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M5 traffic and collisions

The M5 is a motorway of 165.9 miles, from Sandwell to Devon. This page covers its traffic at 55 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
55 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 5.9bn vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 97,573 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 138,436 J18 to J19
  • HGV share 9.0% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +6.4% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 800 2.9 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the M5?

On an average day in 2025, 97,573 vehicles passed each point on the M5, counting both directions. The busiest section is J18 to J19 (City of Bristol, North Somerset), with 138,436 a day; the quietest listed is M5 (18) to M5 (18A), with 53,169.

Busiest sections, 2025

J18 to J19 carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the M5 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
J18 to J19 City of Bristol, North Somerset · 2.1 mi · HGVs 8.1% 138,436
M42 (4A) Southern feeder to J5 Worcestershire · 4.9 mi · HGVs 9.8% 136,816
M5 split to J1 Sandwell · 2.1 mi · HGVs 10.5% 133,196
J16 to J15 South Gloucestershire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 8.2% 129,400
J16 to J17 South Gloucestershire · 2.4 mi · HGVs 7.9% 121,685
J1 to J2 Sandwell · 2.5 mi · HGVs 9.5% 119,998
J21 to J20 North Somerset · 5.7 mi · HGVs 6.5% 118,811
J6 to J7 Worcestershire · 3.2 mi · HGVs 11.5% 118,162
J17 to J18A South Gloucestershire, City of Bristol · 3.6 mi · HGVs 8.4% 116,202
J20 to J19 North Somerset · 6.4 mi · HGVs 7.6% 115,619

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Sandwell to Devon · 165.9 miles

Sandwell Devon
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

M5 traffic and collisions by section

36 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 9 short link roads and spurs (2.3 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Show all 36 sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the M5 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1M5 split to J1Sandwell2.1133,19610.5%+27.5%408.6
2J1 to J2Sandwell2.5119,9989.5%+4.4%244.4
3J2 to J3Sandwell, Dudley3.2105,9339.5%+4.6%132.2
4J3 to J4Dudley, Worcestershire5.4106,0988.8%+27.6%262.8
5J4 to M42(4A) Northern feederWorcestershire1.7112,3089.5%+29.0%123.9
6M42 Southern feeder to M42 Northern feederWorcestershire0.766,7729.7%+0.5%3–
7M42 (4A) Southern feeder to J5Worcestershire4.9136,8169.8%+12.7%232.1
8J5 to J6Worcestershire0.4150,61210.1%+53.0%3–
9J6 to J5Worcestershire5.7113,54815.1%+3.3%343.0
10J6 to J7Worcestershire3.2118,16211.5%+7.2%101.6
11J7 to J8Worcestershire9.287,60112.8%−3.1%221.5
12J8 to J9Worcestershire, Gloucestershire3.890,65111.4%+9.7%142.3
13J9 to J10Gloucestershire5.0102,82311.0%−6.7%303.4
14J10 to J11Gloucestershire2.988,97612.5%−5.0%163.6
15J11 to J11AGloucestershire2.690,19511.2%−4.0%133.1
16J11A to J12Gloucestershire6.5102,88710.3%+3.4%252.2
17J12 to J13Gloucestershire3.2101,65310.0%+4.2%224.1
18J13 to J14Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire10.481,60810.2%−0.4%342.1
19J15 to J14South Gloucestershire7.596,5898.9%+9.6%302.4
20J16 to J15South Gloucestershire0.7129,4008.2%+4.2%128.3
21J16 to J17South Gloucestershire2.4121,6857.9%−2.0%142.8
22J17 to J18ASouth Gloucestershire, City of Bristol3.6116,2028.4%+5.2%162.2
23M5 (18) to M5 (18A)City of Bristol0.753,16911.9%+181.6%5–
24J18 to J19City of Bristol, North Somerset2.1138,4368.1%+8.5%173.4
25J20 to J19North Somerset6.4115,6197.6%+3.4%352.8
26J21 to J20North Somerset5.7118,8116.5%−0.8%282.4
27J21 to J22North Somerset, Somerset9.483,8069.7%−9.9%372.6
28J22 to J23Somerset5.185,1078.6%−16.6%151.8
29J23 to J24Somerset5.095,0206.5%+6.7%182.5
30J24 to J25Somerset6.694,0436.7%+19.1%313.1
31J25 to J26Somerset7.082,1827.2%+19.5%141.6
32J26 to J27Somerset, Devon8.484,0826.0%+15.5%191.5
33J27 to J28Devon4.282,5456.0%+20.5%233.9
34J28 to J29Devon10.884,1855.6%+29.9%463.3
35J29 to J30Devon1.197,4056.7%−5.6%168.3
36J30 to J31Devon3.5104,7345.9%+9.5%294.8

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M5 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.

M5 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 73.5% of the vehicle miles on the M5. HGVs account for 9.0%, rising to 15.1% on J6 to J5.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the M5, by year
Year HGV share
2000 13.6%
2001 13.0%
2002 12.6%
2003 12.4%
2004 12.7%
2005 12.1%
2006 11.3%
2007 11.5%
2008 11.0%
2009 10.6%
2010 10.9%
2011 10.6%
2012 10.4%
2013 10.3%
2014 10.7%
2015 11.1%
2016 10.7%
2017 10.5%
2018 10.5%
2019 10.3%
2020 12.8%
2021 12.2%
2022 10.4%
2023 10.2%
2024 9.6%
2025 9.0%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

M5 traffic trend

Traffic on the M5 came to 5.91 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 6.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 13.6% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 41.4% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the M5 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 4.2bn
2001 4.3bn
2002 4.5bn
2003 4.6bn
2004 4.7bn
2005 4.8bn
2006 5.0bn
2007 5.1bn
2008 5.2bn
2009 5.1bn
2010 4.9bn
2011 5.0bn
2012 4.9bn
2013 5.1bn
2014 5.2bn
2015 5.2bn
2016 5.4bn
2017 5.4bn
2018 5.4bn
2019 5.6bn
2020 4.1bn
2021 4.9bn
2022 5.5bn
2023 5.6bn
2024 5.7bn
2025 5.9bn

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the M5, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 68,845
2001 71,240
2002 73,416
2003 74,672
2004 76,823
2005 78,718
2006 82,255
2007 83,306
2008 84,555
2009 82,753
2010 80,811
2011 81,512
2012 80,819
2013 82,833
2014 84,772
2015 85,754
2016 87,715
2017 89,283
2018 89,715
2019 91,738
2020 67,353
2021 80,181
2022 90,897
2023 92,115
2024 94,916
2025 97,573

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, 37 of the 55 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

M5 collisions

Police recorded 800 collisions with the M5 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 211 of them fatal or serious. That is 2.9 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 1.0 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Up 14.2% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the M5 by year: fatal or serious, and slight
Year SlightFatal or serious
2021 11342
2022 9640
2023 12545
2024 13131
2025 12552

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.

Collisions per 100 million vehicle miles by section of the M5, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
M5 split to J1 Sandwell · 40 collisions 8.6
J16 to J15 South Gloucestershire · 12 collisions 8.3
J29 to J30 Devon · 16 collisions 8.3
J30 to J31 Devon · 29 collisions 4.8
J1 to J2 Sandwell · 24 collisions 4.4
J12 to J13 Gloucestershire · 22 collisions 4.1
J27 to J28 Devon · 23 collisions 3.9
J4 to M42(4A) Northern feeder Worcestershire · 12 collisions 3.9

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

A further 85 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M5 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 96.1% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions

Council areas on the M5

In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.

  • Sandwell
  • Dudley
  • Worcestershire
  • Gloucestershire
  • South Gloucestershire
  • City of Bristol
  • North Somerset
  • Somerset
  • Devon

Planned closures on the M5 in England

National Highways has 65 planned closures on the M5 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 61 of them starting in that period. 15 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 58 start between 7pm and 6am.

  • Lane or slip M5 Both Directions Jct 9 to Jct 20 mobile lane closures

    16 Sept 20:00 to 26 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip M5 Both Directions Jct 9 to Jct 15 mobile lane closures

    16 Sept 20:00 to 30 Sept 06:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip M5 Both Directions Jct 9 to Jct 15 mobile lane closures

    16 Sept 20:00 to 19 Sept 06:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip M5 Northbound Jct 31 to 30 lane 1, 2 closure 259/6b - 256/8b

    16 Sept 20:00 to 28 Sept 06:00 Construction work

  • Lane or slip M5 Northbound Jct 31 to 30 lane 1, 2 closure 259/6b - 256/8b

    16 Sept 20:00 to 25 Sept 06:00 Construction work

  • Lane or slip M5 northbound Jct 26 to Jct 25 - lane closure 213/2-209/2

    16 Sept 20:00 to 17 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Carriageway M5 northbound Jct 14 exit slip road closure

    16 Sept 20:00 to 19 Sept 06:00 Construction work

  • Lane or slip M5 northbound Jct 25 to Jct 24 lane 3 closure

    16 Sept 20:00 to 17 Sept 04:00 1 of 3 lanes Road maintenance

57 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

Datasets used on this page
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 55 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring 		2021 to 2025 800 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”.
How we calculate these figures All data sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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