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CrashStats

Serious A39 crash in Cornwall on 18 January 1979 at 17:05 involving a car

A car, a van and a lorry were involved in a crash on the A39 in Cornwall at 17:05 on Thursday 18 January 1979. The 19-year-old male driver of the car and the 33-year-old male driver of the van were seriously injured.

It happened after dark with no street lighting in fine weather on a dry single carriageway with a 60 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Serious
Date
18 Jan 1979
Thursday, 17:05
Vehicles
3
Car and 2 others
Casualties
2
2 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.32255, longitude -4.96064, in the TR2 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Cornwall

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
197950A080073
Council area
Cornwall
Police force
Devon and Cornwall

Road and location details

First road class
A
First road number
39
Road type
Single carriageway
Speed limit
60 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
Dry

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, 54 metres away, was a serious injury crash on 2 June 1982.

Vehicles involved (3)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Overtaking moving vehicle on its offside
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    First point of impact
    Nearside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    19 years

  • Vehicle 2: Van

    Van or goods vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    South West
    Travelling to
    North East
    First point of impact
    Offside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    33 years

  • Vehicle 3: Lorry

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    First point of impact
    Did not impact
    Driver age
    38 years

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Serious

    Male, aged 19, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

  • Casualty 2: Driver

    Serious

    Male, aged 33, van occupant, in vehicle 2 (Van)

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 197950A080073 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Cornwall road accident statistics for 1979.