020.

Here's what you had to say about the issue on our social media pages:

Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, has called for a safety review into the route.Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, has called for a safety review into the route.
Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, has called for a safety review into the route.
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Chris Williams: "There is nothing wrong with 'the road' it's idiots who don't know how to use it properly who make it as bad as it is.

"It has two lanes, use them instead of everyone just sitting in the fast doing 40mph and leave half mile or mile long gaps in the slow lane.

"We cannot carry on to blame 'the road' when people aren't even using it correctly everyday."

Shaun Keelan: "Everyone can make mistakes but don't blame the road use it properly and follow rules of the road and everyone would be fine."

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Phil Oakes: "North East used to be a good place to drive around but now its just as bad as everywhere else."

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Read more: What our Safe A19 campaign is about and how you can help

Paul Grainger: "Either make it 50mph and put SPECS cameras up in certain areas (Easington, Wolviston, Tees Flyover, etc.) or close some of the silly side junctions with ridiculously small merging lanes, some don't have one at all."

Evelyn Hudson: "Something really needs to be done here there are too many accidents on this road. I always use it on my way home to visit family and I pray each time I'm not involved in one of those accidents."

Pete Bogg: "The road wasn't designed for the volume of traffic it has now. Slips are inadequate in places, a slip road on the bridge is a crazy design and carriages regularly flood.

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"Not the road? Until those issues are addressed, average speed cameras need to be installed to stop speeding and measures introduced to stop drivers on the bridge slip moving out to try and get ahead of a dozen cars waiting.

"Poor road design makes drivers act like idiots but speeding is a problem everywhere but are there as many accidents on the A1?"

Wilf Newall: "It should be brought up to motorway standards, if it was London it would be five lanes."

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Karen Dawson: "Terrible road that's no longer fit for purpose. Needs speed limit of 50 or 60 and the slip roads need updating."

Colin Dent: "The A19 is a major route to the North East and beyond it should be another lane added both North and South."

Stuart Lee: "Whole road is a death trap, that's before the idiots get on either ridiculously slowly or bat out of hell fast, needs major overhaul."

David Wheelhouse: "If you drive sensibly and to the weather and road conditions you won't be in a collision."

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Neil Lang: "Irrespective of the driver error debate - the A19 needs sorting out, it's horrendous at times but too many push the money in the direction of the big cities, (just look at what's been spent on the A1) and the transport infrastructure around those a lot of money needs spending on it especially around Teesside and Sunderland as the amount of traffic using it daily is increasing."

Stu Rounthwaite: "A road is only as dangerous as the idiots on it. Mobile phone usage, speeding, and people never using indicators - those are dangers, not a piece of tarmac."

Jamie Witts: "Too many impatient drivers on that road is the problem."

*For more information about our Safe A19 petition, visit it online here. More than 2,000 people have signed up so far.