Trunk A-road
A172 traffic and collisions
The A172 is a trunk A-road of 17.7 miles, from North Yorkshire to Middlesbrough. This page covers its traffic at 8 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 76m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 11,813 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 24,940 A174 to A1085
- HGV share 2.3% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.5% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 92 25.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A172?
On an average day in 2025, 11,813 vehicles passed each point on the A172, counting both directions. The busiest section is A174 to A1085 (Middlesbrough), with 24,940 a day; the quietest listed is A19(T) to A173, with 7,402.
Busiest sections, 2025
A174 to A1085 carries 2.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A174 to A1085 Middlesbrough · 2.7 mi · HGVs 0.4% | 24,940 |
| A1043 to A174 Middlesbrough · 1.7 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 18,320 |
| A66 split to A1085 Middlesbrough · 0.6 mi · HGVs 0.9% | 18,285 |
| A173 to A1043 North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough · 3.8 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 8,174 |
| A19 main route to A172 North Yorkshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 3.9% | 7,402 |
| A19(T) to A173 North Yorkshire · 8.2 mi · HGVs 3.9% | 7,402 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
North Yorkshire to Middlesbrough · 17.7 miles
A172 traffic and collisions by section
7 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A19 main route to A172North Yorkshire | 7,402 | fewer than 3 |
| 2 | A19(T) to A173North Yorkshire | 7,402 | 14 |
| 3 | A173 to A1043North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough | 8,174 | 5 |
| 4 | A1043 to A174Middlesbrough | 18,320 | 11 |
| 5 | A174 to A1085Middlesbrough | 24,940 | 53 |
| 6 | A172 to A66Middlesbrough | 20,892 | fewer than 3 |
| 7 | A66 split to A1085Middlesbrough | 18,285 | 5 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A172 as the first road, placed on the nearest section by their recorded position; rates (per 100 million vehicle miles) are shown for sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more.
A172 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 83.7% of the vehicle miles on the A172. HGVs account for 2.3%, rising to 3.9% on A19 main route to A172.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.2% |
| 2001 | 3.9% |
| 2002 | 3.6% |
| 2003 | 3.8% |
| 2004 | 3.3% |
| 2005 | 3.3% |
| 2006 | 3.3% |
| 2007 | 3.3% |
| 2008 | 3.1% |
| 2009 | 2.7% |
| 2010 | 2.8% |
| 2011 | 2.8% |
| 2012 | 2.7% |
| 2013 | 2.7% |
| 2014 | 2.6% |
| 2015 | 2.6% |
| 2016 | 2.6% |
| 2017 | 2.6% |
| 2018 | 2.3% |
| 2019 | 2.3% |
| 2020 | 2.7% |
| 2021 | 2.7% |
| 2022 | 2.5% |
| 2023 | 2.4% |
| 2024 | 2.4% |
| 2025 | 2.3% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A172 traffic trend
Traffic on the A172 came to 76.3 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.5% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 0.9% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 6.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 73m |
| 2001 | 72m |
| 2002 | 71m |
| 2003 | 70m |
| 2004 | 75m |
| 2005 | 75m |
| 2006 | 78m |
| 2007 | 67m |
| 2008 | 68m |
| 2009 | 68m |
| 2010 | 68m |
| 2011 | 68m |
| 2012 | 73m |
| 2013 | 72m |
| 2014 | 72m |
| 2015 | 72m |
| 2016 | 76m |
| 2017 | 76m |
| 2018 | 77m |
| 2019 | 77m |
| 2020 | 59m |
| 2021 | 65m |
| 2022 | 72m |
| 2023 | 74m |
| 2024 | 75m |
| 2025 | 76m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 11,966 |
| 2001 | 11,838 |
| 2002 | 11,647 |
| 2003 | 12,066 |
| 2004 | 12,999 |
| 2005 | 12,651 |
| 2006 | 13,048 |
| 2007 | 10,921 |
| 2008 | 11,057 |
| 2009 | 11,056 |
| 2010 | 10,946 |
| 2011 | 11,060 |
| 2012 | 11,773 |
| 2013 | 11,704 |
| 2014 | 11,711 |
| 2015 | 12,099 |
| 2016 | 12,247 |
| 2017 | 12,269 |
| 2018 | 12,036 |
| 2019 | 11,987 |
| 2020 | 9,139 |
| 2021 | 10,051 |
| 2022 | 11,198 |
| 2023 | 11,416 |
| 2024 | 11,573 |
| 2025 | 11,813 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
The chart counts the whole road as it was each year, so new or renumbered stretches move it. The percentage changes compare only count points present in both years. In 2025, 1 of the 8 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A172 collisions
Police recorded 92 collisions with the A172 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 31 of them fatal or serious. That is 25.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.0 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 25.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 |
| 2022 | 34 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2024 | 15 |
| 2025 | 12 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Sections with the highest collision rates
Per 100 million vehicle miles, 2021 to 2025. Sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more collisions.
| Section | Per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| A174 to A1085 Middlesbrough · 53 collisions | 45.3 |
| A1043 to A174 Middlesbrough · 11 collisions | 20.0 |
| A19(T) to A173 North Yorkshire · 14 collisions | 13.2 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 21 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A172 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A172
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- North Yorkshire
- Middlesbrough
Data sources and methodology
| Figures | Source | Period | Records | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic counts and vehicle mix | Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2000 to 2025 | 8 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 92 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
- Annual average daily flow (AADF) is the average number of vehicles passing a point on a typical day of the year, both directions combined.
- Vehicle miles are AADF multiplied by link length and 365, summed over every count point link on the road.
- Sections join count point links between junctions, using the link lines in DfT’s major road database.
- STATS19 covers personal injury collisions reported to the police. Damage-only collisions are not included, and not every injury collision is reported.
- Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates, which allow for police forces moving to injury-based reporting.
- Counts of one or two collisions below Great Britain level are shown as “fewer than 3”.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.