A-road

A649 traffic and collisions

The A649 is an A-road of 5.6 miles, from Kirklees to Calderdale. This page covers its traffic at 5 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
5 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 19m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 9,230 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 10,089 A62 to A643
  • HGV share 1.1% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −4.8% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 38 41.6 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the A649?

On an average day in 2025, 9,230 vehicles passed each point on the A649, counting both directions. The busiest section is A62 to A643 (Kirklees), with 10,089 a day; the quietest listed is A643 to A641, with 6,398.

Busiest sections, 2025

A62 to A643 carries 1.1 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A649 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
A62 to A643 Kirklees · 2.4 mi · HGVs 1.1% 10,089
A641 to A58/A644 Calderdale · 1.6 mi · HGVs 0.9% 8,971
A643 to A641 Kirklees, Calderdale · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.0% 6,398

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Kirklees to Calderdale · 5.6 miles

Kirklees Calderdale
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

A649 traffic and collisions by section

4 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
Sections of the A649 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1A62 to A643Kirklees2.410,0891.1%−5.4%1944.4
2At A643Kirklees0.413,6141.8%+0.8%3
3A643 to A641Kirklees, Calderdale1.26,3981.0%−5.1%3
4A641 to A58/A644Calderdale1.68,9710.9%−5.5%1351.3

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A649 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.

A649 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 82.9% of the vehicle miles on the A649. HGVs account for 1.1%.

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 A649, by year
Year HGV share
2000 2.4%
2001 1.5%
2002 1.4%
2003 1.4%
2004 1.6%
2005 1.4%
2006 1.4%
2007 1.3%
2008 1.7%
2009 1.5%
2010 1.5%
2011 1.4%
2012 1.5%
2013 1.5%
2014 1.5%
2015 1.4%
2016 1.4%
2017 1.4%
2018 1.0%
2019 1.0%
2020 1.2%
2021 1.2%
2022 1.1%
2023 1.1%
2024 1.1%
2025 1.1%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A649 traffic trend

Traffic on the A649 came to 18.9 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 4.8% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 1.6% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 4.8% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A649 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 18m
2001 17m
2002 17m
2003 17m
2004 18m
2005 17m
2006 17m
2007 17m
2008 17m
2009 18m
2010 18m
2011 18m
2012 18m
2013 18m
2014 19m
2015 19m
2016 20m
2017 20m
2018 20m
2019 20m
2020 15m
2021 17m
2022 18m
2023 19m
2024 19m
2025 19m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A649, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 8,811
2001 8,373
2002 8,502
2003 8,462
2004 8,716
2005 8,532
2006 8,392
2007 8,345
2008 8,348
2009 8,900
2010 8,951
2011 8,960
2012 8,869
2013 8,873
2014 9,161
2015 9,377
2016 9,631
2017 9,677
2018 9,536
2019 9,694
2020 7,489
2021 8,297
2022 8,887
2023 9,050
2024 9,187
2025 9,230

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, 0 of the 5 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A649 collisions

Police recorded 38 collisions with the A649 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 12 of them fatal or serious. That is 41.6 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.4 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 33.3% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A649 by year
Year Collisions
2021 6
2022 10
2023 6
2024 8
2025 8

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 A649, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
A641 to A58/A644 Calderdale · 13 collisions 51.3
A62 to A643 Kirklees · 19 collisions 44.4

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

A further 10 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A649 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 100.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A649

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

  • Kirklees
  • Calderdale

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 5 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 38 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.