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CrashStats

M4 crash in Reading on 19 March 1981 at 04:51 involving a car

A car crashed on the M4 in Reading at 04:51 on Thursday 19 March 1981. The 20-year-old male driver was 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
Slight
Date
19 Mar 1981
Thursday, 04:51
Vehicles
1
Car
Casualties
1
1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.41168, longitude -0.96613, in the RG2 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Reading

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  • 1 crash
  • Slight

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198143E069031
Council area
Reading
Police force
Thames Valley

Road and location details

First road class
Motorway
First road number
4
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, 4 metres away, was a slight injury crash on 14 November 2025.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    East
    Travelling to
    West
    Leaving the carriageway
    Offside onto central reservation and rebounded
    Hit object off carriageway
    Central crash barrier
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    20 years

Casualties (1)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Slight

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

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 198143E069031 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Reading road accident statistics for 1981.