Motorway
A194(M) traffic and collisions
The A194(M) is a motorway of 3.7 miles, from Gateshead to South Tyneside. This page covers its traffic at 6 DfT count points since 2015 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 55m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 40,466 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 45,948 A182 to A195
- HGV share 6.1% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +10.1% same count points
How busy is the A194(M)?
On an average day in 2025, 40,466 vehicles passed each point on the A194(M), counting both directions. The busiest section is A182 to A195 (Sunderland, Gateshead), with 45,948 a day; the quietest listed is A194M merge to A182, with 30,327.
Busiest sections, 2025
A182 to A195 carries 1.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A182 to A195 Sunderland, Gateshead · 1.6 mi · HGVs 6.0% | 45,948 |
| A194 to A195 Gateshead, South Tyneside · 1.0 mi · HGVs 5.5% | 42,847 |
| A194M merge to A182 Gateshead, Sunderland · 1.1 mi · HGVs 7.3% | 30,327 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2015 to 2025 Updated
Route
Gateshead to South Tyneside · 3.7 miles
A194(M) traffic and collisions by section
3 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 | A194M merge to A182Gateshead, Sunderland | 30,327 | – |
| 2 | A182 to A195Sunderland, Gateshead | 45,948 | – |
| 3 | A194 to A195Gateshead, South Tyneside | 42,847 | – |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A194(M) 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.
A194(M) traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 74.3% of the vehicle miles on the A194(M). HGVs account for 6.1%, rising to 7.3% on A194M merge to A182.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2015 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 6.7% |
| 2016 | 6.1% |
| 2017 | 6.3% |
| 2018 | 6.2% |
| 2019 | 6.0% |
| 2020 | 6.7% |
| 2021 | 7.4% |
| 2022 | 6.3% |
| 2023 | 6.0% |
| 2024 | 6.1% |
| 2025 | 6.1% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2015 to 2025 Updated
A194(M) traffic trend
Traffic on the A194(M) came to 54.6 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 10.1% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 15.6% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 47m |
| 2016 | 49m |
| 2017 | 47m |
| 2018 | 47m |
| 2019 | 50m |
| 2020 | 39m |
| 2021 | 39m |
| 2022 | 50m |
| 2023 | 53m |
| 2024 | 54m |
| 2025 | 55m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2015 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 34,992 |
| 2016 | 36,395 |
| 2017 | 34,549 |
| 2018 | 34,762 |
| 2019 | 36,743 |
| 2020 | 29,037 |
| 2021 | 28,873 |
| 2022 | 36,780 |
| 2023 | 39,553 |
| 2024 | 39,757 |
| 2025 | 40,466 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2015 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, 0 of the 6 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A194(M) collisions
Police recorded fewer than 3 collisions with the A194(M) as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 3 of them fatal or serious.
Reported collisions by year
About the same in 2025 as in 2021.
| Year | Collisions | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | 0 |
| 2022 | 6 | 0 |
| 2023 | fewer than 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 4 | fewer than 3 |
| 2025 | 5 | fewer than 3 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 100.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A194(M)
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Gateshead
- Sunderland
- South Tyneside
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 | 2015 to 2025 | 6 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 21 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.