Trunk A-road
A679 traffic and collisions
The A679 is a trunk A-road of 10.2 miles, from Lancashire to Blackburn with Darwen. This page covers its traffic at 13 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 43m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 11,626 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 25,406 A671/B6240 to A682
- HGV share 2.0% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +4.2% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 111 54.8 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A679?
On an average day in 2025, 11,626 vehicles passed each point on the A679, counting both directions. The busiest section is A671/B6240 to A682 (Lancashire), with 25,406 a day; the quietest listed is A56(T) to A679 spur to M65, with 6,610.
Busiest sections, 2025
A671/B6240 to A682 carries 2.2 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A671/B6240 to A682 Lancashire · 0.5 mi · HGVs 1.3% | 25,406 |
| A679 spur to A646 Lancashire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 5.8% | 17,330 |
| A680 to A6185 Lancashire · 1.0 mi · HGVs 1.0% | 16,876 |
| Higher Gate Rd to A680 Lancashire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 2.2% | 14,222 |
| road to Richmond Crescent to A6119 Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen · 0.5 mi · HGVs 0.7% | 10,183 |
| A6185 to Percy St Lancashire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.1% | 10,151 |
| Percy St, Oswaltwistle to road to Richmond Crescent Lancashire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 0.7% | 9,607 |
| A6119 Blackburn with Darwen · 0.6 mi · HGVs 0.9% | 8,351 |
| A646(T) to A671 Lancashire · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 8,164 |
| A56(T) to A679 spur to M65 Lancashire · 1.9 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 6,610 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Lancashire to Blackburn with Darwen · 10.2 miles
A679 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 | A671/B6240 to A682Lancashire | 25,406 | 12 |
| 2 | A646(T) to A671Lancashire | 8,164 | 7 |
| 3 | A679 spur to A646Lancashire | 17,330 | 6 |
| 4 | A56(T) to A679 spur to M65Lancashire | 6,610 | 6 |
| 5 | A56 to Higher Gate RdLancashire | 12,942 | fewer than 3 |
| 6 | Higher Gate Rd to A680Lancashire | 14,222 | 15 |
| 7 | A680 to A6185Lancashire | 16,876 | 17 |
| 8 | A6185 to Percy StLancashire | 10,151 | 28 |
| 9 | Percy St, Oswaltwistle to road to Richmond CrescentLancashire | 9,607 | 3 |
| 10 | road to Richmond Crescent to A6119Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen | 10,183 | fewer than 3 |
| 11 | A6119Blackburn with Darwen | 8,351 | 12 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A679 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.
A679 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 82.8% of the vehicle miles on the A679. HGVs account for 2.0%, rising to 5.8% on A679 spur to A646.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.4% |
| 2001 | 3.3% |
| 2002 | 3.6% |
| 2003 | 3.7% |
| 2004 | 3.9% |
| 2005 | 3.8% |
| 2006 | 3.9% |
| 2007 | 4.0% |
| 2008 | 3.9% |
| 2009 | 3.4% |
| 2010 | 3.3% |
| 2011 | 3.4% |
| 2012 | 3.4% |
| 2013 | 3.3% |
| 2014 | 3.3% |
| 2015 | 2.8% |
| 2016 | 2.6% |
| 2017 | 2.5% |
| 2018 | 2.4% |
| 2019 | 2.4% |
| 2020 | 2.7% |
| 2021 | 2.5% |
| 2022 | 2.5% |
| 2023 | 2.4% |
| 2024 | 2.2% |
| 2025 | 2.0% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A679 traffic trend
Traffic on the A679 came to 43.3 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 4.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 3.7% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 9.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 43m |
| 2001 | 43m |
| 2002 | 45m |
| 2003 | 46m |
| 2004 | 47m |
| 2005 | 46m |
| 2006 | 43m |
| 2007 | 42m |
| 2008 | 42m |
| 2009 | 42m |
| 2010 | 42m |
| 2011 | 43m |
| 2012 | 42m |
| 2013 | 41m |
| 2014 | 42m |
| 2015 | 42m |
| 2016 | 42m |
| 2017 | 42m |
| 2018 | 42m |
| 2019 | 42m |
| 2020 | 32m |
| 2021 | 36m |
| 2022 | 40m |
| 2023 | 41m |
| 2024 | 43m |
| 2025 | 43m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 10,254 |
| 2001 | 10,353 |
| 2002 | 10,814 |
| 2003 | 10,956 |
| 2004 | 11,173 |
| 2005 | 10,946 |
| 2006 | 11,642 |
| 2007 | 11,458 |
| 2008 | 11,309 |
| 2009 | 11,464 |
| 2010 | 11,502 |
| 2011 | 11,604 |
| 2012 | 11,354 |
| 2013 | 10,998 |
| 2014 | 11,293 |
| 2015 | 11,303 |
| 2016 | 11,356 |
| 2017 | 11,357 |
| 2018 | 11,167 |
| 2019 | 11,244 |
| 2020 | 8,624 |
| 2021 | 9,679 |
| 2022 | 10,635 |
| 2023 | 10,972 |
| 2024 | 11,479 |
| 2025 | 11,626 |
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, 1 of the 13 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A679 collisions
Police recorded 111 collisions with the A679 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 36 of them fatal or serious, including 4 fatal. That is 54.8 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 2.2 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 55.6% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | 5 |
| 2022 | 20 | 4 |
| 2023 | 9 | 11 |
| 2024 | 14 | 7 |
| 2025 | 19 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A6119 Blackburn with Darwen · 12 collisions | 134.8 |
| A6185 to Percy St Lancashire · 28 collisions | 111.4 |
| A680 to A6185 Lancashire · 17 collisions | 59.2 |
| A671/B6240 to A682 Lancashire · 12 collisions | 54.8 |
| Higher Gate Rd to A680 Lancashire · 15 collisions | 43.8 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 15 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A679 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 A679
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Lancashire
- Blackburn with Darwen
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 | 111 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.