Skip to main content
CrashStats

Serious M1 crash in West Northamptonshire on 21 December 1988 at 16:20 involving a car

Four cars were involved in a crash on the M1 in West Northamptonshire at 16:20 on Wednesday 21 December 1988. A 45-year-old female passenger in vehicle 3 was seriously injured and a 65-year-old female passenger in vehicle 4 was slightly injured.

It happened after dark under street lighting in fine weather on a dry dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Serious
Date
21 Dec 1988
Wednesday, 16:20
Vehicles
4
Car and 3 others
Casualties
2
1 seriously injured, 1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 52.30848, longitude -1.12315, in the NN6 postcode district and within the built-up area of Watford. The location was in the former Daventry district.

Map of where the crash happened in West Northamptonshire

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

  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
198834BD06000
Council area
West Northamptonshire
Police force
Northamptonshire

Road and location details

First road class
Motorway
First road number
1
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
Unclassified

Pedestrian crossing information

Crossing facilities
No physical crossing facility within 50 m

Environmental conditions

Light conditions
Dark, street lights lit
Weather
Fine, no high winds
Road surface
Dry

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, at the same spot, was a slight injury crash on 23 December 1988.

Vehicles involved (4)

  • Vehicle 1: Car

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

  • Vehicle 2: Car

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

  • Vehicle 3: Car

    Manoeuvre
    Slowing or stopping
    Travelling from
    South
    Travelling to
    North
    First point of impact
    Back
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    48 years

  • Vehicle 4: Car

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

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Passenger

    Serious

    Female, aged 45, car occupant, in vehicle 3 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front seat passenger

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Slight

    Female, aged 65, car occupant, in vehicle 4 (Car)

    Car passenger
    Front 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 198834BD06000 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the West Northamptonshire road accident statistics for 1988.