A-road
A243 traffic and collisions
The A243 is an A-road of 7.6 miles, from Kingston upon Thames to Surrey. This page covers its traffic at 8 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 69m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 24,738 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 35,128 A3 to Garrison Lane, Chessington
- HGV share 2.8% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −2.5% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 201 59.6 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A243?
On an average day in 2025, 24,738 vehicles passed each point on the A243, counting both directions. The busiest section is A3 to Garrison Lane, Chessington (Kingston upon Thames), with 35,128 a day; the quietest listed is A307 to A3210, with 13,354.
Busiest sections, 2025
A3 to Garrison Lane, Chessington carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A3 to Garrison Lane, Chessington Kingston upon Thames · 1.4 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 35,128 |
| M25 jn9 southern roundabout to M25 jn9 northern roundabout Surrey · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.9% | 28,549 |
| B2122 to M25 Surrey · 0.5 mi · HGVs 2.8% | 25,643 |
| Garrison Lane, Chessington to B280 Kingston upon Thames · 1.1 mi · HGVs 3.9% | 23,722 |
| B280 to A244 Kingston upon Thames, Surrey · 2.0 mi · HGVs 3.3% | 21,297 |
| A3210 to A3 Kingston upon Thames · 0.8 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 20,712 |
| A307 to A3210 Kingston upon Thames · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.5% | 13,354 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Kingston upon Thames to Surrey · 7.6 miles
A243 traffic and collisions by section
7 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 | A307 to A3210Kingston upon Thames | 13,354 | 30 |
| 2 | A3210 to A3Kingston upon Thames | 20,712 | 29 |
| 3 | A3 to Garrison Lane, ChessingtonKingston upon Thames | 35,128 | 48 |
| 4 | Garrison Lane, Chessington to B280Kingston upon Thames | 23,722 | 16 |
| 5 | B280 to A244Kingston upon Thames, Surrey | 21,297 | 34 |
| 6 | M25 jn9 southern roundabout to M25 jn9 northern roundaboutSurrey | 28,549 | 29 |
| 7 | B2122 to M25Surrey | 25,643 | 15 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A243 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.
A243 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 78.9% of the vehicle miles on the A243. HGVs account for 2.8%, rising to 3.9% on Garrison Lane, Chessington to B280.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.7% |
| 2001 | 2.7% |
| 2002 | 3.0% |
| 2003 | 2.7% |
| 2004 | 2.8% |
| 2005 | 2.8% |
| 2006 | 2.9% |
| 2007 | 3.1% |
| 2008 | 2.9% |
| 2009 | 2.6% |
| 2010 | 2.7% |
| 2011 | 3.1% |
| 2012 | 3.6% |
| 2013 | 3.7% |
| 2014 | 3.5% |
| 2015 | 3.5% |
| 2016 | 3.1% |
| 2017 | 3.1% |
| 2018 | 2.3% |
| 2019 | 2.3% |
| 2020 | 2.8% |
| 2021 | 2.6% |
| 2022 | 3.0% |
| 2023 | 2.9% |
| 2024 | 2.8% |
| 2025 | 2.8% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A243 traffic trend
Traffic on the A243 came to 68.6 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 2.5% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 5.2% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 9.4% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 73m |
| 2001 | 75m |
| 2002 | 69m |
| 2003 | 74m |
| 2004 | 75m |
| 2005 | 75m |
| 2006 | 69m |
| 2007 | 67m |
| 2008 | 63m |
| 2009 | 64m |
| 2010 | 64m |
| 2011 | 62m |
| 2012 | 62m |
| 2013 | 62m |
| 2014 | 63m |
| 2015 | 63m |
| 2016 | 65m |
| 2017 | 66m |
| 2018 | 69m |
| 2019 | 70m |
| 2020 | 58m |
| 2021 | 65m |
| 2022 | 68m |
| 2023 | 68m |
| 2024 | 68m |
| 2025 | 69m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 27,224 |
| 2001 | 28,035 |
| 2002 | 25,947 |
| 2003 | 27,702 |
| 2004 | 28,130 |
| 2005 | 28,108 |
| 2006 | 25,714 |
| 2007 | 25,058 |
| 2008 | 23,697 |
| 2009 | 23,947 |
| 2010 | 23,862 |
| 2011 | 23,194 |
| 2012 | 23,261 |
| 2013 | 23,298 |
| 2014 | 23,646 |
| 2015 | 23,439 |
| 2016 | 24,530 |
| 2017 | 24,589 |
| 2018 | 24,974 |
| 2019 | 25,383 |
| 2020 | 20,898 |
| 2021 | 23,254 |
| 2022 | 24,383 |
| 2023 | 24,617 |
| 2024 | 24,655 |
| 2025 | 24,738 |
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, 0 of the 8 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A243 collisions
Police recorded 201 collisions with the A243 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 45 of them fatal or serious. That is 59.6 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 5.3 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 3.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | 5 |
| 2022 | 41 | 8 |
| 2023 | 37 | 11 |
| 2024 | 24 | 13 |
| 2025 | 26 | 8 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A307 to A3210 Kingston upon Thames · 30 collisions | 183.7 |
| A3210 to A3 Kingston upon Thames · 29 collisions | 95.9 |
| B2122 to M25 Surrey · 15 collisions | 63.6 |
| A3 to Garrison Lane, Chessington Kingston upon Thames · 48 collisions | 53.4 |
| M25 jn9 southern roundabout to M25 jn9 northern roundabout Surrey · 29 collisions | 51.7 |
| B280 to A244 Kingston upon Thames, Surrey · 34 collisions | 45.8 |
| Garrison Lane, Chessington to B280 Kingston upon Thames · 16 collisions | 34.1 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 30 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A243 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 A243
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Kingston upon Thames
- Surrey
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 | 8 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 201 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.