A-road
A286 traffic and collisions
The A286 is an A-road of 32.6 miles, from Surrey to West Sussex. This page covers its traffic at 16 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 108m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 9,102 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 15,763 B2179 to Stockbridge Gdns, Chichester
- HGV share 1.9% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −5.5% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 241 44.0 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A286?
On an average day in 2025, 9,102 vehicles passed each point on the A286, counting both directions. The busiest section is B2179 to Stockbridge Gdns, Chichester (West Sussex), with 15,763 a day; the quietest listed is A283 to Highercombe Rd, Haslemere, with 5,701.
Busiest sections, 2025
B2179 to Stockbridge Gdns, Chichester carries 1.7 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| B2179 to Stockbridge Gdns, Chichester West Sussex · 3.6 mi · HGVs 1.4% | 15,763 |
| A286N to new A259 West Sussex · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.3% | 14,216 |
| B2141 to The Drive, Chichester West Sussex · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.0% | 10,275 |
| A286 Oaklands Way to The Drive West Sussex · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.9% | 10,096 |
| Scotland Lane to A272 Surrey, West Sussex · 7.1 mi · HGVs 1.4% | 9,332 |
| Highercombe Rd to B2131 Surrey · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 7,508 |
| B2131 to Scotland Lane Surrey · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 7,100 |
| A272 to B2141 West Sussex · 8.9 mi · HGVs 3.6% | 6,986 |
| A283 to Highercombe Rd, Haslemere Surrey · 5.8 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 5,701 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Surrey to West Sussex · 32.6 miles
A286 traffic and collisions by section
13 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 2 short link roads and spurs (1.1 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A3100 to A283Surrey | 10,765 | 3 |
| 2 | A283 to Highercombe Rd, HaslemereSurrey | 5,701 | 28 |
| 3 | Highercombe Rd to B2131Surrey | 7,508 | 7 |
| 4 | B2131 to Scotland LaneSurrey | 7,100 | 4 |
| 5 | Scotland Lane to A272Surrey, West Sussex | 9,332 | 23 |
| 6 | A272 to B2141West Sussex | 6,986 | 36 |
| 7 | B2141 to The Drive, ChichesterWest Sussex | 10,275 | 13 |
| 8 | A286 Oaklands Way to The DriveWest Sussex | 10,096 | 11 |
| 9 | A286N to new A259West Sussex | 14,216 | 11 |
| 10 | new A259 to CathedralWest Sussex | 13,761 | 8 |
| 11 | Cathedral to A27West Sussex | 10,664 | 11 |
| 12 | A27 to Stockbridge GardensWest Sussex | 17,497 | 9 |
| 13 | B2179 to Stockbridge Gdns, ChichesterWest Sussex | 15,763 | 25 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A286 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.
A286 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 82.6% of the vehicle miles on the A286. HGVs account for 1.9%, rising to 3.6% on A272 to B2141.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.3% |
| 2001 | 2.4% |
| 2002 | 3.7% |
| 2003 | 2.8% |
| 2004 | 2.9% |
| 2005 | 2.5% |
| 2006 | 2.3% |
| 2007 | 2.5% |
| 2008 | 1.9% |
| 2009 | 1.7% |
| 2010 | 1.8% |
| 2011 | 1.7% |
| 2012 | 1.8% |
| 2013 | 1.8% |
| 2014 | 1.8% |
| 2015 | 1.8% |
| 2016 | 1.8% |
| 2017 | 1.9% |
| 2018 | 1.7% |
| 2019 | 1.7% |
| 2020 | 2.1% |
| 2021 | 2.1% |
| 2022 | 2.0% |
| 2023 | 1.9% |
| 2024 | 1.9% |
| 2025 | 1.9% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A286 traffic trend
Traffic on the A286 came to 108 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 5.5% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 6.4% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 2.4% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 111m |
| 2001 | 113m |
| 2002 | 106m |
| 2003 | 114m |
| 2004 | 112m |
| 2005 | 109m |
| 2006 | 107m |
| 2007 | 116m |
| 2008 | 127m |
| 2009 | 126m |
| 2010 | 124m |
| 2011 | 125m |
| 2012 | 112m |
| 2013 | 110m |
| 2014 | 113m |
| 2015 | 116m |
| 2016 | 113m |
| 2017 | 114m |
| 2018 | 116m |
| 2019 | 115m |
| 2020 | 95m |
| 2021 | 105m |
| 2022 | 113m |
| 2023 | 115m |
| 2024 | 107m |
| 2025 | 108m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 9,324 |
| 2001 | 9,499 |
| 2002 | 8,906 |
| 2003 | 9,572 |
| 2004 | 9,377 |
| 2005 | 9,147 |
| 2006 | 8,968 |
| 2007 | 9,717 |
| 2008 | 10,656 |
| 2009 | 10,570 |
| 2010 | 10,445 |
| 2011 | 10,529 |
| 2012 | 9,380 |
| 2013 | 9,282 |
| 2014 | 9,511 |
| 2015 | 9,726 |
| 2016 | 9,533 |
| 2017 | 9,576 |
| 2018 | 9,764 |
| 2019 | 9,634 |
| 2020 | 7,945 |
| 2021 | 8,789 |
| 2022 | 9,467 |
| 2023 | 9,670 |
| 2024 | 8,973 |
| 2025 | 9,102 |
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 16 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A286 collisions
Police recorded 241 collisions with the A286 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 72 of them fatal or serious, including 6 fatal. That is 44.0 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.5 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 9.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | 21 |
| 2022 | 43 | 17 |
| 2023 | 30 | 10 |
| 2024 | 25 | 11 |
| 2025 | 37 | 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 |
|---|---|
| A286N to new A259 West Sussex · 11 collisions | 72.9 |
| A286 Oaklands Way to The Drive West Sussex · 11 collisions | 51.4 |
| A283 to Highercombe Rd, Haslemere Surrey · 28 collisions | 45.9 |
| B2141 to The Drive, Chichester West Sussex · 13 collisions | 42.5 |
| A272 to B2141 West Sussex · 36 collisions | 33.0 |
| B2179 to Stockbridge Gdns, Chichester West Sussex · 25 collisions | 20.5 |
| Scotland Lane to A272 Surrey, West Sussex · 23 collisions | 19.8 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 23 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A286 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 78.4% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A286
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Surrey
- West Sussex
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 | 16 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 241 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.