A-road
A515 traffic and collisions
The A515 is an A-road of 44.4 miles, from Staffordshire to Derbyshire. 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 6,076 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 11,832 A52 to A515 Compton StJunction where Station Street and Clifton Road meet
- HGV share 9.7% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −6.8% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 161 33.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A515?
On an average day in 2025, 6,076 vehicles passed each point on the A515, counting both directions. The busiest section is A52 to A515 Compton StJunction where Station Street and Clifton Road meet (Derbyshire), with 11,832 a day; the quietest listed is Junction with A515 and A5012 (Near Newhaven Caravan And Camping Park) to Junction where A515 splits in two roads (both also A515; Park Road and Compton) - in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, with 4,488.
Busiest sections, 2025
A52 to A515 Compton StJunction where Station Street and Clifton Road meet carries 1.9 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A52 to A515 Compton StJunction where Station Street and Clifton Road meet Derbyshire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 6.2% | 11,832 |
| Central Drive to A53 Derbyshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 6.1% | 11,048 |
| A50(T) to A52 Derbyshire · 8.6 mi · HGVs 14.3% | 8,245 |
| A51 to A513 Staffordshire · 3.5 mi · HGVs 5.6% | 6,162 |
| B5054 to Central Drive, Buxton Derbyshire · 9.0 mi · HGVs 10.7% | 5,969 |
| A5012 to B5054 Derbyshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 11.9% | 5,950 |
| A513 Staffordshire · 10.1 mi · HGVs 4.7% | 4,835 |
| Council boundary to A50 Derbyshire · 0.6 mi · HGVs 4.7% | 4,835 |
| Junction with A515 and A5012 (Near Newhaven Caravan And Camping Park) to Junction where A515 splits in two roads (both also A515; Park Road and Compton) - in Ashbourne, Derbyshire Derbyshire · 9.2 mi · HGVs 11.4% | 4,488 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Staffordshire to Derbyshire · 44.4 miles
A515 traffic and collisions by section
11 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 | A51 to A513Staffordshire | 6,162 | 7 |
| 2 | At A513Staffordshire | 9,351 | 0 |
| 3 | A513Staffordshire | 4,835 | 20 |
| 4 | Council boundary to A50Derbyshire | 4,835 | 9 |
| 5 | A50(T) to A52Derbyshire | 8,245 | 29 |
| 6 | A52 to A515 Compton StJunction where Station Street and Clifton Road meetDerbyshire | 11,832 | 4 |
| 7 | Junction where Station Street and Clifton Road meet to A515 Buxton RdDerbyshire | 3,764 | fewer than 3 |
| 8 | Junction with A515 and A5012 (Near Newhaven Caravan And Camping Park) to Junction where A515 splits in two roads (both also A515; Park Road and Compton) - in Ashbourne, DerbyshireDerbyshire | 4,488 | 32 |
| 9 | A5012 to B5054Derbyshire | 5,950 | 7 |
| 10 | B5054 to Central Drive, BuxtonDerbyshire | 5,969 | 32 |
| 11 | Central Drive to A53Derbyshire | 11,048 | 18 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A515 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.
A515 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 73.9% of the vehicle miles on the A515. HGVs account for 9.7%, rising to 14.3% on A50(T) to A52.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 11.9% |
| 2001 | 12.3% |
| 2002 | 11.6% |
| 2003 | 11.1% |
| 2004 | 10.6% |
| 2005 | 9.6% |
| 2006 | 9.5% |
| 2007 | 11.0% |
| 2008 | 10.3% |
| 2009 | 9.4% |
| 2010 | 9.2% |
| 2011 | 9.2% |
| 2012 | 9.2% |
| 2013 | 9.0% |
| 2014 | 9.1% |
| 2015 | 9.2% |
| 2016 | 9.1% |
| 2017 | 9.6% |
| 2018 | 10.1% |
| 2019 | 10.5% |
| 2020 | 12.0% |
| 2021 | 11.6% |
| 2022 | 10.7% |
| 2023 | 10.2% |
| 2024 | 9.9% |
| 2025 | 9.7% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A515 traffic trend
Traffic on the A515 came to 98.5 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 6.8% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 0.9% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 18.3% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 87m |
| 2001 | 89m |
| 2002 | 92m |
| 2003 | 103m |
| 2004 | 102m |
| 2005 | 104m |
| 2006 | 111m |
| 2007 | 101m |
| 2008 | 102m |
| 2009 | 101m |
| 2010 | 100m |
| 2011 | 100m |
| 2012 | 100m |
| 2013 | 99m |
| 2014 | 102m |
| 2015 | 103m |
| 2016 | 107m |
| 2017 | 107m |
| 2018 | 109m |
| 2019 | 106m |
| 2020 | 80m |
| 2021 | 89m |
| 2022 | 95m |
| 2023 | 98m |
| 2024 | 97m |
| 2025 | 99m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5,419 |
| 2001 | 5,521 |
| 2002 | 5,691 |
| 2003 | 6,368 |
| 2004 | 6,329 |
| 2005 | 6,488 |
| 2006 | 6,867 |
| 2007 | 6,284 |
| 2008 | 6,358 |
| 2009 | 6,262 |
| 2010 | 6,213 |
| 2011 | 6,237 |
| 2012 | 6,197 |
| 2013 | 6,169 |
| 2014 | 6,330 |
| 2015 | 6,372 |
| 2016 | 6,625 |
| 2017 | 6,627 |
| 2018 | 6,775 |
| 2019 | 6,560 |
| 2020 | 4,976 |
| 2021 | 5,462 |
| 2022 | 5,846 |
| 2023 | 6,068 |
| 2024 | 6,012 |
| 2025 | 6,076 |
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 (74.8% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 0 of the 13 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A515 collisions
Police recorded 161 collisions with the A515 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 55 of them fatal or serious, including 4 fatal. That is 33.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.7 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 16.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | 7 |
| 2022 | 27 | 11 |
| 2023 | 19 | 9 |
| 2024 | 25 | 16 |
| 2025 | 17 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|
| Central Drive to A53 Derbyshire · 18 collisions | 76.6 |
| Junction with A515 and A5012 (Near Newhaven Caravan And Camping Park) to Junction where A515 splits in two roads (both also A515; Park Road and Compton) - in Ashbourne, Derbyshire Derbyshire · 32 collisions | 46.4 |
| B5054 to Central Drive, Buxton Derbyshire · 32 collisions | 31.4 |
| A513 Staffordshire · 20 collisions | 23.2 |
| A50(T) to A52 Derbyshire · 29 collisions | 23.2 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 15 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A515 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 A515
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Staffordshire
- Derbyshire
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 | 161 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.