A-road
A426 traffic and collisions
The A426 is an A-road of 30.8 miles, from Warwickshire to Leicester. This page covers its traffic at 20 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 155m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 13,758 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 36,367 A4112 to Brownsover Rd
- HGV share 5.0% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +2.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 251 35.2 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A426?
On an average day in 2025, 13,758 vehicles passed each point on the A426, counting both directions. The busiest section is A4112 to Brownsover Rd (Warwickshire), with 36,367 a day; the quietest listed is A423(T) to Sandford Way, Rugby, with 6,442.
Busiest sections, 2025
A4112 to Brownsover Rd carries 2.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A4112 to Brownsover Rd Warwickshire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.5% | 36,367 |
| Brownsover Rd, Rugby to M6 Warwickshire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 7.5% | 32,369 |
| A428 to A4112 Warwickshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 2.2% | 22,689 |
| A4303 to Bill Crane Way Leicestershire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 4.6% | 18,177 |
| M6 to A5(T) Warwickshire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 18.5% | 17,825 |
| B582 Enderby Rd to B582 Little Glen Rd Leicestershire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.0% | 17,355 |
| B4429 Ashlawn rd to A428 Warwickshire · 1.8 mi · HGVs 1.4% | 15,788 |
| Bilton Lane to B4429 Ashlawn Rd Warwickshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 2.7% | 15,621 |
| A563 Soar Valley Way to A426 Freeman's Common Road Leicester · 2.1 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 14,952 |
| B582 to A563 Leicestershire, Leicester · 1.0 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 14,811 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Warwickshire to Leicester · 30.8 miles
A426 traffic and collisions by section
17 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.2 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Show all 17 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A423(T) to Sandford Way, RugbyWarwickshire | 6,442 | 31 |
| 2 | Sandford Way to Bilton LaneWarwickshire | 7,151 | 3 |
| 3 | Bilton Lane to B4429 Ashlawn RdWarwickshire | 15,621 | fewer than 3 |
| 4 | B4429 Ashlawn rd to A428Warwickshire | 15,788 | 20 |
| 5 | A428 to A4112Warwickshire | 22,689 | 23 |
| 6 | A4112 to Brownsover RdWarwickshire | 36,367 | 22 |
| 7 | Brownsover Rd, Rugby to M6Warwickshire | 32,369 | 18 |
| 8 | M6 to A5(T)Warwickshire | 17,825 | 11 |
| 9 | A5 to A4303Warwickshire, Leicestershire | 14,460 | 6 |
| 10 | A4303 to Bill Crane WayLeicestershire | 18,177 | 11 |
| 11 | Bill Crane Way to B581Leicestershire | 13,117 | 15 |
| 12 | B581 to Wychwood Road roundaboutLeicestershire | 8,425 | 12 |
| 13 | Wychwood Road roundabout to B582Leicestershire | 10,453 | 6 |
| 14 | B582 Enderby Rd to B582 Little Glen RdLeicestershire | 17,355 | 11 |
| 15 | B582 to A563Leicestershire, Leicester | 14,811 | 20 |
| 16 | A563 Soar Valley Way to A426 Freeman's Common RoadLeicester | 14,952 | 33 |
| 17 | Raw Dykes Road to A5199 Welford RoadLeicester | 10,859 | fewer than 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A426 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.
A426 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 80.5% of the vehicle miles on the A426. HGVs account for 5.0%, rising to 18.5% on M6 to A5(T).
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.8% |
| 2001 | 6.9% |
| 2002 | 6.6% |
| 2003 | 6.2% |
| 2004 | 6.3% |
| 2005 | 6.6% |
| 2006 | 7.1% |
| 2007 | 7.3% |
| 2008 | 7.1% |
| 2009 | 6.2% |
| 2010 | 5.9% |
| 2011 | 6.3% |
| 2012 | 6.4% |
| 2013 | 6.0% |
| 2014 | 5.9% |
| 2015 | 5.9% |
| 2016 | 5.8% |
| 2017 | 5.3% |
| 2018 | 5.4% |
| 2019 | 5.1% |
| 2020 | 6.1% |
| 2021 | 6.3% |
| 2022 | 6.0% |
| 2023 | 5.5% |
| 2024 | 5.3% |
| 2025 | 5.0% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A426 traffic trend
Traffic on the A426 came to 155 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 2.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 3.9% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 14.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 134m |
| 2001 | 137m |
| 2002 | 138m |
| 2003 | 139m |
| 2004 | 141m |
| 2005 | 143m |
| 2006 | 144m |
| 2007 | 144m |
| 2008 | 145m |
| 2009 | 142m |
| 2010 | 138m |
| 2011 | 137m |
| 2012 | 137m |
| 2013 | 137m |
| 2014 | 143m |
| 2015 | 145m |
| 2016 | 151m |
| 2017 | 152m |
| 2018 | 150m |
| 2019 | 148m |
| 2020 | 112m |
| 2021 | 129m |
| 2022 | 140m |
| 2023 | 143m |
| 2024 | 146m |
| 2025 | 155m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 12,350 |
| 2001 | 12,659 |
| 2002 | 12,752 |
| 2003 | 12,783 |
| 2004 | 13,037 |
| 2005 | 13,231 |
| 2006 | 13,284 |
| 2007 | 13,309 |
| 2008 | 13,408 |
| 2009 | 13,138 |
| 2010 | 12,715 |
| 2011 | 12,641 |
| 2012 | 12,600 |
| 2013 | 12,665 |
| 2014 | 13,200 |
| 2015 | 13,404 |
| 2016 | 13,960 |
| 2017 | 14,016 |
| 2018 | 13,735 |
| 2019 | 13,601 |
| 2020 | 10,287 |
| 2021 | 11,858 |
| 2022 | 12,848 |
| 2023 | 13,115 |
| 2024 | 13,189 |
| 2025 | 13,758 |
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 (87.3% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 9 of the 20 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A426 collisions
Police recorded 251 collisions with the A426 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 69 of them fatal or serious. That is 35.2 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.6 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 13.6% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | 9 |
| 2022 | 35 | 12 |
| 2023 | 37 | 17 |
| 2024 | 42 | 14 |
| 2025 | 32 | 18 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A428 to A4112 Warwickshire · 23 collisions | 231.4 |
| A563 Soar Valley Way to A426 Freeman's Common Road Leicester · 33 collisions | 143.7 |
| B582 to A563 Leicestershire, Leicester · 20 collisions | 76.9 |
| B582 Enderby Rd to B582 Little Glen Rd Leicestershire · 11 collisions | 70.9 |
| B4429 Ashlawn rd to A428 Warwickshire · 20 collisions | 45.7 |
| A423(T) to Sandford Way, Rugby Warwickshire · 31 collisions | 44.3 |
| A4112 to Brownsover Rd Warwickshire · 22 collisions | 37.1 |
| A4303 to Bill Crane Way Leicestershire · 11 collisions | 24.6 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 27 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A426 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 A426
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Warwickshire
- Leicestershire
- Leicester
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 | 20 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 251 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.