A-road
A381 traffic and collisions
The A381 is an A-road of 33.3 miles, in Devon. This page covers its traffic at 14 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 117m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 9,597 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 23,147 At A381
- HGV share 2.1% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.7% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 149 26.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A381?
On an average day in 2025, 9,597 vehicles passed each point on the A381, counting both directions. The busiest section is At A381 (Devon), with 23,147 a day; the quietest listed is C Road Field Study Centre to A379, with 5,098.
Busiest sections, 2025
At A381 carries 2.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| At A381 Devon · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 23,147 |
| Forde Park to A382 Devon · 0.9 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 17,594 |
| A380/A383 to Broadmeadow Lane, Teignmouth Devon · 3.2 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 16,037 |
| A3122 to Plymouth Road Devon · 5.5 mi · HGVs 2.5% | 11,626 |
| A382 to A381 Devon · 7.8 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 7,783 |
| C Plymouth Road to A3122 Totnes Cross Devon · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.5% | 7,655 |
| A3122 Totnes Cross to C Road Field Study Centre Devon · 4.2 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 6,936 |
| B3204 to A381 split Devon · 4.8 mi · HGVs 1.1% | 6,502 |
| A379 to A381 (other branch) Devon · 1.7 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 5,612 |
| C Road Field Study Centre to A379 Devon · 1.8 mi · HGVs 4.9% | 5,098 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Devon · 33.3 miles
A381 traffic and collisions by section
13 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (1.3 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Broadmeadow Lane to A379Devon | 17,801 | fewer than 3 |
| 2 | A380/A383 to Broadmeadow Lane, TeignmouthDevon | 16,037 | 33 |
| 3 | A380 to Forde ParkDevon | 36,273 | 16 |
| 4 | Forde Park to A382Devon | 17,594 | 10 |
| 5 | A382 to A381Devon | 7,783 | 26 |
| 6 | At A381Devon | 23,147 | 8 |
| 7 | C Plymouth Road to A385 Ashburton RoadDevon | 11,626 | fewer than 3 |
| 8 | A3122 to Plymouth RoadDevon | 11,626 | 24 |
| 9 | C Plymouth Road to A3122 Totnes CrossDevon | 7,655 | fewer than 3 |
| 10 | A3122 Totnes Cross to C Road Field Study CentreDevon | 6,936 | 6 |
| 11 | C Road Field Study Centre to A379Devon | 5,098 | 6 |
| 12 | A379 to A381 (other branch)Devon | 5,612 | 5 |
| 13 | B3204 to A381 splitDevon | 6,502 | 9 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A381 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.
A381 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 78.7% of the vehicle miles on the A381. HGVs account for 2.1%, rising to 4.9% on C Road Field Study Centre to A379.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.3% |
| 2001 | 3.3% |
| 2002 | 3.0% |
| 2003 | 2.9% |
| 2004 | 3.5% |
| 2005 | 3.3% |
| 2006 | 3.0% |
| 2007 | 3.2% |
| 2008 | 2.9% |
| 2009 | 2.7% |
| 2010 | 2.8% |
| 2011 | 2.7% |
| 2012 | 3.1% |
| 2013 | 3.1% |
| 2014 | 3.0% |
| 2015 | 3.1% |
| 2016 | 3.2% |
| 2017 | 2.9% |
| 2018 | 2.6% |
| 2019 | 2.5% |
| 2020 | 3.0% |
| 2021 | 3.0% |
| 2022 | 2.5% |
| 2023 | 2.4% |
| 2024 | 2.2% |
| 2025 | 2.1% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A381 traffic trend
Traffic on the A381 came to 117 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 6.6% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 10.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 102m |
| 2001 | 101m |
| 2002 | 109m |
| 2003 | 112m |
| 2004 | 103m |
| 2005 | 115m |
| 2006 | 110m |
| 2007 | 111m |
| 2008 | 106m |
| 2009 | 107m |
| 2010 | 105m |
| 2011 | 107m |
| 2012 | 107m |
| 2013 | 107m |
| 2014 | 109m |
| 2015 | 111m |
| 2016 | 113m |
| 2017 | 114m |
| 2018 | 118m |
| 2019 | 123m |
| 2020 | 90m |
| 2021 | 101m |
| 2022 | 111m |
| 2023 | 113m |
| 2024 | 115m |
| 2025 | 117m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 9,040 |
| 2001 | 8,937 |
| 2002 | 9,632 |
| 2003 | 9,883 |
| 2004 | 9,144 |
| 2005 | 10,179 |
| 2006 | 9,730 |
| 2007 | 9,334 |
| 2008 | 8,935 |
| 2009 | 8,968 |
| 2010 | 8,824 |
| 2011 | 8,947 |
| 2012 | 8,950 |
| 2013 | 9,010 |
| 2014 | 9,144 |
| 2015 | 9,353 |
| 2016 | 9,452 |
| 2017 | 9,589 |
| 2018 | 9,856 |
| 2019 | 10,069 |
| 2020 | 7,376 |
| 2021 | 8,319 |
| 2022 | 9,131 |
| 2023 | 9,325 |
| 2024 | 9,467 |
| 2025 | 9,597 |
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 (76.6% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 14 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A381 collisions
Police recorded 149 collisions with the A381 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 34 of them fatal or serious. That is 26.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.9 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 15.6% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | 5 |
| 2022 | 25 | 8 |
| 2023 | 17 | 10 |
| 2024 | 24 | 6 |
| 2025 | 22 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A380/A383 to Broadmeadow Lane, Teignmouth Devon · 33 collisions | 36.7 |
| Forde Park to A382 Devon · 10 collisions | 35.7 |
| A382 to A381 Devon · 26 collisions | 24.8 |
| A3122 to Plymouth Road Devon · 24 collisions | 21.5 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 6 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A381 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 A381
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Devon
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 | 14 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 149 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.