A-road
A79 traffic and collisions
The A79 is an A-road of 7.5 miles, in South Ayrshire. This page covers its traffic at 5 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 36m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 13,039 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 17,802 A78 to Shawfarm Road roundabout
- HGV share 1.7% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −6.6% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 43 24.9 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A79?
On an average day in 2025, 13,039 vehicles passed each point on the A79, counting both directions. The busiest section is A78 to Shawfarm Road roundabout (South Ayrshire), with 17,802 a day; the quietest listed is A70 to Kersepark, with 3,953.
Busiest sections, 2025
A78 to Shawfarm Road roundabout carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A78 to Shawfarm Road roundabout South Ayrshire · 1.8 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 17,802 |
| Shawfarm Road roundabout to A719 South Ayrshire · 2.7 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 16,859 |
| A719 to A70 South Ayrshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.6% | 15,854 |
| A70 to Kersepark South Ayrshire · 2.2 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 3,953 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In South Ayrshire · 7.5 miles
A79 traffic and collisions by section
5 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
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A78 to Shawfarm Road roundaboutSouth Ayrshire | 17,802 | 3 |
| 2 | Shawfarm Road roundabout to A719South Ayrshire | 16,859 | 24 |
| 3 | A719 to A70South Ayrshire | 15,854 | 10 |
| 4 | A70 to KerseparkSouth Ayrshire | 3,953 | 5 |
| 5 | Kersepark to A77South Ayrshire | 4,387 | fewer than 3 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A79 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.
A79 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 82.3% of the vehicle miles on the A79. HGVs account for 1.7%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.5% |
| 2001 | 2.7% |
| 2002 | 2.5% |
| 2003 | 2.6% |
| 2004 | 3.1% |
| 2005 | 3.3% |
| 2006 | 3.0% |
| 2007 | 2.7% |
| 2008 | 2.7% |
| 2009 | 2.4% |
| 2010 | 2.4% |
| 2011 | 2.4% |
| 2012 | 2.2% |
| 2013 | 2.2% |
| 2014 | 2.2% |
| 2015 | 2.1% |
| 2016 | 2.1% |
| 2017 | 2.2% |
| 2018 | 1.7% |
| 2019 | 1.7% |
| 2020 | 1.9% |
| 2021 | 1.9% |
| 2022 | 1.8% |
| 2023 | 1.8% |
| 2024 | 1.7% |
| 2025 | 1.7% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A79 traffic trend
Traffic on the A79 came to 35.7 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 6.6% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 4.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 6.2% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 38m |
| 2001 | 42m |
| 2002 | 44m |
| 2003 | 44m |
| 2004 | 42m |
| 2005 | 43m |
| 2006 | 44m |
| 2007 | 39m |
| 2008 | 42m |
| 2009 | 43m |
| 2010 | 43m |
| 2011 | 43m |
| 2012 | 41m |
| 2013 | 36m |
| 2014 | 37m |
| 2015 | 37m |
| 2016 | 38m |
| 2017 | 38m |
| 2018 | 38m |
| 2019 | 38m |
| 2020 | 29m |
| 2021 | 32m |
| 2022 | 34m |
| 2023 | 35m |
| 2024 | 36m |
| 2025 | 36m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 13,908 |
| 2001 | 15,452 |
| 2002 | 15,925 |
| 2003 | 15,939 |
| 2004 | 15,484 |
| 2005 | 15,577 |
| 2006 | 16,189 |
| 2007 | 14,148 |
| 2008 | 15,292 |
| 2009 | 15,839 |
| 2010 | 15,731 |
| 2011 | 15,802 |
| 2012 | 14,970 |
| 2013 | 13,105 |
| 2014 | 13,373 |
| 2015 | 13,590 |
| 2016 | 13,886 |
| 2017 | 13,907 |
| 2018 | 13,869 |
| 2019 | 13,960 |
| 2020 | 10,692 |
| 2021 | 11,745 |
| 2022 | 12,569 |
| 2023 | 12,792 |
| 2024 | 12,987 |
| 2025 | 13,039 |
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 5 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A79 collisions
Police recorded 43 collisions with the A79 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 24.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.2 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 22.2% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 11 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2025 | 7 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A719 to A70 South Ayrshire · 10 collisions | 51.0 |
| Shawfarm Road roundabout to A719 South Ayrshire · 24 collisions | 29.8 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 5 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A79 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 A79
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- South Ayrshire
Roadworks on the A79 in Scotland
The Scottish Road Works Register lists 1 set of roadworks on the A79 in Scotland, 0 of them under way. 1 close the road, a lane or a slip road. From the extract of 16 September 2026.
-
A79 From A78t Monktonhead Roundabout To Monkton Road Prestwick
Works in Scotland only, and only where the register records them against the road number. The register publishes one extract a day, so works can start, finish or change after it is taken. Roadworks across Scotland
Source:SRWR Extract of 2026-09-16 Updated
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 | 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 | 43 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Roadworks | Scottish Road Works Register open data Scottish Road Works Commissioner | Extract of 2026-09-16 | 22,074 sets of roadworks recorded in Scotland | 16 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.