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CrashStats

Serious M1 crash in West Northamptonshire on 31 August 1997 at 18:50 involving a Mercedes van

A Mercedes van crashed on the M1 in West Northamptonshire at 18:50 on Sunday 31 August 1997. A 30-year-old male passenger and an 11-year-old male passenger were 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
31 Aug 1997
Sunday, 18:50
Vehicles
1
Mercedes
Casualties
2
2 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 52.17421, longitude -0.87456, in the NN7 postcode district. The location was in the former South Northamptonshire district.

Map of where the crash happened in West Northamptonshire

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  • 1 crash
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
199734TM00479
Council area
West Northamptonshire
Police force
Northamptonshire
Highway authority
Northamptonshire

Road and location details

First road class
Motorway
First road number
1
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 serious injury crash on 22 November 1988.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Mercedes

    Van or goods vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    South
    Travelling to
    North
    Lane or location
    Not on carriageway
    Leaving the carriageway
    Nearside
    Hit object off carriageway
    Entered ditch
    First point of impact
    Nearside
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    30 years
    Engine capacity
    2,404 cc
    Fuel or propulsion
    Diesel
    Vehicle age
    9 years

Casualties (2)

  • Casualty 1: Passenger

    Serious

    Male, aged 30, van occupant, in vehicle 1 (Mercedes)

  • Casualty 2: Passenger

    Serious

    Male, aged 11, van occupant, in vehicle 1 (Mercedes)

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 199734TM00479 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 1997.