A-road

A503 traffic and collisions

The A503 is an A-road of 10.0 miles, from Camden to Waltham Forest. This page covers its traffic at 25 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
25 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 59m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 16,233 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 29,133 A105 to A107
  • HGV share 3.4% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −18.0% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 989 301.7 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A503?

On an average day in 2025, 16,233 vehicles passed each point on the A503, counting both directions. The busiest section is A105 to A107 (Hackney), with 29,133 a day; the quietest listed is A1006 to A112, with 7,849.

Busiest sections, 2025

A105 to A107 carries 1.8 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A503 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A105 to A107 Hackney · 0.5 mi · HGVs 4.2% 29,133
A1201 to A105 Hackney · 0.6 mi · HGVs 5.0% 23,133
St Pancras Way to Camden Park Rd Camden · 0.5 mi · HGVs 3.9% 22,038
A107 to A10 Hackney, Haringey · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.7% 19,396
A10 to A1055 Haringey · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.6% 14,328
A112 Chingford Road to A104 Woodford New Road Waltham Forest · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.7% 13,272
A1055 to A1006 Haringey, Waltham Forest · 1.0 mi · HGVs 3.3% 12,880
A1006 to A112 Waltham Forest · 1.1 mi · HGVs 2.7% 7,849

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Camden to Waltham Forest · 10.0 miles

Camden Waltham Forest
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

A503 traffic and collisions by section

19 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 4 short link roads and spurs (1.1 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 19 sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A503 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1Parkway to Camden High StCamden0.210,8211.8%−12.3%20
2Camden High St to Camden RdCamden0.212,2382.5%−20.3%18
3Bayham St to A400Camden0.121,7952.1%−11.3%17
4A400 to A5202Camden0.221,7352.0%−41.0%21
5A5202 to St Pancras WayCamden0.120,6632.0%−31.1%9
6St Pancras Way to Camden Park RdCamden0.522,0383.9%−16.3%36178.2
7Camden Park Rd to A5200Camden0.118,8332.3%−28.5%4
8A5200 to A5203Islington0.418,7704.0%−24.7%41
9A5203 to A1Islington0.417,7363.8%+1.9%29
10A1 to A103Islington0.213,2943.0%−11.4%41
11A103 Hornsey rd to A503 Isledon RdIslington0.410,4744.7%−11.0%43
12Isledon Rd to Stroud Green Rd/Blackstock RdIslington0.226,8344.3%−15.9%56
13A1201 to A105Hackney0.623,1335.0%−10.1%99394.5
14A105 to A107Hackney0.529,1334.2%−18.5%50179.4
15A107 to A10Hackney, Haringey0.919,3963.7%−18.1%141400.5
16A10 to A1055Haringey0.614,3282.6%−20.6%98582.2
17A1055 to A1006Haringey, Waltham Forest1.012,8803.3%−15.3%61264.2
18A1006 to A112Waltham Forest1.17,8492.7%−13.2%71451.3
19A112 Chingford Road to A104 Woodford New RoadWaltham Forest1.213,2721.7%−31.5%68203.2

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A503 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.

A503 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 66.4% of the vehicle miles on the A503. HGVs account for 3.4%, rising to 5.0% on A1201 to A105.

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 A503, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.6%
2001 3.7%
2002 3.7%
2003 3.5%
2004 3.8%
2005 3.9%
2006 3.7%
2007 3.5%
2008 3.8%
2009 3.9%
2010 4.0%
2011 4.2%
2012 4.6%
2013 4.8%
2014 4.4%
2015 4.3%
2016 4.3%
2017 4.0%
2018 3.5%
2019 3.1%
2020 3.5%
2021 3.4%
2022 3.7%
2023 3.6%
2024 3.6%
2025 3.4%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A503 traffic trend

Traffic on the A503 came to 59.3 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 18.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 16.2% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is down 38.6% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A503 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 99m
2001 97m
2002 92m
2003 92m
2004 89m
2005 88m
2006 91m
2007 88m
2008 85m
2009 83m
2010 81m
2011 78m
2012 76m
2013 73m
2014 73m
2015 73m
2016 74m
2017 72m
2018 71m
2019 78m
2020 62m
2021 68m
2022 69m
2023 67m
2024 65m
2025 59m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A503, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 27,544
2001 27,009
2002 25,708
2003 25,666
2004 24,735
2005 24,592
2006 25,316
2007 24,519
2008 23,830
2009 23,284
2010 22,728
2011 21,826
2012 21,239
2013 20,464
2014 20,366
2015 20,483
2016 20,553
2017 20,198
2018 19,475
2019 20,610
2020 16,251
2021 17,795
2022 18,187
2023 17,705
2024 17,060
2025 16,233

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, 8 of the 25 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A503 collisions

Police recorded 989 collisions with the A503 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 175 of them fatal or serious, including 4 fatal. That is 301.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 19.8 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 34.7% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A503 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 20339
2022 18544
2023 14826
2024 15333
2025 12533

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 A503, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A10 to A1055 Haringey · 98 collisions 582.2
A1006 to A112 Waltham Forest · 71 collisions 451.3
A107 to A10 Hackney, Haringey · 141 collisions 400.5
A1201 to A105 Hackney · 99 collisions 394.5
A1055 to A1006 Haringey, Waltham Forest · 61 collisions 264.2
A112 Chingford Road to A104 Woodford New Road Waltham Forest · 68 collisions 203.2
A105 to A107 Hackney · 50 collisions 179.4
St Pancras Way to Camden Park Rd Camden · 36 collisions 178.2

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

A further 250 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A503 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 93.3% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A503

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

  • Camden
  • Islington
  • Hackney
  • Haringey
  • Waltham Forest

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 25 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 989 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.