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CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in Mid Devon on 18 December 1981 at 18:45 involving a car

A car and a lorry were involved in a crash on the M5 in Mid Devon at 18:45 on Friday 18 December 1981. The 21-year-old male driver of the car was 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
18 Dec 1981
Friday, 18:45
Vehicles
2
Car and lorry
Casualties
1
1 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.83164, longitude -3.39862, in the EX15 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Mid Devon

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198150L910992
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
Wet or damp

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, at the same spot, was a slight injury crash on 10 December 1993.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Overtaking moving vehicle on its offside
    Travelling from
    North
    Travelling to
    South
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded and overturned
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Entered ditch
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    21 years

  • Vehicle 2: Lorry

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North
    Travelling to
    South
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    First point of impact
    Back
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    46 years

Casualties (1)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Serious

    Male, aged 21, 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 198150L910992 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.