Motorway
M32 traffic and collisions
The M32 is a motorway of 4.5 miles, from South Gloucestershire to City of Bristol. This page covers its traffic at 6 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 126m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 76,691 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 87,421 M4 (19) to J1
- HGV share 3.9% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −6.7% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 60 9.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M32?
On an average day in 2025, 76,691 vehicles passed each point on the M32, counting both directions. The busiest section is M4 (19) to J1 (South Gloucestershire), with 87,421 a day; the quietest listed is J2 to A4320, with 74,452.
Busiest sections, 2025
M4 (19) to J1 carries 1.1 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| M4 (19) to J1 South Gloucestershire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 4.9% | 87,421 |
| J1 to J2 South Gloucestershire, City of Bristol · 2.8 mi · HGVs 3.8% | 76,606 |
| J2 to A4320 City of Bristol · 0.8 mi · HGVs 3.3% | 74,452 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
South Gloucestershire to City of Bristol · 4.5 miles
M32 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 | M4 (19) to J1South Gloucestershire | 87,421 | 19 |
| 2 | J1 to J2South Gloucestershire, City of Bristol | 76,606 | 26 |
| 3 | J2 to A4320City of Bristol | 74,452 | 11 |
| 4 | A4320 to J3City of Bristol | 59,562 | fewer than 3 |
| 5 | A4032 to A4230City of Bristol | 39,006 | 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 M32 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.
M32 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 77.6% of the vehicle miles on the M32. HGVs account for 3.9%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.8% |
| 2001 | 5.9% |
| 2002 | 5.6% |
| 2003 | 5.4% |
| 2004 | 5.2% |
| 2005 | 5.1% |
| 2006 | 5.5% |
| 2007 | 5.2% |
| 2008 | 4.7% |
| 2009 | 4.4% |
| 2010 | 4.1% |
| 2011 | 4.0% |
| 2012 | 4.3% |
| 2013 | 4.3% |
| 2014 | 4.2% |
| 2015 | 4.4% |
| 2016 | 4.4% |
| 2017 | 4.7% |
| 2018 | 4.8% |
| 2019 | 5.1% |
| 2020 | 6.0% |
| 2021 | 5.1% |
| 2022 | 4.1% |
| 2023 | 4.0% |
| 2024 | 3.9% |
| 2025 | 3.9% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M32 traffic trend
Traffic on the M32 came to 126 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 6.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and down 2.8% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 3.5% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 122m |
| 2001 | 119m |
| 2002 | 118m |
| 2003 | 116m |
| 2004 | 126m |
| 2005 | 129m |
| 2006 | 121m |
| 2007 | 126m |
| 2008 | 132m |
| 2009 | 128m |
| 2010 | 129m |
| 2011 | 133m |
| 2012 | 126m |
| 2013 | 127m |
| 2014 | 126m |
| 2015 | 130m |
| 2016 | 132m |
| 2017 | 132m |
| 2018 | 129m |
| 2019 | 135m |
| 2020 | 105m |
| 2021 | 116m |
| 2022 | 129m |
| 2023 | 132m |
| 2024 | 133m |
| 2025 | 126m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 74,073 |
| 2001 | 72,712 |
| 2002 | 72,099 |
| 2003 | 70,305 |
| 2004 | 76,723 |
| 2005 | 78,299 |
| 2006 | 73,354 |
| 2007 | 76,597 |
| 2008 | 80,431 |
| 2009 | 78,042 |
| 2010 | 78,276 |
| 2011 | 80,894 |
| 2012 | 76,713 |
| 2013 | 77,111 |
| 2014 | 76,548 |
| 2015 | 78,862 |
| 2016 | 80,196 |
| 2017 | 80,598 |
| 2018 | 78,772 |
| 2019 | 82,155 |
| 2020 | 64,006 |
| 2021 | 70,775 |
| 2022 | 78,745 |
| 2023 | 80,447 |
| 2024 | 81,234 |
| 2025 | 76,691 |
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, 4 of the 6 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M32 collisions
Police recorded 60 collisions with the M32 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious, including 5 fatal. That is 9.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 2.7 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 9.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 16 |
| 2023 | 7 |
| 2024 | 16 |
| 2025 | 10 |
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 |
|---|---|
| M4 (19) to J1 South Gloucestershire · 19 collisions | 18.1 |
| J2 to A4320 City of Bristol · 11 collisions | 9.3 |
| J1 to J2 South Gloucestershire, City of Bristol · 26 collisions | 6.6 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 27 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M32 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 M32
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- South Gloucestershire
- City of Bristol
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 | 6 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 60 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.