A-road

A196 traffic and collisions

The A196 is an A-road of 6.0 miles, in Northumberland. This page covers its traffic at 6 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
6 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 22m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 10,105 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 14,168 A1147 to Woodhorn Rd
  • HGV share 1.3% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −0.1% same count points

How busy is the A196?

On an average day in 2025, 10,105 vehicles passed each point on the A196, counting both directions. The busiest section is A1147 to Woodhorn Rd (Northumberland), with 14,168 a day; the quietest listed is Coopies Way, Morpeth to West Avenue, Ashington, with 7,748.

Busiest sections, 2025

A1147 to Woodhorn Rd carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A196 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A1147 to Woodhorn Rd Northumberland · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.2% 14,168
A1068 to A1147 Northumberland · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.1% 9,607
Coopies Way, Morpeth to West Avenue, Ashington Northumberland · 2.3 mi · HGVs 1.4% 7,748

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

In Northumberland · 6.0 miles

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

A196 traffic and collisions by section

6 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
Sections of the A196 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A192 to Coopies WayNorthumberland0.48,6001.4%+1.1%
2Coopies Way, Morpeth to West Avenue, AshingtonNorthumberland2.37,7481.4%+1.1%
3West Avenue to A0168Northumberland0.37,1251.5%−6.5%
4A1068 to A1147Northumberland1.19,6071.1%−6.9%
5A1147 to Woodhorn RdNorthumberland1.714,1681.2%+2.5%
6Woodhorn Rd to A197Northumberland0.212,8931.2%+2.5%

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A196 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.

A196 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 82.0% of the vehicle miles on the A196. HGVs account for 1.3%.

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 A196, by year
Year HGV share
2000 2.4%
2001 2.4%
2002 2.3%
2003 2.2%
2004 2.2%
2005 2.6%
2006 2.6%
2007 2.2%
2008 2.4%
2009 2.3%
2010 2.3%
2011 2.3%
2012 2.0%
2013 2.0%
2014 1.8%
2015 1.8%
2016 1.4%
2017 1.2%
2018 1.2%
2019 1.3%
2020 1.5%
2021 1.4%
2022 1.4%
2023 1.3%
2024 1.2%
2025 1.3%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A196 traffic trend

Traffic on the A196 came to 22.1 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is about the same as in 2019, before the pandemic, and down 10.8% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 8.8% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A196 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 21m
2001 19m
2002 21m
2003 21m
2004 23m
2005 23m
2006 24m
2007 22m
2008 24m
2009 25m
2010 24m
2011 25m
2012 25m
2013 25m
2014 25m
2015 25m
2016 25m
2017 23m
2018 23m
2019 22m
2020 17m
2021 19m
2022 20m
2023 20m
2024 21m
2025 22m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A196, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 9,387
2001 8,664
2002 9,218
2003 9,627
2004 10,178
2005 10,291
2006 10,809
2007 9,820
2008 10,877
2009 11,002
2010 10,959
2011 11,034
2012 11,062
2013 11,002
2014 11,236
2015 11,409
2016 11,314
2017 10,334
2018 10,313
2019 10,111
2020 7,686
2021 8,458
2022 9,096
2023 9,282
2024 9,668
2025 10,105

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 6 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A196 collisions

Police recorded fewer than 3 collisions with the A196 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 6 of them fatal or serious.

Reported collisions by year

Up 33.3% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A196 by year
Year Collisions Fatal or serious
2021 3 0
2022 fewer than 3 fewer than 3
2023 6 3
2024 3 0
2025 4 fewer than 3

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

A further 6 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A196 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 A196

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

  • 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 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 18 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.