9:00am Wednesday 8th July 2009
By Peter Magill
A YOUNG driver who lost control of his car on a notorious East Lancashire road and died of head injuries was not wearing a seat belt, an inquest heard.
Wasim Islam, 21, could also have been reaching for something on his rear seat when his Lexus skidded across the Grane Road, near to the Duke of Wellington pub, Burnley Coroner's Court was told.
Eyewitness John Stacey, who was driving his Audi A4 car to work in the opposite direction, told the hearing how he saw the Lexus coming towards him, side on, before the impact.
Seconds later Mr Stacey was alerting the emergency services, after finding Mr Islam slumped across his front passenger seat, with loud music blaring from a stereo.
Paramedics took Mr Islam, of Bury Road, Haslingden, to the Royal Blackburn Hospital for treatment but he died of head and shoulder injuries the following day.
Post-mortem tests showed he had nothing in his system which would have contributed to the collision.
Mr Stacey, who suffered a broken nose and whiplash in the incident, said the temperature was around minus six degrees when the crash occurred, at around 7.45am.
But the road was dry and visibility was good.
Police accident investigator PC Stephen Price said the bend in question was relatively shallow and speed did not appear to contribute to Mr Islam losing control.
He confirmed that the deceased did not appear to have been wearing his seat belt and that he noted skid marks on the road, indicating the sideways skid which the Lexus had undergone before the crash.
In a statement, the deceased's father Mohammed Islam said his son had been excited, just before his death, as he was starting a new job and had been asked to take his driving documents into work.
Mr Islam said his son, a former Haslingden High pupil, had also spoken of how he intended to pay for his parents to attend the pilgrimage to Hajj this year.
Recording a narrative verdict, East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said he accepted Mr Islam had lost control of his car, for reasons which could not be ascertained.
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