A PASSENGER was killed in a speeding car on the M40 in 1999, but the inquest was only held last week because officials had trouble tracking down any of his immediate family.
Patrick Maughan, 28, from Oxfordshire, died in the crash on December 2 1999.
A witness, Neil Townend, from Gloucestershire, told the High Wycombe inquest on Thursday that a speeding car overtook him.
He said: "It was between lanes. I would estimate its speed to have been more than 100mph.The car in front braked and it moved sharply to the left and left the carriageway on the nearside."
Police accident investigator Tony Reading of Three Mile Cross Traffic Base said the Ford Mondeo 2.5 Ghia was travelling towards Oxford when it left the road, colliding with bushes and a fence before coming to rest upside down.
He added: "It is not possible to state if the driver lost control of the vehicle due to speed or his ability."
The driver of the car and a second passenger have not been traced.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Richard Hulett, Coroner for Buckinghamshire, said: "The driver lost control for reasons we can only speculate on but there is no evidence it was due to a medical emergency or a vehicle emergency."
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