A-road

A237 traffic and collisions

The A237 is an A-road of 6.4 miles, from Merton to Croydon. This page covers its traffic at 7 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
7 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 38m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 16,457 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 18,317 A23 to Roundabout A23/A237
  • HGV share 2.8% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −9.2% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 236 119.4 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A237?

On an average day in 2025, 16,457 vehicles passed each point on the A237, counting both directions. The busiest section is A23 to Roundabout A23/A237 (Croydon), with 18,317 a day; the quietest listed is Roundabout A23/A237 to Roundabout A237/B276 Marlpit Lane, with 11,773.

Busiest sections, 2025

A23 to Roundabout A23/A237 carries 1.1 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A237 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A23 to Roundabout A23/A237 Croydon · 1.7 mi · HGVs 2.7% 18,317
A232 to A2022 Sutton, Croydon · 2.0 mi · HGVs 1.9% 17,767
A239 to A232 Merton, Sutton · 2.0 mi · HGVs 3.5% 14,582
Roundabout A23/A237 to Roundabout A237/B276 Marlpit Lane Croydon · 0.5 mi · HGVs 3.6% 11,773

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Merton to Croydon · 6.4 miles

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

A237 traffic and collisions by section

5 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 A237 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A236 to A239Merton0.218,0113.7%+5.1%12
2A239 to A232Merton, Sutton2.014,5823.5%−10.2%68128.7
3A232 to A2022Sutton, Croydon2.017,7671.9%−3.8%116181.6
4A23 to Roundabout A23/A237Croydon1.718,3172.7%−14.9%3561.3
5Roundabout A23/A237 to Roundabout A237/B276 Marlpit LaneCroydon0.511,7733.6%5

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A237 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.

A237 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 77.4% of the vehicle miles on the A237. HGVs account for 2.8%.

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 A237, by year
Year HGV share
2000 4.2%
2001 3.6%
2002 4.0%
2003 4.4%
2004 4.1%
2005 4.0%
2006 4.2%
2007 4.3%
2008 3.8%
2009 3.8%
2010 3.1%
2011 3.1%
2012 3.4%
2013 3.2%
2014 3.1%
2015 2.5%
2016 2.7%
2017 2.6%
2018 2.4%
2019 2.5%
2020 2.7%
2021 2.7%
2022 2.8%
2023 2.8%
2024 2.7%
2025 2.8%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A237 traffic trend

Traffic on the A237 came to 38.4 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 9.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 7.8% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 19.9% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A237 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 45m
2001 48m
2002 47m
2003 45m
2004 44m
2005 43m
2006 45m
2007 45m
2008 31m
2009 40m
2010 35m
2011 35m
2012 34m
2013 34m
2014 34m
2015 34m
2016 33m
2017 33m
2018 41m
2019 45m
2020 37m
2021 39m
2022 41m
2023 41m
2024 38m
2025 38m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A237, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 21,019
2001 22,571
2002 22,277
2003 21,428
2004 20,895
2005 20,331
2006 20,917
2007 20,771
2008 14,321
2009 18,449
2010 16,203
2011 16,177
2012 15,936
2013 15,839
2014 15,906
2015 15,634
2016 15,503
2017 15,170
2018 18,822
2019 17,685
2020 14,451
2021 15,250
2022 16,035
2023 16,130
2024 16,300
2025 16,457

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

A237 collisions

Police recorded 236 collisions with the A237 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 42 of them fatal or serious. That is 119.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 7.4 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 28.6% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A237 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 305
2022 546
2023 358
2024 3914
2025 369

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 A237, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A232 to A2022 Sutton, Croydon · 116 collisions 181.6
A239 to A232 Merton, Sutton · 68 collisions 128.7
A23 to Roundabout A23/A237 Croydon · 35 collisions 61.3

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

A further 38 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A237 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. 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 A237

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

  • Merton
  • Sutton
  • Croydon

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 7 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 236 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.