A-road

A258 traffic and collisions

The A258 is an A-road of 13.6 miles, in Kent. This page covers its traffic at 10 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
10 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 71m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 14,380 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 19,060 Ringwould Rd to A2(T)
  • HGV share 1.2% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +2.7% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 142 41.9 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A258?

On an average day in 2025, 14,380 vehicles passed each point on the A258, counting both directions. The busiest section is Ringwould Rd to A2(T) (Kent), with 19,060 a day; the quietest listed is A256 to Upper Rd, with 5,465.

Busiest sections, 2025

Ringwould Rd to A2(T) carries 1.3 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A258 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
Ringwould Rd to A2(T) Kent · 3.5 mi · HGVs 1.2% 19,060
A258 split to Downlands Kent · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.2% 16,583
Burgess Green to Sholden New Rd Kent · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.2% 15,070
Downlands to Ringwould Rd Kent · 1.0 mi · HGVs 1.5% 14,957
Deal Rd to Burgess Green Kent · 2.0 mi · HGVs 1.8% 12,473
Sholden New Rd to A258 Sondes Road Kent · 1.8 mi · HGVs 0.8% 10,860
Upper Rd, Dover to A2 Kent · 1.1 mi · HGVs 0.8% 10,008
A256 to Upper Rd Kent · 0.6 mi · HGVs 0.4% 5,465

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

In Kent · 13.6 miles

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

A258 traffic and collisions by section

10 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 A258 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A256 to Deal Road roundaboutKent0.315,2092.9%+22.7%3
2Deal Rd to Burgess GreenKent2.012,4731.8%−10.4%1022.9
3Burgess Green to Sholden New RdKent1.215,0701.2%−1.6%1031.6
4Sholden New Rd to A258 Sondes RoadKent1.810,8600.8%−4.9%2984.3
5Downlands to A258 splitKent0.410,6880.7%−4.7%7
6A258 split to DownlandsKent1.716,5831.2%+6.1%3065.8
7Downlands to Ringwould RdKent1.014,9571.5%−7.5%8
8Ringwould Rd to A2(T)Kent3.519,0601.2%+16.5%2924.8
9Upper Rd, Dover to A2Kent1.110,0080.8%−7.5%1051.8
10A256 to Upper RdKent0.65,4650.4%−6.2%6

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A258 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.

A258 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 82.5% of the vehicle miles on the A258. HGVs account for 1.2%.

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 A258, by year
Year HGV share
2000 2.5%
2001 2.4%
2002 2.2%
2003 2.1%
2004 2.3%
2005 2.0%
2006 1.9%
2007 2.0%
2008 1.8%
2009 1.6%
2010 1.7%
2011 1.7%
2012 1.7%
2013 1.7%
2014 1.6%
2015 1.6%
2016 1.6%
2017 1.5%
2018 1.4%
2019 1.4%
2020 1.7%
2021 1.4%
2022 1.4%
2023 1.3%
2024 1.3%
2025 1.2%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A258 traffic trend

Traffic on the A258 came to 71.4 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 2.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 2.8% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 20.5% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A258 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 59m
2001 60m
2002 62m
2003 63m
2004 67m
2005 67m
2006 68m
2007 66m
2008 64m
2009 65m
2010 65m
2011 65m
2012 65m
2013 66m
2014 67m
2015 69m
2016 71m
2017 69m
2018 69m
2019 70m
2020 53m
2021 62m
2022 67m
2023 69m
2024 70m
2025 71m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A258, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 11,719
2001 11,952
2002 12,375
2003 12,502
2004 13,229
2005 13,356
2006 13,488
2007 13,088
2008 12,768
2009 12,914
2010 12,839
2011 12,894
2012 12,992
2013 13,009
2014 13,372
2015 13,693
2016 14,015
2017 13,891
2018 13,942
2019 13,997
2020 10,583
2021 12,570
2022 13,533
2023 13,820
2024 14,019
2025 14,380

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

A258 collisions

Police recorded 142 collisions with the A258 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 37 of them fatal or serious. That is 41.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 2.1 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 24.1% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A258 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 263
2022 229
2023 2410
2024 206
2025 139

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 A258, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
Sholden New Rd to A258 Sondes Road Kent · 29 collisions 84.3
A258 split to Downlands Kent · 30 collisions 65.8
Upper Rd, Dover to A2 Kent · 10 collisions 51.8
Burgess Green to Sholden New Rd Kent · 10 collisions 31.6
Ringwould Rd to A2(T) Kent · 29 collisions 24.8
Deal Rd to Burgess Green Kent · 10 collisions 22.9

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

A further 22 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A258 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 A258

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

  • Kent

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 10 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 142 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.