Skip to main content
CrashStats

Serious M5 crash in Somerset on 30 August 1997 at 16:40 involving a Suzuki motorcycle

A Suzuki motorcycle and an Audi 80 were involved in a crash on the M5 in Somerset at 16:40 on Saturday 30 August 1997. The 23-year-old male rider of the Suzuki motorcycle 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
30 Aug 1997
Saturday, 16:40
Vehicles
2
Suzuki and Audi 80
Casualties
1
1 seriously injured

Location of the crash

Police recorded the crash at latitude 51.29611, longitude -2.89348, in the BS26 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
  • Serious

Collision details

Basic information

Reference
1997520031793
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 16 December 1998.

Vehicles involved (2)

  • Vehicle 1: Suzuki

    Motorcycle

    Manoeuvre
    Going ahead
    Travelling from
    South
    Travelling to
    North
    First point of impact
    Front
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    23 years
    Engine capacity
    599 cc
    Fuel or propulsion
    Petrol
    Vehicle age
    2 years

  • Vehicle 2: Audi 80

    Car

    Manoeuvre
    Waiting to go ahead
    Travelling from
    South
    Travelling to
    North
    First point of impact
    Back
    Driver sex
    Male
    Driver age
    36 years
    Engine capacity
    1,984 cc
    Fuel or propulsion
    Petrol
    Vehicle age
    2 years

Casualties (1)

  • Casualty 1: Rider

    Serious

    Male, aged 23, motorcyclist, on vehicle 1 (Suzuki)

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 1997520031793 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.