A-road
A256 traffic and collisions
The A256 is an A-road of 22.6 miles, in Kent. This page covers its traffic at 13 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 159m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 19,216 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 30,911 A253 to Ramsgate Road (C-road) roundabout
- HGV share 3.2% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +8.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 205 27.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A256?
On an average day in 2025, 19,216 vehicles passed each point on the A256, counting both directions. The busiest section is A253 to Ramsgate Road (C-road) roundabout (Kent), with 30,911 a day; the quietest listed is A256 Crabble Hill to A258, with 11,405.
Busiest sections, 2025
A253 to Ramsgate Road (C-road) roundabout carries 1.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A253 to Ramsgate Road (C-road) roundabout Kent · 4.7 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 30,911 |
| A257 to A258 Kent · 1.3 mi · HGVs 4.2% | 21,984 |
| A255 to A254 Kent · 1.1 mi · HGVs 0.4% | 20,809 |
| A256 London Rd to A2 Kent · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 20,126 |
| A254 to A253 Kent · 2.4 mi · HGVs 1.9% | 18,882 |
| C road towards Nonington to A2(T) Kent · 5.7 mi · HGVs 4.1% | 15,513 |
| A256 Whitfield Hill to A256 Crabble Hill Kent · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.4% | 14,335 |
| A258 to C road towards Nonington Kent · 2.7 mi · HGVs 4.6% | 13,905 |
| A256 Crabble Hill to A258 Kent · 1.3 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 11,405 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Kent · 22.6 miles
A256 traffic and collisions by section
11 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 2 short link roads and spurs (1.4 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A255 to A254Kent | 20,809 | 30 |
| 2 | A254 to A253Kent | 18,882 | 15 |
| 3 | At A253Kent | 26,021 | fewer than 3 |
| 4 | A253 to Ramsgate Road (C-road) roundaboutKent | 30,911 | 27 |
| 5 | A257 to A258Kent | 21,984 | 9 |
| 6 | A258 to C road towards NoningtonKent | 13,905 | 14 |
| 7 | C road towards Nonington to A2(T)Kent | 15,513 | 15 |
| 8 | A256 London Rd to A2Kent | 20,126 | 10 |
| 9 | A256 Whitfield Hill to A256 Crabble HillKent | 14,335 | 13 |
| 10 | A256 Crabble Hill to A258Kent | 11,405 | 28 |
| 11 | A258 to A20Kent | 5,549 | 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A256 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.
A256 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.1% of the vehicle miles on the A256. HGVs account for 3.2%, rising to 4.6% on A258 to C road towards Nonington.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.7% |
| 2001 | 4.5% |
| 2002 | 4.1% |
| 2003 | 3.8% |
| 2004 | 4.2% |
| 2005 | 3.9% |
| 2006 | 3.9% |
| 2007 | 3.9% |
| 2008 | 3.5% |
| 2009 | 3.1% |
| 2010 | 3.5% |
| 2011 | 3.5% |
| 2012 | 3.5% |
| 2013 | 3.7% |
| 2014 | 3.6% |
| 2015 | 3.4% |
| 2016 | 3.5% |
| 2017 | 3.7% |
| 2018 | 3.8% |
| 2019 | 3.9% |
| 2020 | 4.4% |
| 2021 | 3.8% |
| 2022 | 3.6% |
| 2023 | 3.3% |
| 2024 | 3.2% |
| 2025 | 3.2% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A256 traffic trend
Traffic on the A256 came to 159 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 8.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 12.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 28.0% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 114m |
| 2001 | 121m |
| 2002 | 122m |
| 2003 | 123m |
| 2004 | 129m |
| 2005 | 125m |
| 2006 | 124m |
| 2007 | 126m |
| 2008 | 126m |
| 2009 | 119m |
| 2010 | 118m |
| 2011 | 119m |
| 2012 | 127m |
| 2013 | 128m |
| 2014 | 126m |
| 2015 | 133m |
| 2016 | 137m |
| 2017 | 137m |
| 2018 | 142m |
| 2019 | 141m |
| 2020 | 109m |
| 2021 | 133m |
| 2022 | 146m |
| 2023 | 150m |
| 2024 | 152m |
| 2025 | 159m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 13,981 |
| 2001 | 14,837 |
| 2002 | 14,873 |
| 2003 | 15,013 |
| 2004 | 15,732 |
| 2005 | 15,279 |
| 2006 | 15,162 |
| 2007 | 15,407 |
| 2008 | 15,390 |
| 2009 | 14,609 |
| 2010 | 14,484 |
| 2011 | 14,481 |
| 2012 | 15,499 |
| 2013 | 15,540 |
| 2014 | 15,859 |
| 2015 | 16,715 |
| 2016 | 17,170 |
| 2017 | 17,157 |
| 2018 | 17,619 |
| 2019 | 17,589 |
| 2020 | 13,628 |
| 2021 | 16,490 |
| 2022 | 18,116 |
| 2023 | 18,587 |
| 2024 | 18,185 |
| 2025 | 19,216 |
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 (68.6% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 13 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A256 collisions
Police recorded 205 collisions with the A256 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 48 of them fatal or serious. That is 27.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.8 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 8.9% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | 11 |
| 2022 | 41 | 4 |
| 2023 | 31 | 10 |
| 2024 | 23 | 10 |
| 2025 | 28 | 13 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A256 Crabble Hill to A258 Kent · 28 collisions | 106.8 |
| A254 to A253 Kent · 15 collisions | 90.7 |
| A255 to A254 Kent · 30 collisions | 74.4 |
| A253 to Ramsgate Road (C-road) roundabout Kent · 27 collisions | 50.9 |
| A256 Whitfield Hill to A256 Crabble Hill Kent · 13 collisions | 46.7 |
| A256 London Rd to A2 Kent · 10 collisions | 38.0 |
| A258 to C road towards Nonington Kent · 14 collisions | 21.8 |
| C road towards Nonington to A2(T) Kent · 15 collisions | 9.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 43 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A256 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 A256
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Kent
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 | 13 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 205 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.