Motorway
M18 traffic and collisions
The M18 is a motorway of 29.3 miles, from Rotherham to East Riding of Yorkshire. This page covers its traffic at 12 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 725m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 67,793 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 107,936 M18 SPUR to J1
- HGV share 17.4% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −4.2% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 168 4.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M18?
On an average day in 2025, 67,793 vehicles passed each point on the M18, counting both directions. The busiest section is M18 SPUR to J1 (Rotherham), with 107,936 a day; the quietest listed is M18 spur to M62, with 28,472.
Busiest sections, 2025
M18 SPUR to J1 carries 1.6 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| M18 SPUR to J1 Rotherham · 2.1 mi · HGVs 13.7% | 107,936 |
| J1 to J2 Rotherham, Doncaster · 6.0 mi · HGVs 15.3% | 94,718 |
| J2 to J3 Doncaster · 1.7 mi · HGVs 15.9% | 80,493 |
| J5 to J6 Doncaster · 2.1 mi · HGVs 20.6% | 63,945 |
| J4 to J5 Doncaster · 4.0 mi · HGVs 17.8% | 59,435 |
| M1 to M18 SPUR Rotherham · 1.3 mi · HGVs 16.3% | 54,712 |
| J3 to J4 Doncaster · 5.8 mi · HGVs 19.2% | 53,425 |
| J6 to M62 / M18 Doncaster, East Riding of Yorkshire · 4.2 mi · HGVs 23.6% | 52,231 |
| M18 spur to M62 East Riding of Yorkshire · 0.8 mi · HGVs 25.3% | 28,472 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Rotherham to East Riding of Yorkshire · 29.3 miles
M18 traffic and collisions by section
9 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (1.3 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M1 to M18 SPURRotherham | 54,712 | 6 |
| 2 | M18 SPUR to J1Rotherham | 107,936 | 10 |
| 3 | J1 to J2Rotherham, Doncaster | 94,718 | 48 |
| 4 | J2 to J3Doncaster | 80,493 | 24 |
| 5 | J3 to J4Doncaster | 53,425 | 33 |
| 6 | J4 to J5Doncaster | 59,435 | 24 |
| 7 | J5 to J6Doncaster | 63,945 | 9 |
| 8 | J6 to M62 / M18Doncaster, East Riding of Yorkshire | 52,231 | 9 |
| 9 | M18 spur to M62East Riding of Yorkshire | 28,472 | 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 M18 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.
M18 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 63.7% of the vehicle miles on the M18. HGVs account for 17.4%, rising to 25.3% on M18 spur to M62.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 21.2% |
| 2001 | 20.0% |
| 2002 | 19.1% |
| 2003 | 19.6% |
| 2004 | 19.4% |
| 2005 | 18.8% |
| 2006 | 18.8% |
| 2007 | 19.1% |
| 2008 | 19.5% |
| 2009 | 18.4% |
| 2010 | 19.7% |
| 2011 | 19.3% |
| 2012 | 18.0% |
| 2013 | 18.1% |
| 2014 | 17.8% |
| 2015 | 18.1% |
| 2016 | 17.9% |
| 2017 | 18.1% |
| 2018 | 17.9% |
| 2019 | 17.8% |
| 2020 | 20.8% |
| 2021 | 19.8% |
| 2022 | 18.4% |
| 2023 | 17.7% |
| 2024 | 17.4% |
| 2025 | 17.4% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M18 traffic trend
Traffic on the M18 came to 725 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 4.2% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 8.0% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 53.4% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 474m |
| 2001 | 511m |
| 2002 | 545m |
| 2003 | 533m |
| 2004 | 582m |
| 2005 | 591m |
| 2006 | 605m |
| 2007 | 593m |
| 2008 | 587m |
| 2009 | 573m |
| 2010 | 563m |
| 2011 | 570m |
| 2012 | 610m |
| 2013 | 624m |
| 2014 | 646m |
| 2015 | 673m |
| 2016 | 695m |
| 2017 | 703m |
| 2018 | 725m |
| 2019 | 757m |
| 2020 | 601m |
| 2021 | 691m |
| 2022 | 710m |
| 2023 | 715m |
| 2024 | 721m |
| 2025 | 725m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 43,282 |
| 2001 | 46,662 |
| 2002 | 49,763 |
| 2003 | 48,635 |
| 2004 | 53,139 |
| 2005 | 53,950 |
| 2006 | 55,211 |
| 2007 | 54,186 |
| 2008 | 53,635 |
| 2009 | 52,319 |
| 2010 | 51,395 |
| 2011 | 52,093 |
| 2012 | 55,689 |
| 2013 | 56,997 |
| 2014 | 58,978 |
| 2015 | 61,483 |
| 2016 | 63,451 |
| 2017 | 66,150 |
| 2018 | 67,782 |
| 2019 | 70,735 |
| 2020 | 56,158 |
| 2021 | 64,566 |
| 2022 | 66,410 |
| 2023 | 66,897 |
| 2024 | 67,371 |
| 2025 | 67,793 |
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, 8 of the 12 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M18 collisions
Police recorded 168 collisions with the M18 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 36 of them fatal or serious, including 6 fatal. That is 4.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 1.2 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 51.2% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | 8 |
| 2022 | 22 | 8 |
| 2023 | 29 | 9 |
| 2024 | 28 | 8 |
| 2025 | 18 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|
| J2 to J3 Doncaster · 24 collisions | 9.6 |
| J3 to J4 Doncaster · 33 collisions | 5.7 |
| J4 to J5 Doncaster · 24 collisions | 5.7 |
| J1 to J2 Rotherham, Doncaster · 48 collisions | 4.7 |
| M18 SPUR to J1 Rotherham · 10 collisions | 2.6 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 7 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M18 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 M18
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Rotherham
- Doncaster
- East Riding of Yorkshire
Planned closures on the M18 in England
National Highways has 25 planned closures on the M18 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, all of them starting in that period. 14 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 23 start between 7pm and 6am.
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Lane or slip M18 northbound Jct 1 to Jct 2 lane 3 closure (256/1-258/7)
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Lane or slip M18 northbound Jct 1 to Jct 2 lane 3 closure (256/1-258/7)
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Lane or slip M18 northbound Jct 6 exit slip lane 1 closure
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Lane or slip M18 northbound Jct 5 to Jct 6 lane 1 closure (284/9 - 285/5)
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Lane or slip M18 northbound Jct 1 exit slip lane 1 closure
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Lane or slip M18 northbound Jct 7 to M62 eastbound Jct 35 lane 1 and 2 closure
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Lane or slip M62 eastbound Jct 35 to M18 southbound link road lane 1 closure
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Carriageway M18 northbound Jct 4 to Jct 5 carriageway closure
17 more planned closures in this period are not shown.
Planned closures only: National Highways can cancel or change them, and closures caused by incidents are not shown. Council roads in England are not covered. Roadworks and closures across the UK
Source:National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 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 | 12 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 168 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Planned closures | Transport Data Feeds (DATEX II) National Highways | 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 | 2,304 planned closure schemes | 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.
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