M56 crash in Halton on 31 December 2020 at 11:15 involving a Mazda MX-5
A Mazda MX-5 and a Ford Transit Courier van were involved in a crash on the M56 in Halton at 11:15 on Thursday 31 December 2020. The 32-year-old male driver of the Ford Transit Courier van was slightly injured.
It happened in daylight on an icy dual carriageway with a 70 mph limit, away from any junction.
- Severity
- Slight
- Date
- 31 Dec 2020
- Thursday, 11:15
- Vehicles
- 2
- Mazda MX-5 and Ford Transit Courier
- Casualties
- 1
- 1 slightly injured
Location of the crash
Police recorded the crash at latitude 53.32828, longitude -2.63081, in the WA4 postcode district. It is one of the crashes that make up the Daresbury, Moore & Sandymoor, Halton, WA4 4HS area accident hotspot.
Map of where the crash happened in Halton
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- 1 crash
- Slight
Collision details
Basic information
- Reference
- 2020070000151
- Council area
- Halton
- Police force
- Cheshire
- Police attended the scene
- Yes
Road and location details
- First road class
- Motorway
- First road number
- 56
- 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
- Other
- Road surface
- Frost or ice
Enhanced collision data
- How severity was recorded
- Judged by the reporting police officer
- Estimated chance it was serious
- 3%
- Estimated chance it was slight
- 97%
The 6 nearest recorded crashes
The nearest, 23 metres away, was a slight injury crash on 1 April 1999.
Slight
Ford Fiesta crash on the M56 in Halton, 1 April 1999
23 m awayRef 1999079M10203
Slight
Fiat Punto crash on the M56 in Halton, 20 May 2003
43 m awayRef 2003070302964
Slight
Vauxhall Astra crash on the M56 in Halton, 23 August 2019
46 m awayRef 2019070473324
Slight
Rover 800 Series crash on the M56 in Halton, 16 June 1993
58 m awayRef 1993073M10230
Serious
Seat Ibiza crash on the M56 in Halton, 28 October 2025
60 m awayRef 2025070883229
Slight
Mercedes C Class crash on the M56 in Halton, 31 January 2017
69 m awayRef 2017077031164
Vehicles involved (2)
Vehicle 1: Mazda MX-5
Car
- Manoeuvre
- Going ahead
- Travelling from
- West
- Travelling to
- East
- Position at junction
- Not at or within 20 metres of junction
- Skidding and overturning
- Skidded
- Leaving the carriageway
- Nearside
- Hit object off carriageway
- Nearside or offside crash barrier
- First point of impact
- Front
- Left-hand drive
- No
- Journey purpose
- Commuting to or from work
- Driver sex
- Male
- Driver age
- 28 years
- Engine capacity
- 1,998 cc
- Fuel or propulsion
- Petrol
- Vehicle age
- 2 years
- Driver home area deprivation
- 30 to 40% least deprived
Vehicle 2: Ford Transit Courier
Van or goods vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes
- Manoeuvre
- Going ahead
- Travelling from
- West
- Travelling to
- East
- Position at junction
- Not at or within 20 metres of junction
- Leaving the carriageway
- Nearside
- Hit object off carriageway
- Nearside or offside crash barrier
- First point of impact
- Offside
- Left-hand drive
- No
- Journey purpose
- Journey as part of work
- Driver sex
- Male
- Driver age
- 32 years
- Engine capacity
- 1,499 cc
- Fuel or propulsion
- Diesel
- Vehicle age
- 2 years
- Driver home area deprivation
- 30 to 40% most deprived
Casualties (1)
Casualty 1: Driver
SlightMale, aged 32, van occupant, in vehicle 2 (Ford Transit Courier)
- Home area deprivation
- 30 to 40% most deprived
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 2020070000151 in the data published on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and one of the crashes counted in the Halton road accident statistics for 2020.