A-road
A461 traffic and collisions
The A461 is an A-road of 21.3 miles, from Staffordshire to Dudley. This page covers its traffic at 24 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 143m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 18,421 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 37,842 A4037 to A459
- HGV share 4.5% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.5% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 349 50.1 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A461?
On an average day in 2025, 18,421 vehicles passed each point on the A461, counting both directions. The busiest section is A4037 to A459 (Dudley), with 37,842 a day; the quietest listed is A5190 to A5(T), with 8,922.
Busiest sections, 2025
A4037 to A459 carries 2.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A4037 to A459 Dudley · 1.4 mi · HGVs 5.4% | 37,842 |
| A4123 to A4037 Dudley · 0.5 mi · HGVs 4.7% | 33,770 |
| A459 to A4101 Dudley · 0.7 mi · HGVs 6.4% | 26,564 |
| A41 to A457 Sandwell · 1.2 mi · HGVs 4.2% | 24,663 |
| A4100 to A4102 Dudley · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 22,421 |
| M6 to A462 Sandwell · 1.5 mi · HGVs 6.9% | 21,578 |
| A4036 to A4100 Dudley · 1.6 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 17,866 |
| A5 to A452 Staffordshire, Walsall · 2.1 mi · HGVs 7.8% | 17,452 |
| A457 to A4123(T) Sandwell · 0.6 mi · HGVs 3.7% | 15,876 |
| B4154 to A454 Walsall · 1.1 mi · HGVs 4.7% | 15,484 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Staffordshire to Dudley · 21.3 miles
A461 traffic and collisions by section
22 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.6 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Show all 22 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Junction A461/A5206 to A51Staffordshire | 11,075 | 0 |
| 2 | Roundabout to A5127Staffordshire | 10,378 | fewer than 3 |
| 3 | C353 to A5190Staffordshire | 10,865 | 5 |
| 4 | A5190 to A5(T)Staffordshire | 8,922 | 0 |
| 5 | A5 to A452Staffordshire, Walsall | 17,452 | 9 |
| 6 | A452 to B4154Walsall | 12,783 | 32 |
| 7 | B4154 to A454Walsall | 15,484 | 11 |
| 8 | A454 to A4148Walsall | 25,139 | 7 |
| 9 | A4148 to M6Walsall | 29,481 | 15 |
| 10 | M6 to A462Sandwell | 21,578 | 37 |
| 11 | A462 to A41Sandwell | 30,337 | fewer than 3 |
| 12 | A41 Black Country New Road to A41 Holyhead RoadSandwell | 26,262 | 6 |
| 13 | A41 to A457Sandwell | 24,663 | 47 |
| 14 | A457 to A4123(T)Sandwell | 15,876 | 17 |
| 15 | A4123 to A4037Dudley | 33,770 | 29 |
| 16 | A4037 to A459Dudley | 37,842 | 35 |
| 17 | A459 to A4101Dudley | 26,564 | 27 |
| 18 | A4101 to A4036Dudley | 22,549 | 12 |
| 19 | A4036 to A4100Dudley | 17,866 | 24 |
| 20 | A4100 to A4102Dudley | 22,421 | 16 |
| 21 | A4102 to A491Dudley | 13,035 | 3 |
| 22 | A458 to A491/A4102Dudley | 9,167 | 10 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A461 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.
A461 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.7% of the vehicle miles on the A461. HGVs account for 4.5%, rising to 7.8% on A5 to A452.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.1% |
| 2001 | 6.6% |
| 2002 | 6.3% |
| 2003 | 6.0% |
| 2004 | 5.9% |
| 2005 | 5.4% |
| 2006 | 5.2% |
| 2007 | 5.2% |
| 2008 | 5.0% |
| 2009 | 4.6% |
| 2010 | 4.5% |
| 2011 | 5.0% |
| 2012 | 5.1% |
| 2013 | 5.3% |
| 2014 | 5.5% |
| 2015 | 5.4% |
| 2016 | 5.1% |
| 2017 | 5.3% |
| 2018 | 5.3% |
| 2019 | 5.3% |
| 2020 | 6.1% |
| 2021 | 6.0% |
| 2022 | 5.7% |
| 2023 | 5.5% |
| 2024 | 5.0% |
| 2025 | 4.5% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A461 traffic trend
Traffic on the A461 came to 143 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.5% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 1.1% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 7.9% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 119m |
| 2001 | 142m |
| 2002 | 143m |
| 2003 | 142m |
| 2004 | 144m |
| 2005 | 143m |
| 2006 | 135m |
| 2007 | 141m |
| 2008 | 138m |
| 2009 | 139m |
| 2010 | 129m |
| 2011 | 130m |
| 2012 | 128m |
| 2013 | 132m |
| 2014 | 135m |
| 2015 | 137m |
| 2016 | 141m |
| 2017 | 139m |
| 2018 | 143m |
| 2019 | 144m |
| 2020 | 117m |
| 2021 | 129m |
| 2022 | 140m |
| 2023 | 143m |
| 2024 | 142m |
| 2025 | 143m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 18,984 |
| 2001 | 20,290 |
| 2002 | 20,445 |
| 2003 | 20,332 |
| 2004 | 20,485 |
| 2005 | 20,038 |
| 2006 | 19,029 |
| 2007 | 19,855 |
| 2008 | 19,362 |
| 2009 | 19,317 |
| 2010 | 17,933 |
| 2011 | 17,448 |
| 2012 | 17,245 |
| 2013 | 17,769 |
| 2014 | 18,142 |
| 2015 | 18,433 |
| 2016 | 18,966 |
| 2017 | 18,648 |
| 2018 | 18,761 |
| 2019 | 18,853 |
| 2020 | 15,291 |
| 2021 | 16,839 |
| 2022 | 18,027 |
| 2023 | 18,424 |
| 2024 | 18,198 |
| 2025 | 18,421 |
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, 6 of the 24 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A461 collisions
Police recorded 349 collisions with the A461 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 69 of them fatal or serious. That is 50.1 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 3.3 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 11.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | 14 |
| 2022 | 60 | 16 |
| 2023 | 58 | 16 |
| 2024 | 48 | 13 |
| 2025 | 55 | 10 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A457 to A4123(T) Sandwell · 17 collisions | 105.1 |
| A4123 to A4037 Dudley · 29 collisions | 90.8 |
| A41 to A457 Sandwell · 47 collisions | 90.4 |
| A458 to A491/A4102 Dudley · 10 collisions | 88.1 |
| A459 to A4101 Dudley · 27 collisions | 82.0 |
| M6 to A462 Sandwell · 37 collisions | 59.5 |
| A452 to B4154 Walsall · 32 collisions | 50.0 |
| A4036 to A4100 Dudley · 24 collisions | 47.5 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 75 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A461 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 A461
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Staffordshire
- Walsall
- Sandwell
- Dudley
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 | 24 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 349 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.