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CrashStats

Fatal M5 crash in Somerset on 16 June 1979 at 03:30 involving a car

A car crashed on the M5 in Somerset at 03:30 on Saturday 16 June 1979. The 24-year-old male driver was killed, one other person was seriously injured and two were slightly injured.

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

Severity
Fatal
Date
16 Jun 1979
Saturday, 03:30
Vehicles
1
Car
Casualties
4
1 killed, 1 seriously injured, 2 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.96683, longitude -3.21184, in the TA21 postcode district. The location was in the former Somerset West and Taunton district.

Map of where the crash happened in Somerset

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  • 1 crash
  • Fatal

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
197952KCE0372
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
Dry

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, at the same spot, was a slight injury crash on 6 May 1979.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    South West
    Travelling to
    North East
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded and overturned
    Hit object in carriageway
    Kerb
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Central crash barrier
    First point of impact
    Offside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    24 years

Casualties (4)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Fatal

    Male, aged 24, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Serious

    Female, aged 25, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front seat passenger

  • Casualty 3: Passenger

    Slight

    Male, aged 3, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Rear seat passenger

  • Casualty 4: Passenger

    Slight

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

    Car passenger
    Rear 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 197952KCE0372 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.