A-road
A872 traffic and collisions
The A872 is an A-road of 7.9 miles, from Falkirk to Stirling. This page covers its traffic at 7 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 28m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 9,603 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 15,365 M9/A91 to Lade Mill
- HGV share 4.4% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −5.7% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 30 22.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A872?
On an average day in 2025, 9,603 vehicles passed each point on the A872, counting both directions. The busiest section is M9/A91 to Lade Mill (Stirling), with 15,365 a day; the quietest listed is Avonside Drive, Dunipace to A91, with 6,648.
Busiest sections, 2025
M9/A91 to Lade Mill carries 1.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| M9/A91 to Lade Mill Stirling · 0.9 mi · HGVs 3.1% | 15,365 |
| Lade Mill to A9 Stirling · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.4% | 13,447 |
| A803 to A883 Falkirk · 1.0 mi · HGVs 1.3% | 9,954 |
| A883 to A803 Falkirk · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.3% | 9,954 |
| A883 to Avonside Drive, Dunipace Falkirk · 0.8 mi · HGVs 3.2% | 8,451 |
| Avonside Drive, Dunipace to A91 Falkirk, Stirling · 2.9 mi · HGVs 10.8% | 6,648 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Falkirk to Stirling · 7.9 miles
A872 traffic and collisions by section
6 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 | A803 to A883Falkirk | 9,954 | 7 |
| 2 | A883 to A803Falkirk | 9,954 | 5 |
| 3 | A883 to Avonside Drive, DunipaceFalkirk | 8,451 | fewer than 3 |
| 4 | Avonside Drive, Dunipace to A91Falkirk, Stirling | 6,648 | 6 |
| 5 | M9/A91 to Lade MillStirling | 15,365 | 9 |
| 6 | Lade Mill to A9Stirling | 13,447 | 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 A872 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.
A872 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 77.0% of the vehicle miles on the A872. HGVs account for 4.4%, rising to 10.8% on Avonside Drive, Dunipace to A91.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.6% |
| 2001 | 3.6% |
| 2002 | 4.1% |
| 2003 | 4.2% |
| 2004 | 4.4% |
| 2005 | 4.5% |
| 2006 | 4.5% |
| 2007 | 4.7% |
| 2008 | 4.8% |
| 2009 | 4.5% |
| 2010 | 4.5% |
| 2011 | 4.7% |
| 2012 | 4.4% |
| 2013 | 4.0% |
| 2014 | 4.0% |
| 2015 | 4.0% |
| 2016 | 4.1% |
| 2017 | 4.2% |
| 2018 | 4.3% |
| 2019 | 4.3% |
| 2020 | 5.0% |
| 2021 | 4.9% |
| 2022 | 4.7% |
| 2023 | 4.5% |
| 2024 | 4.4% |
| 2025 | 4.4% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A872 traffic trend
Traffic on the A872 came to 27.7 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 5.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 2.3% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 6.4% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 28m |
| 2001 | 28m |
| 2002 | 29m |
| 2003 | 29m |
| 2004 | 30m |
| 2005 | 31m |
| 2006 | 31m |
| 2007 | 31m |
| 2008 | 30m |
| 2009 | 31m |
| 2010 | 30m |
| 2011 | 30m |
| 2012 | 28m |
| 2013 | 27m |
| 2014 | 28m |
| 2015 | 29m |
| 2016 | 29m |
| 2017 | 29m |
| 2018 | 29m |
| 2019 | 29m |
| 2020 | 23m |
| 2021 | 25m |
| 2022 | 27m |
| 2023 | 27m |
| 2024 | 28m |
| 2025 | 28m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 9,823 |
| 2001 | 9,765 |
| 2002 | 10,101 |
| 2003 | 10,090 |
| 2004 | 10,334 |
| 2005 | 10,638 |
| 2006 | 10,654 |
| 2007 | 10,720 |
| 2008 | 10,521 |
| 2009 | 10,564 |
| 2010 | 10,523 |
| 2011 | 10,297 |
| 2012 | 9,712 |
| 2013 | 9,397 |
| 2014 | 9,665 |
| 2015 | 9,868 |
| 2016 | 10,101 |
| 2017 | 10,137 |
| 2018 | 10,112 |
| 2019 | 10,175 |
| 2020 | 7,826 |
| 2021 | 8,609 |
| 2022 | 9,238 |
| 2023 | 9,401 |
| 2024 | 9,530 |
| 2025 | 9,603 |
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 (69.6% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 0 of the 7 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A872 collisions
Police recorded 30 collisions with the A872 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 10 of them fatal or serious. That is 22.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower 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
Up 20.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2025 | 6 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 11 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A872 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 A872
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Falkirk
- Stirling
Roadworks on the A872 in Scotland
The Scottish Road Works Register lists 2 sets of roadworks on the A872 in Scotland, 1 of them under way. From the extract of 16 September 2026.
-
A872 From Junction With Access To North Durieshill To Council Boundary, Plean
-
A872 From Junction With C55 To Junction With Access To North Durieshill, Auchenbowie
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 | 7 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 30 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.