A-road

A422 traffic and collisions

The A422 is an A-road of 71.6 miles, from Bedford to Worcestershire. This page covers its traffic at 29 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
29 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 305m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 11,675 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 45,193 Wildmere Rd to A4260
  • HGV share 3.5% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −4.3% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 231 15.8 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A422?

On an average day in 2025, 11,675 vehicles passed each point on the A422, counting both directions. The busiest section is Wildmere Rd to A4260 (Oxfordshire), with 45,193 a day; the quietest listed is C road to Kingley to A441, with 3,757.

Busiest sections, 2025

Wildmere Rd to A4260 carries 3.9 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A422 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
Wildmere Rd to A4260 Oxfordshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 5.3% 45,193
Willen Rd to B4034 Milton Keynes · 1.9 mi · HGVs 2.1% 33,109
A43 to M40 West Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire · 8.7 mi · HGVs 3.7% 24,528
A509 to Willen Rd Milton Keynes · 0.6 mi · HGVs 3.9% 24,349
B4100 Warwick Rd to A423 Oxfordshire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.0% 23,471
B4034 to A5 Milton Keynes · 2.5 mi · HGVs 2.1% 20,562
At B4100 Oxfordshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.0% 14,070
A5 to A413 West Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire · 6.8 mi · HGVs 4.9% 12,679
A4390 to The Ridgway Warwickshire · 1.3 mi · HGVs 1.8% 11,729
A428 to A509 Bedford, Milton Keynes · 7.5 mi · HGVs 3.0% 10,327

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Bedford to Worcestershire · 71.6 miles

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

A422 traffic and collisions by section

24 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.

Show all 24 sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A422 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A428 to A509Bedford, Milton Keynes7.510,3273.0%−4.0%1410.7
2A509 to Willen RdMilton Keynes0.624,3493.9%−0.1%fewer than 3
3Willen Rd to B4034Milton Keynes1.933,1092.1%−2.5%1210.7
4B4034 to A5Milton Keynes2.520,5622.1%−16.9%1616.3
5A5 to A413West Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire6.812,6794.9%−11.6%3221.1
6At A413Buckinghamshire0.710,2131.8%+6.1%fewer than 3
7A413 to Western AvenueBuckinghamshire0.213,1010.6%+8.8%fewer than 3
8Western Avenue to A43(T)Buckinghamshire6.88,6223.4%8
9A43 to M40West Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire8.724,5283.7%2324.3
10M40 to Wildmere RdOxfordshire0.441,1265.3%+3.0%7
11Wildmere Rd to A4260Oxfordshire0.545,1935.3%+3.0%9
12A4260 to A361Oxfordshire0.436,9204.1%−1.2%5
13B4100 Warwick Rd to A423Oxfordshire0.923,4712.0%+3.3%1232.1
14At B4100Oxfordshire0.614,0702.0%+5.0%3
15B4100 to Bretch HillOxfordshire0.25,5854.5%+9.7%fewer than 3
16Bretch Hill, Banbury to B4455Oxfordshire, Warwickshire12.14,3484.5%+3.9%1618.2
17B4455 to A429Warwickshire1.06,1912.2%+12.9%7
18A429 to A422Warwickshire4.05,6802.8%−7.4%1845.1
19A422 to A3400Warwickshire1.06,0960.8%−0.5%5
20A4390 to The RidgwayWarwickshire1.311,7291.8%+10.7%1248.8
21The Ridgway to A46(T)Warwickshire0.310,6741.8%+10.7%fewer than 3
22A435(T) to C road to KingleyWarwickshire0.29,6253.1%+4.9%fewer than 3
23C road to Kingley to A441Warwickshire, Worcestershire1.83,7573.4%−20.4%3
24A441 to A4538Worcestershire11.25,5644.0%−3.9%1816.9

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A422 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.

A422 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 80.7% of the vehicle miles on the A422. HGVs account for 3.5%, rising to 5.3% on Wildmere Rd to A4260.

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 A422, by year
Year HGV share
2000 4.9%
2001 4.4%
2002 4.4%
2003 4.5%
2004 4.7%
2005 4.6%
2006 4.5%
2007 4.1%
2008 3.9%
2009 3.6%
2010 3.6%
2011 3.7%
2012 3.5%
2013 3.5%
2014 3.5%
2015 3.5%
2016 3.4%
2017 3.3%
2018 3.3%
2019 3.2%
2020 3.8%
2021 4.0%
2022 3.7%
2023 3.6%
2024 3.4%
2025 3.5%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A422 traffic trend

Traffic on the A422 came to 305 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 4.3% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 6.7% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 9.3% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A422 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 258m
2001 266m
2002 263m
2003 263m
2004 260m
2005 259m
2006 264m
2007 273m
2008 274m
2009 276m
2010 266m
2011 265m
2012 262m
2013 263m
2014 269m
2015 273m
2016 283m
2017 294m
2018 306m
2019 315m
2020 239m
2021 264m
2022 290m
2023 300m
2024 302m
2025 305m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A422, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 10,043
2001 10,339
2002 10,218
2003 10,230
2004 10,120
2005 10,059
2006 10,249
2007 10,601
2008 10,627
2009 10,713
2010 10,349
2011 10,287
2012 10,189
2013 10,214
2014 10,442
2015 10,626
2016 10,977
2017 11,423
2018 11,737
2019 12,067
2020 9,142
2021 10,109
2022 11,121
2023 11,494
2024 11,583
2025 11,675

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 (79.1% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 6 of the 29 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A422 collisions

Police recorded 231 collisions with the A422 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 72 of them fatal or serious, including 7 fatal. That is 15.8 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.7 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 4.7% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A422 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 349
2022 3118
2023 3117
2024 3115
2025 3114

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 A422, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A4390 to The Ridgway Warwickshire · 12 collisions 48.8
A429 to A422 Warwickshire · 18 collisions 45.1
B4100 Warwick Rd to A423 Oxfordshire · 12 collisions 32.1
A43 to M40 West Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire · 23 collisions 24.3
A5 to A413 West Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire · 32 collisions 21.1
Bretch Hill, Banbury to B4455 Oxfordshire, Warwickshire · 16 collisions 18.2
A441 to A4538 Worcestershire · 18 collisions 16.9
B4034 to A5 Milton Keynes · 16 collisions 16.3

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

A further 53 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A422 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 A422

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

  • Bedford
  • Milton Keynes
  • West Northamptonshire
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Oxfordshire
  • Warwickshire
  • Worcestershire

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 29 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 231 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.