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CrashStats

Fatal M5 crash in Mid Devon on 21 June 1981 at 19:10 involving a car

Two cars were involved in a crash on the M5 in Mid Devon at 19:10 on Sunday 21 June 1981. The 70-year-old male driver of vehicle 1 and a 67-year-old female passenger in vehicle 1 were killed.

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
21 Jun 1981
Sunday, 19:10
Vehicles
2
Car and another
Casualties
2
2 killed

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.81569, longitude -3.4166, in the EX5 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Mid Devon

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  • 1 crash
  • Fatal

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198150L910439
Council area
Mid Devon
Police force
Devon and Cornwall

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, 53 metres away, was a slight injury crash on 7 August 2016.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Overtaking moving vehicle on its offside
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Other permanent object
    First point of impact
    Nearside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    70 years

  • Vehicle 2: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Changing lane to right
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    First point of impact
    Offside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    73 years

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Fatal

    Male, aged 70, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Fatal

    Female, aged 67, 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 198150L910439 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Mid Devon road accident statistics for 1981.