A-road
A238 traffic and collisions
The A238 is an A-road of 5.6 miles, from Merton to Kingston upon Thames. This page covers its traffic at 7 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 24m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 11,946 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 13,105 A3 spur to A308
- HGV share 2.2% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −14.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 221 179.6 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A238?
On an average day in 2025, 11,946 vehicles passed each point on the A238, counting both directions. The busiest section is A3 spur to A308 (Kingston upon Thames), with 13,105 a day; the quietest listed is A298 to B235, with 7,125.
Busiest sections, 2025
A3 spur to A308 carries 1.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A3 spur to A308 Kingston upon Thames · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 13,105 |
| A219 to A298 Merton · 1.2 mi · HGVs 3.1% | 12,571 |
| B235 to A3 spur Merton, Kingston upon Thames · 1.4 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 11,657 |
| A298 to B235 Merton · 0.7 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 7,125 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Merton to Kingston upon Thames · 5.6 miles
A238 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
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A24 intersection to A218Merton | 12,465 | 27 |
| 2 | A218 to A219Merton | 16,215 | 7 |
| 3 | A219 to A298Merton | 12,571 | 81 |
| 4 | A298 to B235Merton | 7,125 | 14 |
| 5 | B235 to A3 spurMerton, Kingston upon Thames | 11,657 | 40 |
| 6 | A3 spur to A308Kingston upon Thames | 13,105 | 52 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A238 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.
A238 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 76.1% of the vehicle miles on the A238. HGVs account for 2.2%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.6% |
| 2001 | 2.8% |
| 2002 | 3.1% |
| 2003 | 3.1% |
| 2004 | 3.1% |
| 2005 | 2.5% |
| 2006 | 2.2% |
| 2007 | 2.5% |
| 2008 | 2.7% |
| 2009 | 2.6% |
| 2010 | 2.7% |
| 2011 | 2.8% |
| 2012 | 3.1% |
| 2013 | 3.2% |
| 2014 | 2.7% |
| 2015 | 2.8% |
| 2016 | 2.8% |
| 2017 | 2.6% |
| 2018 | 2.2% |
| 2019 | 1.9% |
| 2020 | 2.1% |
| 2021 | 2.1% |
| 2022 | 2.3% |
| 2023 | 2.3% |
| 2024 | 2.3% |
| 2025 | 2.2% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A238 traffic trend
Traffic on the A238 came to 24.4 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 14.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 17.1% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 38.8% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 34m |
| 2001 | 33m |
| 2002 | 31m |
| 2003 | 31m |
| 2004 | 31m |
| 2005 | 32m |
| 2006 | 33m |
| 2007 | 33m |
| 2008 | 31m |
| 2009 | 31m |
| 2010 | 31m |
| 2011 | 29m |
| 2012 | 29m |
| 2013 | 29m |
| 2014 | 29m |
| 2015 | 29m |
| 2016 | 28m |
| 2017 | 28m |
| 2018 | 30m |
| 2019 | 28m |
| 2020 | 22m |
| 2021 | 24m |
| 2022 | 25m |
| 2023 | 25m |
| 2024 | 25m |
| 2025 | 24m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 17,610 |
| 2001 | 16,909 |
| 2002 | 15,891 |
| 2003 | 15,901 |
| 2004 | 16,115 |
| 2005 | 16,483 |
| 2006 | 16,606 |
| 2007 | 16,512 |
| 2008 | 15,620 |
| 2009 | 15,631 |
| 2010 | 15,288 |
| 2011 | 14,547 |
| 2012 | 14,209 |
| 2013 | 14,314 |
| 2014 | 14,234 |
| 2015 | 14,242 |
| 2016 | 14,112 |
| 2017 | 14,008 |
| 2018 | 14,348 |
| 2019 | 13,887 |
| 2020 | 10,807 |
| 2021 | 11,626 |
| 2022 | 12,208 |
| 2023 | 12,225 |
| 2024 | 12,200 |
| 2025 | 11,946 |
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, 2 of the 7 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A238 collisions
Police recorded 221 collisions with the A238 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 44 of them fatal or serious. That is 179.6 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 7.9 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 10.4% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | 7 |
| 2022 | 31 | 12 |
| 2023 | 33 | 7 |
| 2024 | 39 | 8 |
| 2025 | 33 | 10 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A219 to A298 Merton · 81 collisions | 295.0 |
| A298 to B235 Merton · 14 collisions | 158.1 |
| B235 to A3 spur Merton, Kingston upon Thames · 40 collisions | 134.3 |
| A3 spur to A308 Kingston upon Thames · 52 collisions | 127.8 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 26 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A238 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 A238
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Merton
- Kingston upon Thames
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 | 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 | 221 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.