Skip to main content
CrashStats

Fatal A39 crash in Cornwall on 31 July 1985 at 22:25 involving a car

A car crashed on the A39 in Cornwall at 22:25 on Wednesday 31 July 1985. A 20-year-old female passenger was killed, two other people were seriously injured and one was slightly injured.

It happened after dark with no street lighting in fine weather on a dry single carriageway with a 60 mph limit, at a T or staggered junction.

Severity
Fatal
Date
31 Jul 1985
Wednesday, 22:25
Vehicles
1
Car
Casualties
4
1 killed, 2 seriously injured, 1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.78587, longitude -4.53422, in the EX23 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Cornwall

Use the arrow keys to move the map and the plus and minus keys to zoom.

  • 1 crash
  • Fatal

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198550B711031
Council area
Cornwall
Police force
Devon and Cornwall

Road and location details

First road class
A
First road number
39
Road type
Single carriageway
Speed limit
60 mph

Junction information

Junction type
T or staggered junction
Junction control
Give way or uncontrolled
Second road class
C

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, 14 metres away, was a serious injury crash on 10 August 1985.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    South
    Travelling to
    North
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside and rebounded
    Hit object off carriageway
    Other permanent object
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Female
    Driver age
    21 years

Casualties (4)

  • Casualty 1: Passenger

    Fatal

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

    Car passenger
    Rear seat passenger

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Slight

    Male, aged 22, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front seat passenger

  • Casualty 3: Passenger

    Serious

    Male, aged 22, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Rear seat passenger

  • Casualty 4: Driver

    Serious

    Female, 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 198550B711031 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Cornwall road accident statistics for 1985.