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CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in Somerset on 7 October 1979 at 02:20 involving a car

A car crashed on the M5 in Somerset at 02:20 on Sunday 7 October 1979. The 23-year-old male driver and a 20-year-old female passenger were seriously injured.

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

Severity
Serious
Date
7 Oct 1979
Sunday, 02:20
Vehicles
1
Car
Casualties
2
2 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.14618, longitude -2.97636, in the TA6 postcode district. The location was in the former Sedgemoor district.

Map of where the crash happened in Somerset

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
197952JBC0958
Council area
Somerset
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, no street lighting
Weather
Fine, no high winds
Road surface
Wet or damp
Carriageway hazards
Any animal in carriageway (except ridden horse)

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, 1 metre away, was a slight injury crash on 5 January 2014.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Other permanent object
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    23 years

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Serious

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

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Serious

    Female, aged 20, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front seat passenger

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 197952JBC0958 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Somerset road accident statistics for 1979.