Three people died yesterday and four were seriously hurt in a day of tragedy on Sussex roads.

Two crashes jammed major routes through the county as emergency services dealt with the injured and cleared wreckage.

A third crash claimed the life of a 59-year-old man who was at the wheel of a Ferrari at the Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Sussex Ambulance spokeswoman Janine Bell said: "Unfortunately, fatal road traffic accidents are not unusual but to have three in a day is particularly unusual, especially given the good weather conditions.

"It was not icy and there was no heavy rain. It is very sad. Our sympathies are with the families of all those who have been bereaved."

The Ferrari, driven by a man from Norfolk, crashed at the Goodwood circuit at 3.50pm.

The driver died and the passenger, another man, was taken by ambulance to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester with serious injuries. No other cars were involved and police and Chichester District Council launched an investigation.

Just 40 minutes earlier, the passenger of a Land Rover Freelander was killed in a head-on collision with a Vauxhall 4x4.

The incident took place on the A22 between Halland and Stone Cross, just south of East Hoathly. The road was still shut during last night's rush hour.

Three people were taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital, a woman with possible back injuries, a man with serious head and leg injuries and another man with serious head and back injuries who was taken by helicopter.

Earlier yesterday, a driver was killed when his van smashed into the back of an articulated lorry on the eastbound carriageway of the A27 at Hove, between the Hangleton interchange and Dyke Road.

East Sussex Fire Brigade doused the van with water after smoke was seen pouring from the engine bay. Its 35-year-old driver, from Worthing, suffered serious chest and other injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man, who has not been named, was working for Edgar's Cool Water, which supplies spring water to offices.

Simon Edgar, the company's managing director, said: "The whole company is in shock. It has been a horrendous day and our condolences go out to the family." The 31-year-old lorry driver involved, who is from Ireland, was uninjured.

Eastbound A27 traffic was diverted from the slip road at Hangleton while the scene was cleared. The Southwick tunnel was also closed.

More people died on Sussex roads last year than in 2003 despite there being fewer crashes.

Between January 1 and December 31, 2004, there were 96 road accidents in which 109 died, compared to the same period in 2003 in which there were 98 accidents and 105 fatalities.

Eight people - including a two-year-old boy - died on May 16 when a BMW travelling south crossed the A23 near Pyecombe and hit a Land Rover Freelander heading north.

The AA says drivers' lives are being put at risk by a lethal combination of worn-out roads and wrongly-inflated tyres. As many as 17 per cent of main roads across the country fail basic skid resistance tests and ten per cent of cars are running on illegal tyres, according to a two-year study by the AA Motoring Trust and the County Surveyors' Society.

About nine in ten tyres are incorrectly inflated and up to half of garage air pumps are inaccurate.

The AA and the CSS today urged the Government to review the legal minimum tyre tread depth.