A-road

A262 traffic and collisions

The A262 is an A-road of 14.2 miles, in Kent. This page covers its traffic at 5 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
5 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 51m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 9,773 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 12,029 B2079 to B2085
  • HGV share 2.7% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +11.4% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 70 30.5 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A262?

On an average day in 2025, 9,773 vehicles passed each point on the A262, counting both directions. The busiest section is B2079 to B2085 (Kent), with 12,029 a day; the quietest listed is A229 to A274, with 8,689.

Busiest sections, 2025

B2079 to B2085 carries 1.2 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A262 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
B2079 to B2085 Kent · 1.6 mi · HGVs 1.6% 12,029
B2162 to B2079 Kent · 2.7 mi · HGVs 2.5% 10,866
B2085 to A229 Kent · 2.4 mi · HGVs 2.1% 9,956
A274 to A28 Kent · 2.9 mi · HGVs 2.9% 9,080
A229 to A274 Kent · 4.6 mi · HGVs 3.8% 8,689

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

In Kent · 14.2 miles

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

A262 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 A262 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1B2162 to B2079Kent2.710,8662.5%+19.8%1733.1
2B2079 to B2085Kent1.612,0291.6%−7.2%5
3B2085 to A229Kent2.49,9562.1%+19.2%1538.9
4A229 to A274Kent4.68,6893.8%+20.9%1727.8
5A274 to A28Kent2.99,0802.9%+0.5%1636.0

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A262 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.

A262 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 77.1% of the vehicle miles on the A262. HGVs account for 2.7%, rising to 3.8% on A229 to A274.

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 A262, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.2%
2001 3.3%
2002 3.4%
2003 3.6%
2004 3.5%
2005 3.6%
2006 3.5%
2007 3.5%
2008 3.5%
2009 3.3%
2010 3.4%
2011 3.4%
2012 3.5%
2013 3.2%
2014 3.2%
2015 3.0%
2016 3.0%
2017 3.1%
2018 3.1%
2019 3.1%
2020 3.7%
2021 3.3%
2022 3.2%
2023 3.0%
2024 2.8%
2025 2.7%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A262 traffic trend

Traffic on the A262 came to 50.7 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 11.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 24.0% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 33.5% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A262 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 39m
2001 40m
2002 40m
2003 41m
2004 41m
2005 42m
2006 42m
2007 42m
2008 40m
2009 39m
2010 39m
2011 39m
2012 39m
2013 40m
2014 41m
2015 41m
2016 45m
2017 45m
2018 45m
2019 46m
2020 34m
2021 40m
2022 43m
2023 46m
2024 50m
2025 51m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A262, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 7,246
2001 7,467
2002 7,589
2003 7,737
2004 7,635
2005 7,837
2006 8,176
2007 8,120
2008 7,664
2009 7,593
2010 7,516
2011 7,582
2012 7,480
2013 7,641
2014 7,836
2015 7,884
2016 8,637
2017 8,716
2018 8,757
2019 8,771
2020 6,646
2021 7,684
2022 8,299
2023 8,820
2024 9,653
2025 9,773

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

A262 collisions

Police recorded 70 collisions with the A262 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 22 of them fatal or serious, including 4 fatal. That is 30.5 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.0 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 50.0% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A262 by year
Year Collisions
2021 10
2022 14
2023 20
2024 11
2025 15

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 A262, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
B2085 to A229 Kent · 15 collisions 38.9
A274 to A28 Kent · 16 collisions 36.0
B2162 to B2079 Kent · 17 collisions 33.1
A229 to A274 Kent · 17 collisions 27.8

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

A further 8 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A262 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 A262

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 5 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 70 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.