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CrashStats

Fatal A12 crash in Braintree on 20 December 1979 at 07:10 involving a car

A car and a lorry were involved in a crash on the A12 in Braintree at 07:10 on Thursday 20 December 1979. The 35-year-old male driver of the car and a 29-year-old male passenger in the car were killed and the 30-year-old male driver of the lorry was slightly injured.

It happened after dark with no street lighting in fine weather on an icy dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Fatal
Date
20 Dec 1979
Thursday, 07:10
Vehicles
2
Car and lorry
Casualties
3
2 killed, 1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.82708, longitude 0.69193, in the CO5 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Braintree

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  • 1 crash
  • Fatal

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
1979420031070
Council area
Braintree
Police force
Essex

Road and location details

First road class
A
First road number
12
Road type
Dual carriageway
Speed limit
70 mph

Junction information

Junction type
Not at junction or within 20 metres

Pedestrian crossing information

Crossing facilities
No physical crossing facility within 50 m

Environmental conditions

Light conditions
Dark, no street lighting
Weather
Fine, no high winds
Road surface
Frost or ice

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, at the same spot, was a slight injury crash on 22 January 1988.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    Leaving the carriageway
    Offside, crossed central reservation
    Hit object off carriageway
    Nearside or offside crash barrier
    First point of impact
    Offside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    35 years

  • Vehicle 2: Lorry

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

    Towing and articulation
    Articulated vehicle
    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    South West
    Travelling to
    North East
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    Leaving the carriageway
    Offside, crossed central reservation
    Hit object off carriageway
    Nearside or offside crash barrier
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    30 years

Casualties (3)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Fatal

    Male, aged 35, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Fatal

    Male, aged 29, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front seat passenger

  • Casualty 3: Driver

    Slight

    Male, aged 30, goods vehicle occupant (over 3.5 tonnes), in vehicle 2 (Lorry)

Data source

This record comes from the Department for Transport’s road safety data (STATS19), in which police forces in Great Britain record every road crash reported to them where someone was injured. It is reference 1979420031070 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Braintree road accident statistics for 1979.