A-road
A863 traffic and collisions
The A863 is an A-road of 22.1 miles, in Highland. This page covers its traffic at 5 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 5.9m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 734 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 1,155 B884 to A850
- HGV share 4.7% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −17.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 9 5 fatal or serious
How busy is the A863?
On an average day in 2025, 734 vehicles passed each point on the A863, counting both directions. The busiest section is B884 to A850 (Highland), with 1,155 a day; the quietest listed is B8009 to B885, with 581.
Busiest sections, 2025
B884 to A850 carries 1.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| B884 to A850 Highland · 1.2 mi · HGVs 3.3% | 1,155 |
| C-road to A850 at Horneval to B884 Highland · 0.7 mi · HGVs 4.8% | 1,015 |
| B885 to C-road to Horneval Highland · 8.1 mi · HGVs 1.7% | 774 |
| A87 to B8009 Highland · 5.0 mi · HGVs 3.9% | 746 |
| B8009 to B885 Highland · 7.1 mi · HGVs 10.7% | 581 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
In Highland · 22.1 miles
A863 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 | A87 to B8009Highland | 746 | fewer than 3 |
| 2 | B8009 to B885Highland | 581 | fewer than 3 |
| 3 | B885 to C-road to HornevalHighland | 774 | 5 |
| 4 | C-road to A850 at Horneval to B884Highland | 1,015 | 0 |
| 5 | B884 to A850Highland | 1,155 | 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 A863 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.
A863 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 70.1% of the vehicle miles on the A863. HGVs account for 4.7%, rising to 10.7% on B8009 to B885.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.8% |
| 2001 | 2.6% |
| 2002 | 2.6% |
| 2003 | 2.4% |
| 2004 | 2.2% |
| 2005 | 3.0% |
| 2006 | 3.3% |
| 2007 | 3.4% |
| 2008 | 3.5% |
| 2009 | 5.2% |
| 2010 | 5.3% |
| 2011 | 5.5% |
| 2012 | 5.6% |
| 2013 | 4.6% |
| 2014 | 4.7% |
| 2015 | 4.8% |
| 2016 | 4.8% |
| 2017 | 4.9% |
| 2018 | 5.0% |
| 2019 | 5.0% |
| 2020 | 5.5% |
| 2021 | 5.4% |
| 2022 | 5.1% |
| 2023 | 4.9% |
| 2024 | 4.8% |
| 2025 | 4.7% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A863 traffic trend
Traffic on the A863 came to 5.9 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 17.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 13.6% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 6.3% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.3m |
| 2001 | 6.4m |
| 2002 | 6.7m |
| 2003 | 7.0m |
| 2004 | 7.1m |
| 2005 | 7.0m |
| 2006 | 6.9m |
| 2007 | 6.8m |
| 2008 | 6.7m |
| 2009 | 6.5m |
| 2010 | 6.3m |
| 2011 | 6.3m |
| 2012 | 6.2m |
| 2013 | 6.5m |
| 2014 | 6.7m |
| 2015 | 6.9m |
| 2016 | 7.0m |
| 2017 | 7.1m |
| 2018 | 7.1m |
| 2019 | 7.1m |
| 2020 | 4.7m |
| 2021 | 5.2m |
| 2022 | 5.7m |
| 2023 | 5.8m |
| 2024 | 5.8m |
| 2025 | 5.9m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 783 |
| 2001 | 798 |
| 2002 | 831 |
| 2003 | 869 |
| 2004 | 875 |
| 2005 | 871 |
| 2006 | 849 |
| 2007 | 839 |
| 2008 | 834 |
| 2009 | 801 |
| 2010 | 781 |
| 2011 | 779 |
| 2012 | 764 |
| 2013 | 810 |
| 2014 | 830 |
| 2015 | 850 |
| 2016 | 870 |
| 2017 | 878 |
| 2018 | 883 |
| 2019 | 885 |
| 2020 | 588 |
| 2021 | 649 |
| 2022 | 702 |
| 2023 | 716 |
| 2024 | 725 |
| 2025 | 734 |
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.
A863 collisions
Police recorded 9 collisions with the A863 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 5 of them fatal or serious.
Reported collisions by year
| Year | Collisions | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2022 | fewer than 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | fewer than 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2025 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 3 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A863 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 A863
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Highland
Roadworks on the A863 in Scotland
The Scottish Road Works Register lists 1 set of roadworks on the A863 in Scotland, 1 of them under way. From the extract of 16 September 2026.
-
A863 From A87 Junction At Sligachan Hotel To B8009 Junction At Drynoch
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 | 9 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.