A-road
A451 traffic and collisions
The A451 is an A-road of 17.0 miles, from Dudley to Worcestershire. This page covers its traffic at 18 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 75m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 12,035 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 25,553 A442 to A4535
- HGV share 2.0% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +4.9% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 101 28.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A451?
On an average day in 2025, 12,035 vehicles passed each point on the A451, counting both directions. The busiest section is A442 to A4535 (Worcestershire), with 25,553 a day; the quietest listed is B4194 to A443, with 4,530.
Busiest sections, 2025
A442 to A4535 carries 2.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A442 to A4535 Worcestershire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 1.9% | 25,553 |
| WALTER NASH ROAD WEST to A4535 Worcestershire · 2.1 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 20,317 |
| A448 to A442 Worcestershire · 0.8 mi · HGVs 3.6% | 20,260 |
| A4535 to WALTER NASH ROAD WEST Worcestershire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.2% | 16,910 |
| St Marys Ringway to Broadwaters Worcestershire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 12,788 |
| A451 New Rd/Bath Rd to Racecourse Lane Dudley · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.1% | 10,686 |
| Racecourse Lane to Park Gate Rd, Kidderminster Dudley, Staffordshire, Worcestershire · 4.0 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 10,277 |
| A4025 to B4194 Worcestershire · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 7,211 |
| B4194 to A443 Worcestershire · 4.1 mi · HGVs 3.6% | 4,530 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Dudley to Worcestershire · 17.0 miles
A451 traffic and collisions by section
15 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.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A458/A451 to A491 High StDudley | 29,370 | 0 |
| 2 | A451/A458 to A451Dudley | 21,238 | fewer than 3 |
| 3 | A451 New Rd/Bath Rd to Racecourse LaneDudley | 10,686 | 7 |
| 4 | Racecourse Lane to Park Gate Rd, KidderminsterDudley, Staffordshire, Worcestershire | 10,277 | 13 |
| 5 | A449(T) to Park Gate RdWorcestershire | 5,717 | 0 |
| 6 | St Marys Ringway to BroadwatersWorcestershire | 12,788 | 8 |
| 7 | A456 to A448Worcestershire | 28,305 | 4 |
| 8 | A448 to A442Worcestershire | 20,260 | 6 |
| 9 | A442 to A4535Worcestershire | 25,553 | 3 |
| 10 | A4535 to WALTER NASH ROAD WESTWorcestershire | 16,910 | 13 |
| 11 | WALTER NASH ROAD WEST to A4535Worcestershire | 20,317 | 19 |
| 12 | At A4025Worcestershire | 18,821 | 5 |
| 13 | Bridge St to High StWorcestershire | 9,425 | 0 |
| 14 | A4025 to B4194Worcestershire | 7,211 | 8 |
| 15 | B4194 to A443Worcestershire | 4,530 | 11 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A451 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.
A451 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 83.4% of the vehicle miles on the A451. HGVs account for 2.0%, rising to 3.6% on A448 to A442.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.7% |
| 2001 | 3.5% |
| 2002 | 3.0% |
| 2003 | 3.0% |
| 2004 | 3.3% |
| 2005 | 3.5% |
| 2006 | 2.9% |
| 2007 | 2.8% |
| 2008 | 2.6% |
| 2009 | 2.5% |
| 2010 | 2.5% |
| 2011 | 2.5% |
| 2012 | 2.7% |
| 2013 | 2.6% |
| 2014 | 2.5% |
| 2015 | 2.4% |
| 2016 | 2.3% |
| 2017 | 2.1% |
| 2018 | 2.0% |
| 2019 | 2.0% |
| 2020 | 2.3% |
| 2021 | 2.4% |
| 2022 | 2.3% |
| 2023 | 2.3% |
| 2024 | 2.2% |
| 2025 | 2.0% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A451 traffic trend
Traffic on the A451 came to 74.7 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 4.9% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 1.5% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 3.0% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 67m |
| 2001 | 68m |
| 2002 | 67m |
| 2003 | 68m |
| 2004 | 67m |
| 2005 | 68m |
| 2006 | 67m |
| 2007 | 67m |
| 2008 | 67m |
| 2009 | 67m |
| 2010 | 66m |
| 2011 | 67m |
| 2012 | 63m |
| 2013 | 63m |
| 2014 | 65m |
| 2015 | 65m |
| 2016 | 66m |
| 2017 | 65m |
| 2018 | 66m |
| 2019 | 70m |
| 2020 | 54m |
| 2021 | 65m |
| 2022 | 71m |
| 2023 | 72m |
| 2024 | 73m |
| 2025 | 75m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 11,568 |
| 2001 | 11,781 |
| 2002 | 11,606 |
| 2003 | 11,701 |
| 2004 | 11,613 |
| 2005 | 11,636 |
| 2006 | 11,482 |
| 2007 | 11,512 |
| 2008 | 11,494 |
| 2009 | 11,522 |
| 2010 | 11,363 |
| 2011 | 11,460 |
| 2012 | 10,875 |
| 2013 | 10,858 |
| 2014 | 11,141 |
| 2015 | 11,231 |
| 2016 | 11,338 |
| 2017 | 11,004 |
| 2018 | 11,068 |
| 2019 | 11,453 |
| 2020 | 8,818 |
| 2021 | 10,573 |
| 2022 | 11,441 |
| 2023 | 11,666 |
| 2024 | 11,833 |
| 2025 | 12,035 |
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, 4 of the 18 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A451 collisions
Police recorded 101 collisions with the A451 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 33 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal. That is 28.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.2 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 11.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 | 9 |
| 2023 | 13 | 10 |
| 2024 | 12 | 5 |
| 2025 | 12 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A4535 to WALTER NASH ROAD WEST Worcestershire · 13 collisions | 72.5 |
| B4194 to A443 Worcestershire · 11 collisions | 33.8 |
| WALTER NASH ROAD WEST to A4535 Worcestershire · 19 collisions | 25.6 |
| Racecourse Lane to Park Gate Rd, Kidderminster Dudley, Staffordshire, Worcestershire · 13 collisions | 18.1 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 21 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A451 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 A451
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Dudley
- Staffordshire
- Worcestershire
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 | 18 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 101 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.