Motorway

M58 traffic and collisions

The M58 is a motorway of 12.8 miles, from Sefton to Wigan. This page covers its traffic at 9 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
9 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 197m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 42,200 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 49,943 J3 to J4
  • HGV share 8.4% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +6.9% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 57 6.2 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the M58?

On an average day in 2025, 42,200 vehicles passed each point on the M58, counting both directions. The busiest section is J3 to J4 (Lancashire), with 49,943 a day; the quietest listed is J1 to A59, with 28,975.

Busiest sections, 2025

J3 to J4 carries 1.2 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the M58 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
J3 to J4 Lancashire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 8.0% 49,943
J5 to M6 Lancashire, Wigan · 2.5 mi · HGVs 10.1% 49,144
J4 to J5 Lancashire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 9.3% 45,413
A59 to J1 Sefton · 1.1 mi · HGVs 6.9% 44,163
J1 to J3 Lancashire · 2.6 mi · HGVs 6.9% 44,163
J1 to A59 Sefton · 2.5 mi · HGVs 8.6% 28,975

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Sefton to Wigan · 12.8 miles

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

M58 traffic and collisions by section

8 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
Sections of the M58 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1J1 to A59Sefton2.528,9758.6%1141.6
2A59 to J1Sefton1.144,1636.9%+3.9%fewer than 3
3J1 to J3Lancashire2.644,1636.9%+3.9%115.5
4J3 to J4Lancashire1.749,9438.0%+11.2%9
5J4 to J5Lancashire1.745,4139.3%+22.5%5
6J5 to M6Lancashire, Wigan2.549,14410.1%−0.5%157.2
7M58 split to A577Wigan0.431,0849.2%+8.3%fewer than 3
8A577 to M6Wigan0.323,0554.8%+15.2%4

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M58 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.

M58 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 71.6% of the vehicle miles on the M58. HGVs account for 8.4%, rising to 10.1% on J5 to M6.

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 M58, by year
Year HGV share
2000 11.0%
2001 11.1%
2002 11.7%
2003 11.5%
2004 11.6%
2005 11.0%
2006 11.0%
2007 10.6%
2008 10.6%
2009 10.5%
2010 10.5%
2011 9.7%
2012 9.1%
2013 8.9%
2014 9.0%
2015 9.1%
2016 9.3%
2017 8.9%
2018 8.8%
2019 8.8%
2020 11.3%
2021 10.8%
2022 9.0%
2023 8.2%
2024 8.4%
2025 8.4%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

M58 traffic trend

Traffic on the M58 came to 197 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 6.9% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 5.2% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 37.9% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the M58 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 138m
2001 143m
2002 147m
2003 149m
2004 159m
2005 170m
2006 180m
2007 184m
2008 179m
2009 174m
2010 172m
2011 167m
2012 168m
2013 175m
2014 176m
2015 180m
2016 182m
2017 180m
2018 177m
2019 179m
2020 145m
2021 163m
2022 184m
2023 189m
2024 189m
2025 197m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the M58, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 30,048
2001 31,127
2002 32,016
2003 32,454
2004 34,573
2005 36,924
2006 39,065
2007 39,942
2008 39,006
2009 37,761
2010 37,309
2011 36,243
2012 36,505
2013 38,052
2014 38,313
2015 39,183
2016 39,587
2017 40,847
2018 38,827
2019 39,243
2020 31,706
2021 35,775
2022 40,409
2023 41,498
2024 41,501
2025 42,200

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 (80.5% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 2 of the 9 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

M58 collisions

Police recorded 57 collisions with the M58 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 14 of them fatal or serious. That is 6.2 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher 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 71.4% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the M58 by year
Year Collisions
2021 7
2022 11
2023 12
2024 15
2025 12

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 M58, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
J1 to A59 Sefton · 11 collisions 41.6
J5 to M6 Lancashire, Wigan · 15 collisions 7.2
J1 to J3 Lancashire · 11 collisions 5.5

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

A further 6 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M58 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 M58

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

  • Sefton
  • Lancashire
  • Wigan

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 9 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 57 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.