Motorway
M45 traffic and collisions
The M45 is a motorway of 8.2 miles, from West Northamptonshire to Warwickshire. This page covers its traffic at 3 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 39m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 13,067 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 18,157 At A45T
- HGV share 13.7% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −10.9% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 6 4 fatal or serious
How busy is the M45?
On an average day in 2025, 13,067 vehicles passed each point on the M45, counting both directions. The busiest section is At A45T (Warwickshire), with 18,157 a day; the quietest listed is M1 to A45, with 11,636.
Busiest sections, 2025
At A45T carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| At A45T Warwickshire · 1.8 mi · HGVs 12.1% | 18,157 |
| M1 to A45 West Northamptonshire, Warwickshire · 6.4 mi · HGVs 14.4% | 11,636 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
West Northamptonshire to Warwickshire · 8.2 miles
M45 traffic and collisions by section
2 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 | M1 to A45West Northamptonshire, Warwickshire | 11,636 | 4 |
| 2 | At A45TWarwickshire | 18,157 | 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 M45 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.
M45 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 67.8% of the vehicle miles on the M45. HGVs account for 13.7%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 11.6% |
| 2001 | 11.9% |
| 2002 | 13.7% |
| 2003 | 12.9% |
| 2004 | 12.7% |
| 2005 | 15.3% |
| 2006 | 15.1% |
| 2007 | 10.8% |
| 2008 | 10.6% |
| 2009 | 9.9% |
| 2010 | 9.9% |
| 2011 | 9.3% |
| 2012 | 9.2% |
| 2013 | 9.1% |
| 2014 | 8.8% |
| 2015 | 8.9% |
| 2016 | 8.9% |
| 2017 | 11.8% |
| 2018 | 12.5% |
| 2019 | 12.4% |
| 2020 | 16.0% |
| 2021 | 15.4% |
| 2022 | 13.9% |
| 2023 | 13.5% |
| 2024 | 13.6% |
| 2025 | 13.7% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M45 traffic trend
Traffic on the M45 came to 39.1 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 10.9% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 13.7% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 9.5% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 36m |
| 2001 | 37m |
| 2002 | 34m |
| 2003 | 34m |
| 2004 | 35m |
| 2005 | 35m |
| 2006 | 35m |
| 2007 | 33m |
| 2008 | 32m |
| 2009 | 33m |
| 2010 | 32m |
| 2011 | 33m |
| 2012 | 33m |
| 2013 | 33m |
| 2014 | 34m |
| 2015 | 34m |
| 2016 | 35m |
| 2017 | 37m |
| 2018 | 43m |
| 2019 | 44m |
| 2020 | 29m |
| 2021 | 33m |
| 2022 | 34m |
| 2023 | 38m |
| 2024 | 38m |
| 2025 | 39m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 11,932 |
| 2001 | 12,187 |
| 2002 | 11,474 |
| 2003 | 11,312 |
| 2004 | 11,694 |
| 2005 | 11,664 |
| 2006 | 11,729 |
| 2007 | 10,996 |
| 2008 | 10,806 |
| 2009 | 10,971 |
| 2010 | 10,827 |
| 2011 | 11,000 |
| 2012 | 10,849 |
| 2013 | 11,057 |
| 2014 | 11,265 |
| 2015 | 11,489 |
| 2016 | 11,684 |
| 2017 | 12,382 |
| 2018 | 14,344 |
| 2019 | 14,662 |
| 2020 | 9,649 |
| 2021 | 10,893 |
| 2022 | 11,314 |
| 2023 | 12,767 |
| 2024 | 12,836 |
| 2025 | 13,067 |
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 3 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M45 collisions
Police recorded 6 collisions with the M45 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 4 of them fatal or serious.
Reported collisions by year
| Year | Collisions | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2024 | 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions
Council areas on the M45
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- West Northamptonshire
- Warwickshire
Planned closures on the M45 in England
National Highways has 5 planned closures on the M45 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 2 of them starting in that period. 1 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 2 start between 7pm and 6am.
-
Lane or slip Lane closure eastbound including roundabout
-
Carriageway M45 eastbound Thurlaston to M1 Jct 17 carriageway closure
-
Lane or slip Hard shoulder and lane closure eastbound
-
Lane or slip Hard shoulder and lane closure eastbound
-
Lane or slip Hard shoulder and lane closure eastbound
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 | 3 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 6 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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