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CrashStats

Fatal M4 crash in Swindon on 15 December 1985 at 18:35 involving a car

A car crashed on the M4 in Swindon at 18:35 on Sunday 15 December 1985. An 80-year-old female passenger was killed, one other person was seriously injured and two were 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
Fatal
Date
15 Dec 1985
Sunday, 18:35
Vehicles
1
Car
Casualties
4
1 killed, 1 seriously injured, 2 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.54035, longitude -1.81395, in the SN1 postcode district.

Map of where the crash happened in Swindon

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  • 1 crash
  • Fatal

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198554MA03445
Council area
Swindon
Police force
Wiltshire

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, at the same spot, was a serious injury crash on 22 March 1988.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Overtaking moving vehicle on its offside
    Travelling from
    East
    Travelling to
    West
    Skidding and overturning
    Overturned
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Entered ditch
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    60 years

Casualties (4)

  • Casualty 1: Passenger

    Fatal

    Female, aged 80, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Rear seat passenger

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Serious

    Female, aged 47, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front seat passenger

  • Casualty 3: Passenger

    Slight

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

    Car passenger
    Rear seat passenger

  • Casualty 4: Driver

    Slight

    Male, aged 60, 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 198554MA03445 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Swindon road accident statistics for 1985.