A-road
A491 traffic and collisions
The A491 is an A-road of 11.5 miles, from Worcestershire to Dudley. This page covers its traffic at 13 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 99m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 23,490 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 31,166 A456 to A4036
- HGV share 3.2% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +3.8% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 105 22.3 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A491?
On an average day in 2025, 23,490 vehicles passed each point on the A491, counting both directions. The busiest section is A456 to A4036 (Worcestershire, Dudley), with 31,166 a day; the quietest listed is B4180 to A4101, with 16,994.
Busiest sections, 2025
A456 to A4036 carries 1.3 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A456 to A4036 Worcestershire, Dudley · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 31,166 |
| A38/M5 to B4551 Worcestershire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 29,058 |
| B4091 to A456 Worcestershire · 3.9 mi · HGVs 4.0% | 24,408 |
| B4551 to B4091 Worcestershire · 1.0 mi · HGVs 4.9% | 23,408 |
| A491 St Johns Rd to A461 Dudley · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.2% | 22,487 |
| A461 to B4180 Dudley · 0.6 mi · HGVs 1.5% | 21,405 |
| A4036 to A451 Dudley · 1.2 mi · HGVs 2.6% | 20,553 |
| A4101 to A449 Dudley · 0.7 mi · HGVs 2.5% | 20,116 |
| B4180 to A4101 Dudley · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 16,994 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Worcestershire to Dudley · 11.5 miles
A491 traffic and collisions by section
12 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A38/M5 to B4551Worcestershire | 29,058 | 5 |
| 2 | B4551 to B4091Worcestershire | 23,408 | 4 |
| 3 | B4091 to A456Worcestershire | 24,408 | 11 |
| 4 | A456 to A4036Worcestershire, Dudley | 31,166 | 3 |
| 5 | A4036 to A451Dudley | 20,553 | 16 |
| 6 | A451 to A458Dudley | 28,427 | fewer than 3 |
| 7 | A458 to A491 High StDudley | 33,822 | 6 |
| 8 | A491 St Johns Rd to A461Dudley | 22,487 | 12 |
| 9 | A461 to A4102Dudley | 23,659 | 4 |
| 10 | A461 to B4180Dudley | 21,405 | 9 |
| 11 | B4180 to A4101Dudley | 16,994 | 26 |
| 12 | A4101 to A449Dudley | 20,116 | 7 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A491 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.
A491 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 80.7% of the vehicle miles on the A491. HGVs account for 3.2%, rising to 4.9% on B4551 to B4091.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.3% |
| 2001 | 4.7% |
| 2002 | 4.8% |
| 2003 | 4.8% |
| 2004 | 4.8% |
| 2005 | 4.7% |
| 2006 | 4.5% |
| 2007 | 4.3% |
| 2008 | 4.2% |
| 2009 | 3.9% |
| 2010 | 3.8% |
| 2011 | 3.7% |
| 2012 | 3.6% |
| 2013 | 3.8% |
| 2014 | 3.8% |
| 2015 | 3.8% |
| 2016 | 3.4% |
| 2017 | 3.5% |
| 2018 | 3.5% |
| 2019 | 3.6% |
| 2020 | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 4.3% |
| 2022 | 4.1% |
| 2023 | 4.0% |
| 2024 | 3.3% |
| 2025 | 3.2% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A491 traffic trend
Traffic on the A491 came to 98.6 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 3.8% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 11.9% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 2.2% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 98m |
| 2001 | 101m |
| 2002 | 101m |
| 2003 | 102m |
| 2004 | 98m |
| 2005 | 96m |
| 2006 | 97m |
| 2007 | 95m |
| 2008 | 94m |
| 2009 | 95m |
| 2010 | 93m |
| 2011 | 88m |
| 2012 | 87m |
| 2013 | 86m |
| 2014 | 89m |
| 2015 | 90m |
| 2016 | 96m |
| 2017 | 97m |
| 2018 | 98m |
| 2019 | 95m |
| 2020 | 78m |
| 2021 | 87m |
| 2022 | 94m |
| 2023 | 96m |
| 2024 | 97m |
| 2025 | 99m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 23,002 |
| 2001 | 23,627 |
| 2002 | 23,545 |
| 2003 | 23,826 |
| 2004 | 22,902 |
| 2005 | 22,484 |
| 2006 | 22,609 |
| 2007 | 22,290 |
| 2008 | 21,954 |
| 2009 | 22,342 |
| 2010 | 21,695 |
| 2011 | 20,599 |
| 2012 | 20,249 |
| 2013 | 20,174 |
| 2014 | 20,736 |
| 2015 | 21,077 |
| 2016 | 22,517 |
| 2017 | 22,364 |
| 2018 | 22,500 |
| 2019 | 22,523 |
| 2020 | 18,577 |
| 2021 | 20,597 |
| 2022 | 22,320 |
| 2023 | 22,740 |
| 2024 | 23,023 |
| 2025 | 23,490 |
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, 3 of the 13 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A491 collisions
Police recorded 105 collisions with the A491 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal. That is 22.3 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.8 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 11.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 |
| 2022 | 25 |
| 2023 | 26 |
| 2024 | 16 |
| 2025 | 20 |
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 |
|---|---|
| B4180 to A4101 Dudley · 26 collisions | 65.8 |
| A491 St Johns Rd to A461 Dudley · 12 collisions | 47.4 |
| A4036 to A451 Dudley · 16 collisions | 36.7 |
| B4091 to A456 Worcestershire · 11 collisions | 6.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 20 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A491 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 A491
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Worcestershire
- 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 | 13 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 105 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.