A-road

A189 traffic and collisions

The A189 is an A-road of 23.8 miles, from Gateshead to Northumberland. This page covers its traffic at 29 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
29 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 255m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 29,401 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 51,906 A192 to A193
  • HGV share 2.6% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +2.3% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 212 17.2 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A189?

On an average day in 2025, 29,401 vehicles passed each point on the A189, counting both directions. The busiest section is A192 to A193 (Northumberland), with 51,906 a day; the quietest listed is B1600 to Fenham Hall Drive, with 6,668.

Busiest sections, 2025

A192 to A193 carries 1.8 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A189 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A192 to A193 Northumberland · 2.2 mi · HGVs 3.0% 51,906
A193 to A1147 Northumberland · 1.8 mi · HGVs 2.6% 51,666
A19/A1171 to B1326 Northumberland · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.4% 49,367
B1326 to A1061 Northumberland · 1.1 mi · HGVs 3.1% 49,116
A1147 to A189 Spur Northumberland · 1.1 mi · HGVs 3.2% 42,763
A189 Spur to A197 Northumberland · 3.2 mi · HGVs 3.3% 40,928
A1061 to A192 Northumberland · 0.8 mi · HGVs 3.5% 40,234
A184 to A695 Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne · 0.6 mi · HGVs 0.8% 37,663
A188 to A1056 North Tyneside · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.7% 20,640
A167 to B1318 Newcastle upon Tyne · 1.2 mi · HGVs 0.7% 18,417

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Gateshead to Northumberland · 23.8 miles

Gateshead Northumberland
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

A189 traffic and collisions by section

21 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 5 short link roads and spurs (1.0 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 21 sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A189 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A184 to A695Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne0.637,6630.8%−3.9%1230.5
2Scotswood Rd to A186 Westmorland RdNewcastle upon Tyne0.223,4161.1%−19.1%9
3Westmorland Rd to A186 Westgate RdNewcastle upon Tyne0.219,3941.7%−5.4%9
4A186 Westgate Rd to A189 Bath LaneNewcastle upon Tyne0.16,6681.0%−38.7%0
5B1600 to Fenham Hall DriveNewcastle upon Tyne1.26,6681.0%−38.7%17120.0
6Fenham Hall Drive to A167Newcastle upon Tyne0.36,6681.0%−38.7%9
7A167 to B1318Newcastle upon Tyne1.218,4170.7%+3.3%2464.4
8B1318 to A191Newcastle upon Tyne1.117,9110.6%−19.4%2260.7
9A191 to West Farm AvenueNewcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside0.412,8851.0%−12.2%3
10West Farm Avenue to A188North Tyneside1.212,8851.0%−12.2%3
11A188 to A1056North Tyneside1.120,6401.7%−15.7%1331.0
12A1056 to A190North Tyneside1.415,4001.6%+9.7%7
13A190 to A19North Tyneside, Northumberland0.814,9461.3%−7.0%3
14A19/A1171 to B1326Northumberland0.949,3673.4%1486.3
15B1326 to A1061Northumberland1.149,1163.1%+2.6%5
16A1061 to A192Northumberland0.840,2343.5%fewer than 3
17A192 to A193Northumberland2.251,9063.0%+6.9%9
18A193 to A1147Northumberland1.851,6662.6%+4.6%6
19A1147 to A189 SpurNorthumberland1.142,7633.2%+5.9%5
20A189 Spur to A197Northumberland3.240,9283.3%+12.4%2812.8
21A197 to A1068Northumberland1.910,0073.9%+21.8%4

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A189 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.

A189 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 80.4% of the vehicle miles on the A189. HGVs account for 2.6%, rising to 3.9% on A197 to A1068.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the A189, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.8%
2001 3.8%
2002 3.7%
2003 3.5%
2004 4.6%
2005 3.9%
2006 3.6%
2007 3.4%
2008 3.3%
2009 2.7%
2010 2.9%
2011 3.4%
2012 3.4%
2013 3.3%
2014 3.1%
2015 3.0%
2016 3.0%
2017 3.0%
2018 3.0%
2019 2.9%
2020 3.2%
2021 3.1%
2022 2.8%
2023 2.7%
2024 2.5%
2025 2.6%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A189 traffic trend

Traffic on the A189 came to 255 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 2.3% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 9.0% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 10.8% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A189 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 157m
2001 160m
2002 165m
2003 170m
2004 171m
2005 178m
2006 192m
2007 194m
2008 192m
2009 190m
2010 193m
2011 213m
2012 206m
2013 211m
2014 220m
2015 228m
2016 234m
2017 250m
2018 253m
2019 255m
2020 198m
2021 228m
2022 246m
2023 247m
2024 257m
2025 255m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A189, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 20,522
2001 21,296
2002 21,922
2003 22,603
2004 22,058
2005 22,963
2006 24,752
2007 25,104
2008 24,780
2009 24,631
2010 25,011
2011 25,702
2012 24,776
2013 25,338
2014 26,461
2015 27,333
2016 28,084
2017 28,837
2018 28,770
2019 28,975
2020 22,490
2021 25,866
2022 27,907
2023 28,090
2024 29,157
2025 29,401

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, 3 of the 29 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A189 collisions

Police recorded 212 collisions with the A189 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 45 of them fatal or serious, including 5 fatal. That is 17.2 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.8 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 25.5% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A189 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 4110
2022 327
2023 418
2024 2510
2025 2810

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.

Collisions per 100 million vehicle miles by section of the A189, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
B1600 to Fenham Hall Drive Newcastle upon Tyne · 17 collisions 120.0
A19/A1171 to B1326 Northumberland · 14 collisions 86.3
A167 to B1318 Newcastle upon Tyne · 24 collisions 64.4
B1318 to A191 Newcastle upon Tyne · 22 collisions 60.7
A188 to A1056 North Tyneside · 13 collisions 31.0
A184 to A695 Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne · 12 collisions 30.5
A189 Spur to A197 Northumberland · 28 collisions 12.8

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

A further 29 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A189 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 A189

In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.

  • Gateshead
  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • North Tyneside
  • Northumberland

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
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 29 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 212 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.