M42 crash J3A northbound

Crash on the M42 northbound at J3A on Wednesday 14 October 2026, from 07:27. Cleared at 09:53 after 2 h 26 min. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs and TomTom.

Status

Cleared 09:53 on 14 Oct 2026, after 2 h 26 min

Location

M42 northbound · J3A

Reported as

Collision

At its worst

Delay ~18 min

Sources

Motorway signs ×2 · TomTom ×5

Timeline

1. Wed 07:27 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF COLLISION”
2. Wed 08:03 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF COLLISION”
3. Wed 08:03 All clear: no source reports it any more
4. Wed 08:17 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min
5. Wed 08:31 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~18 min
6. Wed 08:40 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF PEDESTRIANS”
7. Wed 09:12 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~14 min
8. Wed 09:16 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
9. Wed 09:26 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~7 min
10. Wed 09:30 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~6 min (reported again)
11. Wed 09:33 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF PEDESTRIANS”
12. Wed 09:44 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~6 min
13. Wed 09:48 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
14. Wed 09:53 TomTom no longer reports it
15. Wed 09:53 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF COLLISION” (5 signs; furthest along: M42 northbound within J3A).
• Slow traffic
• Queuing traffic
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF PEDESTRIANS” (6 signs; furthest along: M42 northbound within J3A).

Other recent incidents on the M42

• M42 crash J4A southboundyesterday 23:58 · cleared after 50 min
• M42 delays J6yesterday 13:59 · cleared after 4 h 46 min
• M42 stopped traffic J7A–J8Wed 07:30 · cleared after 3 h 36 min
• M42 delays J3A–J3Tue 07:54 · cleared after 1 h 32 min
• M42 delays J9 northboundTue 07:27 · cleared after 3 h
• M42 stopped traffic J11–J10Tue 06:41 · cleared after 55 min
• M42 stopped traffic J10–J9Mon 07:15 · cleared after 2 h 36 min
• M42 reported crash J11 southboundSun 15:55 · cleared after 65 h 39 min
• M42 crash J10–J9 southbound9 Oct 2026 16:37 · cleared after 5 h 4 min
• M42 stopped traffic J69 Oct 2026 12:00 · cleared after 6 h 13 min

The sources don't report causes or injuries, so neither does this page. Times are UK time. For alerts, follow @motorways.me on Bluesky.