A-road
A588 traffic and collisions
The A588 is an A-road of 20.5 miles, in Lancashire. This page covers its traffic at 9 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 45m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 6,043 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 11,840 Station Rd to A585(T)
- HGV share 1.9% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −6.5% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 78 36.8 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A588?
On an average day in 2025, 6,043 vehicles passed each point on the A588, counting both directions. The busiest section is Station Rd to A585(T) (Lancashire), with 11,840 a day; the quietest listed is Cherry Tree Drive roundabout to A6, with 5,250.
Busiest sections, 2025
Station Rd to A585(T) carries 2.0 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| Station Rd to A585(T) Lancashire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 0.4% | 11,840 |
| A585 to Cherry Tree Drive roundabout, Lancaster Lancashire · 17.6 mi · HGVs 2.0% | 5,651 |
| Cherry Tree Drive roundabout to A6 Lancashire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 3.1% | 5,250 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Lancashire · 20.5 miles
A588 traffic and collisions by section
6 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 3 short link roads and spurs (0.7 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A586 to Chapel St/Higher GreenLancashire | 9,687 | fewer than 3 |
| 2 | Higher Green to Station RdLancashire | 4,385 | 10 |
| 3 | Station Rd to A585(T)Lancashire | 11,840 | fewer than 3 |
| 4 | A588 Principal Road to A585Lancashire | 15,459 | 0 |
| 5 | A585 to Cherry Tree Drive roundabout, LancasterLancashire | 5,651 | 50 |
| 6 | Cherry Tree Drive roundabout to A6Lancashire | 5,250 | 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A588 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.
A588 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 78.4% of the vehicle miles on the A588. HGVs account for 1.9%, rising to 3.1% on Cherry Tree Drive roundabout to A6.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.6% |
| 2001 | 3.6% |
| 2002 | 3.6% |
| 2003 | 4.0% |
| 2004 | 3.8% |
| 2005 | 3.2% |
| 2006 | 3.1% |
| 2007 | 5.1% |
| 2008 | 3.3% |
| 2009 | 3.1% |
| 2010 | 3.2% |
| 2011 | 3.2% |
| 2012 | 3.2% |
| 2013 | 3.2% |
| 2014 | 3.2% |
| 2015 | 3.2% |
| 2016 | 3.3% |
| 2017 | 2.0% |
| 2018 | 1.8% |
| 2019 | 1.8% |
| 2020 | 2.2% |
| 2021 | 2.1% |
| 2022 | 2.0% |
| 2023 | 2.0% |
| 2024 | 1.9% |
| 2025 | 1.9% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A588 traffic trend
Traffic on the A588 came to 45.2 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 6.5% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 18.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 19.3% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 34m |
| 2001 | 34m |
| 2002 | 36m |
| 2003 | 38m |
| 2004 | 39m |
| 2005 | 40m |
| 2006 | 41m |
| 2007 | 40m |
| 2008 | 39m |
| 2009 | 39m |
| 2010 | 39m |
| 2011 | 39m |
| 2012 | 39m |
| 2013 | 38m |
| 2014 | 39m |
| 2015 | 40m |
| 2016 | 42m |
| 2017 | 42m |
| 2018 | 47m |
| 2019 | 46m |
| 2020 | 35m |
| 2021 | 38m |
| 2022 | 41m |
| 2023 | 42m |
| 2024 | 45m |
| 2025 | 45m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 4,708 |
| 2001 | 4,648 |
| 2002 | 4,880 |
| 2003 | 5,131 |
| 2004 | 5,329 |
| 2005 | 5,446 |
| 2006 | 5,669 |
| 2007 | 5,510 |
| 2008 | 5,353 |
| 2009 | 5,327 |
| 2010 | 5,292 |
| 2011 | 5,350 |
| 2012 | 5,270 |
| 2013 | 5,248 |
| 2014 | 5,384 |
| 2015 | 5,426 |
| 2016 | 5,548 |
| 2017 | 5,536 |
| 2018 | 6,229 |
| 2019 | 6,262 |
| 2020 | 4,730 |
| 2021 | 5,215 |
| 2022 | 5,625 |
| 2023 | 5,739 |
| 2024 | 5,998 |
| 2025 | 6,043 |
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, 2 of the 9 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A588 collisions
Police recorded 78 collisions with the A588 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 36.8 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 0.8 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 20.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 26 |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2025 | 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 |
|---|---|
| A585 to Cherry Tree Drive roundabout, Lancaster Lancashire · 50 collisions | 28.7 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 14 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A588 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 A588
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Lancashire
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 | 9 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 78 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.