Skip to main content
CrashStats

M5 crash in Somerset on 30 October 1987 at 18:15 involving a motorcycle

A motorcycle and a car were involved in a crash on the M5 in Somerset at 18:15 on Friday 30 October 1987. The 39-year-old male rider of the motorcycle was slightly injured.

It happened after dark with no street lighting in fine weather on a dry dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, at a T or staggered junction.

Severity
Slight
Date
30 Oct 1987
Friday, 18:15
Vehicles
2
Motorcycle and car
Casualties
1
1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.16773, longitude -2.98025, in the TA7 postcode district. The location was in the former Sedgemoor district.

Map of where the crash happened in Somerset

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

  • 1 crash
  • Slight

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198752GR01802
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
T or staggered junction
Junction control
Give way or uncontrolled
Second road class
A
Second road number
39

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
Special conditions at the site
Road surface defective
Carriageway hazards
Poor or defective road surface

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, 10 metres away, was a serious injury crash on 9 June 2025.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Motorcycle

    Manoeuvre
    Slowing or stopping
    Travelling from
    North
    Travelling to
    South
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    39 years

  • Vehicle 2: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Waiting to go ahead
    Travelling from
    North
    Travelling to
    South
    First point of impact
    Back
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    37 years

Casualties (1)

  • Casualty 1: Rider

    Slight

    Male, aged 39, motorcyclist, on vehicle 1 (Motorcycle)

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 198752GR01802 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 1987.