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CrashStats

M5 crash in Somerset on 8 December 1997 at 06:00 involving a Vauxhall Astra

A Vauxhall Astra crashed on the M5 in Somerset at 06:00 on Monday 8 December 1997. The 27-year-old male driver was slightly injured.

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

Severity
Slight
Date
8 Dec 1997
Monday, 06:00
Vehicles
1
Vauxhall Astra
Casualties
1
1 slightly injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 50.94447, longitude -3.28386, in the TA21 postcode district. The location was in the former Taunton Deane district.

Map of where the crash happened in Somerset

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  • 1 crash
  • Slight

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
1997520001373
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
Dark, no street lighting
Weather
Raining, no high winds
Road surface
Wet or damp

The 6 nearest recorded crashes

The nearest, 29 metres away, was a slight injury crash on 10 April 2011.

Vehicles involved (1)

  • Vehicle 1: Vauxhall Astra

    Car

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    North
    Travelling to
    South
    Leaving the carriageway
    Offside onto central reservation
    Hit object off carriageway
    Central crash barrier
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    27 years
    Engine capacity
    1,388 cc
    Fuel or propulsion
    Petrol
    Vehicle age
    7 years

Casualties (1)

  • Casualty 1: Driver

    Slight

    Male, aged 27, car occupant, in vehicle 1 (Vauxhall Astra)

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 1997520001373 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 1997.