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CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in Somerset on 17 July 1996 at 08:08 involving a Mercedes lorry

A Mercedes lorry and a Vauxhall Cavalier were involved in a crash on the M5 in Somerset at 08:08 on Wednesday 17 July 1996. The 25-year-old male driver of the Vauxhall Cavalier was seriously injured.

It happened in daylight in fine weather on a dry dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.

Severity
Serious
Date
17 Jul 1996
Wednesday, 08:08
Vehicles
2
Mercedes and Vauxhall Cavalier
Casualties
1
1 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.96686, longitude -3.209, 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
19965296K2375
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
Urban or rural
Rural
Trunk road
Trunk road (National Highways)

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
Daylight
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 20 June 1997.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Mercedes

    Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Other permanent object
    First point of impact
    Back
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    37 years
    Engine capacity
    2,404 cc
    Fuel or propulsion
    Diesel
    Vehicle age
    15 years

  • Vehicle 2: Vauxhall Cavalier

    Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North East
    Travelling to
    South West
    Skidding and overturning
    Skidded
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Other permanent object
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    25 years
    Engine capacity
    1,998 cc
    Fuel or propulsion
    Petrol
    Vehicle age
    5 years

Casualties (1)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Serious

    Male, aged 25, car occupant, in vehicle 2 (Vauxhall Cavalier)

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 19965296K2375 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 1996.