Trunk A-road

A39 traffic and collisions

The A39 is a trunk A-road of 197.0 miles, from Bath and North East Somerset to Cornwall. This page covers its traffic at 54 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated: 15 September 2026
Data source: Department for Transport
Records analysed: 54 count points in 2025
Methodology: View methodology

Traffic in 2025 712m vehicle miles
Average daily traffic 9,895 vehicles a day, both directions
Busiest section 34,797 At A390
HGV share 3.2% of vehicle miles
Traffic since 2019 +1.3% same count points
Collisions, 2021 to 2025 841 24.7 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A39?

On an average day in 2025, 9,895 vehicles passed each point on the A39, counting both directions. The busiest section is At A390 (Cornwall), with 34,797 a day; the quietest listed is B3234 to B3223, with 461.

Busiest sections, 2025

At A390 carries 3.5 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A39 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section	Vehicles a day
At A390 Cornwall · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.6%	34,797
A361 to A39 Devon · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.9%	33,773
At A390 Cornwall · 1.0 mi · HGVs 2.7%	31,221
A361 to B3151 Somerset · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.7%	26,922
A390 to A393 Cornwall · 6.5 mi · HGVs 1.9%	26,849
A394 to B3292 Falmouth Rd Cornwall · 2.3 mi · HGVs 1.2%	26,813
A393 to A394 Cornwall · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.4%	24,074
At A386 Devon · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.0%	23,625
A392 to A30(T) Cornwall · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.1%	21,937
B3232 to A386 Devon · 5.7 mi · HGVs 3.1%	20,717

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Route

Bath and North East Somerset to Cornwall · 197.0 miles

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

A39 traffic and collisions by section

49 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 4 short link roads and spurs (3.0 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 49 sections Tap a column heading to sort

Sections of the A39 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1	A368 to A4Bath and North East Somerset	3.7	10,995	2.9%	−6.7%	11	15.4
2	A4Bath and North East Somerset	4.6	8,481	3.1%	–	9	–
3	A37 to Old Bristol RoadSomerset	7.5	5,255	5.3%	−5.8%	32	46.3
4	Old Bristol Road to A39Somerset	0.7	11,822	2.7%	−5.4%	4	–
5	At A371Somerset	0.4	14,201	2.4%	−5.0%	4	–
6	A371 to A361Somerset	6.0	13,275	2.7%	−2.1%	28	20.2
7	A361 to B3151Somerset	0.9	26,922	3.7%	−4.0%	7	–
8	B3151 to Meadow LaneSomerset	1.7	17,518	3.6%	+4.2%	12	22.8
9	Meadow Lane to A361Somerset	1.4	15,091	6.0%	−4.5%	3	–
10	A361 to Shapwick HillSomerset	1.4	14,467	6.6%	−2.4%	4	–
11	Shapwick Hill to A39 Puriton HillSomerset	6.2	13,707	5.9%	+1.3%	26	17.4
12	A39 Puriton Hill to Bower LaneSomerset	1.4	13,476	2.2%	−6.3%	7	–
13	Bower Lane to A38Somerset	1.0	15,424	1.5%	−5.3%	23	84.4
14	A38 to Quantock Meadow roundaboutSomerset	1.8	15,452	4.2%	+3.4%	17	34.5
15	Quantock Meadow roundabout to B3339Somerset	1.3	17,369	4.0%	+3.1%	4	–
16	B3339 to C road to Cannington High StSomerset	1.6	15,060	4.4%	+36.0%	10	26.7
17	C road to Cannington High St to A358Somerset	13.5	6,481	3.7%	−6.0%	35	22.8
18	A358 to B3190Somerset	1.2	9,556	2.5%	−6.3%	5	–
19	B3190 to A396Somerset	4.9	14,742	1.9%	−14.3%	11	8.7
20	A396 to B3234Somerset, Devon	18.9	1,179	0.4%	−14.8%	34	85.4
21	B3234 to B3223Devon	2.4	461	1.5%	−8.9%	fewer than 3	–
22	B3223 to A399Devon	8.8	3,079	1.6%	+10.7%	12	26.9
23	A399 to B3230Devon	9.1	2,149	2.4%	+35.3%	17	49.6
24	B3230 to Westaway PlainDevon	0.5	8,402	1.4%	−6.1%	4	–
25	Westaway Plain to A361Devon	0.9	9,327	1.4%	−6.1%	11	74.8
26	A39 Pilton Causeway to A3125Devon	0.6	16,632	1.0%	−5.0%	14	79.4
27	Alexandra Road to Whiddon DriveDevon	1.1	14,008	1.5%	−9.7%	12	42.3
28	Whiddon Drive to A361Devon	0.2	12,747	1.5%	−9.7%	0	–
29	A361 to A39Devon	1.1	33,773	2.9%	–	5	–
30	B3232 to A386Devon	5.7	20,717	3.1%	−4.2%	28	13.8
31	At A386Devon	0.9	23,625	3.0%	−0.2%	6	–
32	A386Devon	15.7	7,405	2.7%	–	42	19.5
33	Council boundary to A3072 Hospital RoadCornwall	8.3	6,992	3.2%	+46.8%	14	13.8
34	A3072 Hospital Road to A39Cornwall	0.3	16,822	2.5%	+8.6%	fewer than 3	–
35	A3072 to A3073Cornwall	0.9	6,312	4.7%	−5.4%	9	–
36	A3073 to B3262Cornwall	11.0	6,148	4.5%	−5.4%	35	29.5
37	B3262 to A395Cornwall	1.9	4,882	5.3%	−10.0%	3	–
38	A395 to A389Cornwall	12.9	6,193	3.1%	+2.5%	41	31.3
39	At A389Cornwall	3.0	15,977	2.1%	+20.8%	15	18.6
40	A389 to A3059Cornwall	6.6	10,405	3.2%	−4.1%	31	26.1
41	A3059 to A392Cornwall	1.7	18,157	3.5%	+5.4%	7	–
42	A392 to A30(T)Cornwall	0.9	21,937	3.1%	+19.1%	9	–
43	A30 to A390Cornwall	5.6	14,080	4.1%	+7.1%	34	25.2
44	At A390Cornwall	0.9	34,797	2.6%	+0.4%	11	19.7
45	At A390Cornwall	1.0	31,221	2.7%	+18.8%	19	35.8
46	A390 to A393Cornwall	6.5	26,849	1.9%	+2.2%	47	15.3
47	A393 to A394Cornwall	0.9	24,074	3.4%	+20.2%	11	30.1
48	A394 to B3292 Falmouth RdCornwall	2.3	26,813	1.2%	+10.7%	23	22.6
49	Castle Drive roundabout to B3292 Faalmouth RdCornwall	2.2	14,380	0.9%	−3.0%	31	56.2

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A39 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.

A39 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 78.3% of the vehicle miles on the A39. HGVs account for 3.2%, rising to 6.6% on A361 to Shapwick Hill.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Share of vehicle miles on the A39 by vehicle type
Category	Share
Cars and taxis	78.3%
Vans (LGVs)	17.2%
HGVs	3.2%
Motorcycles	0.8%
Buses and coaches	0.5%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the A39, by year
Year	HGV share
2000	4.3%
2001	4.1%
2002	4.4%
2003	4.1%
2004	4.1%
2005	4.0%
2006	3.8%
2007	3.9%
2008	3.9%
2009	3.7%
2010	3.7%
2011	3.7%
2012	3.7%
2013	3.7%
2014	3.7%
2015	3.8%
2016	3.8%
2017	3.9%
2018	3.8%
2019	3.7%
2020	4.3%
2021	4.0%
2022	3.5%
2023	3.3%
2024	3.2%
2025	3.2%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

A39 traffic trend

Traffic on the A39 came to 712 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 1.3% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 8.8% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 22.2% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A39 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year	Vehicle miles
2000	576m
2001	591m
2002	595m
2003	588m
2004	634m
2005	629m
2006	640m
2007	643m
2008	641m
2009	644m
2010	634m
2011	648m
2012	640m
2013	637m
2014	647m
2015	665m
2016	686m
2017	707m
2018	706m
2019	716m
2020	547m
2021	617m
2022	683m
2023	693m
2024	704m
2025	712m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A39, weighted by link length, by year
Year	Vehicles a day
2000	8,196
2001	8,411
2002	8,462
2003	8,366
2004	8,962
2005	8,891
2006	9,051
2007	9,043
2008	9,009
2009	9,049
2010	8,905
2011	9,022
2012	8,906
2013	8,873
2014	9,000
2015	9,251
2016	9,551
2017	9,836
2018	9,805
2019	9,935
2020	7,592
2021	8,564
2022	9,480
2023	9,615
2024	9,769
2025	9,895

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

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 (89.1% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 8 of the 54 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A39 collisions

Police recorded 841 collisions with the A39 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 220 of them fatal or serious. That is 24.7 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

Up 3.6% from 2021 to 2025.

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

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 A39, 2021 to 2025
Section	Per 100m vehicle miles
A396 to B3234 Somerset, Devon · 34 collisions	85.4
Bower Lane to A38 Somerset · 23 collisions	84.4
A39 Pilton Causeway to A3125 Devon · 14 collisions	79.4
Westaway Plain to A361 Devon · 11 collisions	74.8
Castle Drive roundabout to B3292 Faalmouth Rd Cornwall · 31 collisions	56.2
A399 to B3230 Devon · 17 collisions	49.6
A37 to Old Bristol Road Somerset · 32 collisions	46.3
Alexandra Road to Whiddon Drive Devon · 12 collisions	42.3

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

A further 51 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A39 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 A39

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

Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset
Devon
Cornwall

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	54 count points in 2025	15 September 2026
Reported collisions	Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring	2021 to 2025	841 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”.

How we calculate these figures All data sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How busy is the A39?

Route

A39 traffic and collisions by section

A39 traffic by vehicle type

A39 traffic trend

A39 collisions

Council areas on the A39

Roads that meet the A39

Data sources and methodology

Related statistics