Motorway
M40 traffic and collisions
The M40 is a motorway of 90.9 miles, from Buckinghamshire to Warwickshire. This page covers its traffic at 33 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 3.1bn vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 92,260 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 136,403 J1A to J2
- HGV share 8.8% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −4.0% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 400 2.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M40?
On an average day in 2025, 92,260 vehicles passed each point on the M40, counting both directions. The busiest section is J1A to J2 (Buckinghamshire), with 136,403 a day; the quietest listed is M40 (3A) to M42 (3A), with 51,574.
Busiest sections, 2025
J1A to J2 carries 1.5 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| J1A to J2 Buckinghamshire · 5.0 mi · HGVs 6.0% | 136,403 |
| J2 to J3 Buckinghamshire · 2.9 mi · HGVs 5.6% | 133,167 |
| J14 to J15 Warwickshire · 1.2 mi · HGVs 8.5% | 113,433 |
| J3 to J4 Buckinghamshire · 3.7 mi · HGVs 6.5% | 102,154 |
| J5 to J6 Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire · 2.5 mi · HGVs 8.2% | 100,922 |
| J9 to J10 Oxfordshire · 5.6 mi · HGVs 10.7% | 100,293 |
| J4 to J5 Buckinghamshire · 7.6 mi · HGVs 6.7% | 99,611 |
| J16 to M40 (3A) Warwickshire · 1.6 mi · HGVs 8.5% | 96,672 |
| J6 to J7 Oxfordshire · 5.7 mi · HGVs 6.8% | 95,958 |
| J1 to J1A Buckinghamshire · 1.6 mi · HGVs 6.3% | 94,888 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Buckinghamshire to Warwickshire · 90.9 miles
M40 traffic and collisions by section
20 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 3 short link roads and spurs (2.5 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Show all 20 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A40 / A412 to A40Buckinghamshire | 78,017 | fewer than 3 |
| 2 | J1 to J1ABuckinghamshire | 94,888 | 24 |
| 3 | J1A to J2Buckinghamshire | 136,403 | 20 |
| 4 | J2 to J3Buckinghamshire | 133,167 | 17 |
| 5 | J3 to J4Buckinghamshire | 102,154 | 19 |
| 6 | J4 to J5Buckinghamshire | 99,611 | 33 |
| 7 | J5 to J6Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire | 100,922 | 12 |
| 8 | J6 to J7Oxfordshire | 95,958 | 24 |
| 9 | J7 to J8Oxfordshire | 92,005 | 3 |
| 10 | J8 to M40 spurOxfordshire | 66,274 | fewer than 3 |
| 11 | J8 to J9Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire | 70,136 | 33 |
| 12 | J9 to J10Oxfordshire | 100,293 | 36 |
| 13 | J10 to J11Oxfordshire, West Northamptonshire | 88,618 | 35 |
| 14 | J11 to J12Oxfordshire, Warwickshire | 87,990 | 35 |
| 15 | J12 to J13Warwickshire | 88,881 | 44 |
| 16 | J13 to J14Warwickshire | 88,446 | 7 |
| 17 | J14 to J15Warwickshire | 113,433 | 12 |
| 18 | J15 to J16Warwickshire | 94,041 | 26 |
| 19 | J16 to M40 (3A)Warwickshire | 96,672 | 9 |
| 20 | M40 (3A) to M42 (3A)Warwickshire | 51,574 | 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 M40 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.
M40 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 74.6% of the vehicle miles on the M40. HGVs account for 8.8%, rising to 12.3% on J11 to J12.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 9.8% |
| 2001 | 9.5% |
| 2002 | 9.9% |
| 2003 | 10.2% |
| 2004 | 10.4% |
| 2005 | 10.3% |
| 2006 | 10.8% |
| 2007 | 11.0% |
| 2008 | 9.9% |
| 2009 | 8.9% |
| 2010 | 9.5% |
| 2011 | 9.5% |
| 2012 | 9.4% |
| 2013 | 9.2% |
| 2014 | 9.6% |
| 2015 | 9.8% |
| 2016 | 9.8% |
| 2017 | 9.8% |
| 2018 | 9.9% |
| 2019 | 10.0% |
| 2020 | 13.1% |
| 2021 | 12.5% |
| 2022 | 10.4% |
| 2023 | 10.0% |
| 2024 | 9.4% |
| 2025 | 8.8% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M40 traffic trend
Traffic on the M40 came to 3.06 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 4.0% on 2019, before the pandemic, and about the same as in 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 11.6% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.7bn |
| 2001 | 2.8bn |
| 2002 | 2.8bn |
| 2003 | 2.7bn |
| 2004 | 2.8bn |
| 2005 | 2.7bn |
| 2006 | 2.9bn |
| 2007 | 2.8bn |
| 2008 | 2.8bn |
| 2009 | 2.8bn |
| 2010 | 2.8bn |
| 2011 | 2.8bn |
| 2012 | 2.9bn |
| 2013 | 2.9bn |
| 2014 | 2.9bn |
| 2015 | 3.1bn |
| 2016 | 3.2bn |
| 2017 | 3.2bn |
| 2018 | 3.1bn |
| 2019 | 3.2bn |
| 2020 | 2.1bn |
| 2021 | 2.5bn |
| 2022 | 3.0bn |
| 2023 | 3.0bn |
| 2024 | 3.1bn |
| 2025 | 3.1bn |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 82,681 |
| 2001 | 83,311 |
| 2002 | 84,966 |
| 2003 | 82,352 |
| 2004 | 84,204 |
| 2005 | 81,915 |
| 2006 | 86,869 |
| 2007 | 85,636 |
| 2008 | 85,499 |
| 2009 | 83,992 |
| 2010 | 83,376 |
| 2011 | 83,035 |
| 2012 | 86,511 |
| 2013 | 86,662 |
| 2014 | 88,065 |
| 2015 | 92,231 |
| 2016 | 95,556 |
| 2017 | 96,188 |
| 2018 | 94,819 |
| 2019 | 96,057 |
| 2020 | 64,261 |
| 2021 | 76,678 |
| 2022 | 89,470 |
| 2023 | 90,751 |
| 2024 | 92,299 |
| 2025 | 92,260 |
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, 16 of the 33 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M40 collisions
Police recorded 400 collisions with the M40 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 120 of them fatal or serious, including 21 fatal. That is 2.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 0.9 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 25.0% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | 15 |
| 2022 | 64 | 29 |
| 2023 | 36 | 19 |
| 2024 | 61 | 29 |
| 2025 | 62 | 28 |
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 |
|---|---|
| J1 to J1A Buckinghamshire · 24 collisions | 8.3 |
| J12 to J13 Warwickshire · 44 collisions | 5.4 |
| J14 to J15 Warwickshire · 12 collisions | 5.3 |
| J9 to J10 Oxfordshire · 36 collisions | 3.4 |
| J3 to J4 Buckinghamshire · 19 collisions | 2.8 |
| J5 to J6 Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire · 12 collisions | 2.8 |
| J4 to J5 Buckinghamshire · 33 collisions | 2.5 |
| J6 to J7 Oxfordshire · 24 collisions | 2.5 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 27 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M40 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 M40
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Buckinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- West Northamptonshire
- Warwickshire
Planned closures on the M40 in England
National Highways has 122 planned closures on the M40 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 117 of them starting in that period. 28 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 104 start between 7pm and 6am.
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound, Jct 12 to Jct 11 hard shoulder closure
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound Jct 9 to Jct 8 hard shoulder and lane 1 closure
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound Jct 11 to Jct 10 lane 3 and 2 closure
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound Jct 11 to Jct 10 lane 3 and 2 closure
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound, Jct 11 to Jct 10, hard shoulder, lane 1 and 2 closure.
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound Jct 5 to Jct 4 hard shoulder and lane 1 and 2 closure
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound, Jct 5 lane 1 closure on entry slip road
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Lane or slip M40 Southbound, Jct 5 lane 1 closure on entry slip road
114 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 | 33 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 400 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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