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CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in Somerset on 3 October 1986 at 06:10 involving a lorry

Two lorries and a car were involved in a crash on the M5 in Somerset at 06:10 on Friday 3 October 1986. The 42-year-old male driver of vehicle 1 was seriously injured and a 40-year-old male passenger in vehicle 2 was slightly injured.

It happened after dark with no street lighting in fog or mist on a wet dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Serious
Date
3 Oct 1986
Friday, 06:10
Vehicles
3
Lorry and 2 others
Casualties
2
1 seriously injured, 1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.97296, longitude -3.19206, in the TA21 postcode district. The location was in the former Somerset West and Taunton district.

Map of where the crash happened in Somerset

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198652GO01638
Council area
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
Junction control
Give way or uncontrolled
Second road class
Motorway
Second road number
5

Pedestrian crossing information

Crossing facilities
No physical crossing facility within 50 m

Environmental conditions

Light conditions
Dark, no street lighting
Weather
Fog or mist
Road surface
Wet or damp

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, 10 metres away, was a slight injury crash on 3 June 1987.

Vehicles involved (3)

  • Vehicle 1: Lorry

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North
    Travelling to
    South
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded and overturned
    Leaving the carriageway
    Offside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Central crash barrier
    First point of impact
    Offside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    42 years

  • Vehicle 2: Lorry

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

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

  • Vehicle 3: Car

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

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Serious

    Male, aged 42, goods vehicle occupant (over 3.5 tonnes), in vehicle 1 (Lorry)

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Slight

    Male, aged 40, goods vehicle occupant (over 3.5 tonnes), in vehicle 2 (Lorry)

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 198652GO01638 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Somerset road accident statistics for 1986.