A "remarkable young man" died after losing control of his car while driving along a rural road near Belthorn, an inquest has heard.
Liam Bracken, 17, was out for a drive with four of his friends on September 22 when the tragedy happened.
Liam, from Bolton, was driving his Vauxhall Corsa southbound along the rural Jackson Heights Road, just south of Belthorn, when he lost control at an undulation, veering off the road and down an embankment, with the car flipping a number of times.
His friends suffered injuries but Liam died in the crash.
An inquest into his death was held at Preston Coroners' Court earlier today (Friday, January 30).
Area coroner Kate Bisset read out a statement from Liam's mother, Nicola Bracken.
She said how he was born and raised in Bolton, going to Sharples School, where he attained "excellent" GCSEs before gaining an apprenticeship in chemistry at Sherwin-Williams.
Ms Bracken said that she, Liam's dad and his sister are all "devastated" by his death.
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She added: "He was a remarkable young man, a true gentleman and easy-going."
Ms Bracken added that the family is committed to getting changes made to the area where the crash took place, to make sure that other young drivers and families "don't have to go through what we have".
The coroner said that she is "very familiar" with the road and that there are "no lights" on that stretch, which goes over the moors.
The next statement was from one of Liam's friends who was in the car. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
He told how the five friends had organised to go for a drive on the evening of September 22, as they "did regularly" after Liam passed his test.
At around 6pm he drove to their houses to pick them up, before they drove to Anglezarke, with the friend saying he had "no concerns" about how Liam was driving.
They stopped for a walk for "30 to 40 minutes" to have a chat, and he said there was no drink or drugs taken.
Liam and his friends drove into Bolton for fuel before heading towards Edgworth and out to Jackson Heights Road.
The friend said it was a national speed limit 60mph road, with the car going "at about that speed", which he thought was "normal" for the road.
They got to the end of the road before Liam turned back to drive south along it back towards Edgworth.
As they approached a "dip" in the road, the friend said: "I could see the speedo, he was doing 60mph.
"Knowing what the dip is like, I told him to slow down."
But he said the next thing that he knew, Liam was "fighting with the steering wheel".
The car veered off the road and down an embankment, landing on its right-hand side.
Three of the friends got out of the car before they tipped it up to allow their other friend to get out, but Liam was "not responsive".
Emergency services were called, but the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.
The friends suffered injuries "ranging from minor to serious" and were taken to hospital.
The friend added: "I will never forget the tragic events of that night and the loss of a very good friend."
PC Steven Kavanagh, of Lancashire Police's road traffic policing unit, spoke about his investigation into the crash.
He concluded that after "navigating an undulation" in the road, Liam "immediately lost control" of the car before it left the carriageway down a steep verge.
PC Kavanagh said that the section of road was navigated with "inappropriate speed".
Pathologist Dr Jim Simpson gave Liam's cause of death as traumatic injury to his head and thorax (chest).
A blood test confirmed that there were no drugs or alcohol in his system.
The coroner, Ms Bisset, said: "It is abundantly clear to me that the death of Liam is an utter tragedy and I am sorry to all of those who knew him and loved him.
"He was a kind, hardworking, thoughtful young man."
She concluded his death as having been a road traffic accident.
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