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CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in South Gloucestershire on 3 June 1979 at 00:20 involving a car

A car and a van were involved in a crash on the M5 in South Gloucestershire at 00:20 on Sunday 3 June 1979. All four casualties were seriously injured.

It happened after dark under street lighting in fine weather on a dry dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Serious
Date
3 Jun 1979
Sunday, 00:20
Vehicles
2
Car and van
Casualties
4
4 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.51261, longitude -2.65273, in the BS10 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in South Gloucestershire

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
197952EFT0818
Council area
South Gloucestershire
Police force
Avon and Somerset

Road and location details

First road class
Motorway
First road number
5
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, street lights lit
Weather
Fine, no high winds
Road surface
Dry

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, at the same spot, was a slight injury crash on 2 September 1994.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Overtaking moving vehicle on its offside
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Entered ditch
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    23 years

  • Vehicle 2: Van

    Van or goods vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Entered ditch
    First point of impact
    Back
    Driver sex
    Female
    Driver age
    27 years

Casualties (4)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Serious

    Male, aged 23, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

  • Casualty 2: Driver

    Serious

    Female, aged 27, van occupant, in vehicle 2 (Van)

  • Casualty 3: Passenger

    Serious

    Male, aged 29, van occupant, in vehicle 2 (Van)

  • Casualty 4: Passenger

    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 197952EFT0818 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the South Gloucestershire road accident statistics for 1979.