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CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in North Somerset on 21 December 1981 at 09:40 involving a car

A car and a lorry were involved in a crash on the M5 in North Somerset at 09:40 on Monday 21 December 1981. A 13-year-old male passenger in the car and a 15-year-old female passenger in the car were seriously injured.

It happened in daylight in the rain on a wet dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Serious
Date
21 Dec 1981
Monday, 09:40
Vehicles
2
Car and lorry
Casualties
2
2 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.39013, longitude -2.86254, in the BS21 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in North Somerset

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198152JNC1479
Council area
North 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
Daylight
Weather
Raining, no high winds
Road surface
Wet or damp

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, 28 metres away, was a slight injury crash on 12 June 2015.

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
    Entered ditch
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Female
    Driver age
    32 years

  • Vehicle 2: Lorry

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    First point of impact
    Nearside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    35 years

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Passenger

    Serious

    Male, aged 13, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Rear seat passenger

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Serious

    Female, aged 15, 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 198152JNC1479 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the North Somerset road accident statistics for 1981.