A 22-year-old man died after losing control of his car, an inquest heard this week.

A number of factors were said to have contributed to Jaskaran Sandhu’s death on August 28 last year, who died from a brain stem injury when his BMW 335 crashed off Riding Court Road in Datchet, at around 4.30am.

The inquest, held at Reading Crown Court yesterday, heard how Mr Sandhu, of Langley, had attended a family wedding on Sunday, August 27, and had offered to drive his friend, Kultaran Kang, home. Mr Kang suffered serious injuries in the crash. A statement by Mr Sandhu’s long-term girlfriend Neelan Masih said that he had called her shortly after 3am.

She said: “He didn’t sound drunk. I have seen and heard Jaskaran when he has had a drink, and he didn’t sound like that this time.”

A toxicology report showed that there was 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in Mr Sandhu’s system. While this is the legal limit for drink driving, the coroner Ravi Sidhu said it was impossible to speculate what affect that amount of alcohol could have on individual people.

David Watson, a vehicle collision investigator, told the inquest the BMW’s windows had been fitted with tinting film except the windscreen which, when tested using a measuring device, only allowed 38 per cent of light through. The legal tint limit for vehicle windows is 75 per cent.

Mr Watson said this would have significantly reduced Mr Sandhu’s ability to see obstacles. He also said that the car’s headlights had been in the off position. Mr Watson estimated the speed at which Mr Sandhu had been travelling immediately before the collision to be between 61mph and 68mph. While not significantly over the 60mph speed limit for the road, Mr Watson said the speed was ‘inappropriate’ for the sharp bend.

Mr Sidhu recorded the death as a road traffic collision. Addressing Mr Sandhu’s parents, he said: “I am incredibly sorry that you have lost a 22-year-old son, and to have heard about his death in the way you did must have been heartbreaking.”