WHAT caused a 19-year-old Llanybydder motorist to inexplicably swerve into the path of an oncoming car causing a collision in which both he and a close friend were killed remains a mystery, an inquest has heard.

Driver Curtis Evans and 18-year-old passenger Aaron Hunter, of Cwrtnewydd, died when Mr Evans’s Citroën C2 collided with an Audi Estate on the A485 between Peniel and Rhydargaeau in the early hours of 25 May.

The Citroën also received a “substantial” secondary impact when two cars following behind ploughed into the wreckage.

Its engine was found over 60 feet away, the inquest in Llanelli was told.

Police accident investigator Pc Richard Jessopp – who stressed he could only speculate as to the cause of the accident – suggested two possible scenarios.

“The driver may have been distracted by something in or outside the vehicle or swerving onto the opposite carriageway was a deliberate act, ie: playing chicken,” he said.

He said there was no evidence Mr Evans had lost control of the car or that he had swerved to avoid an animal.

Pc Jessopp concluded that the primary cause of the accident “were actions taken or omitted by the driver of the Citroën C2; in other words, driver error”.

Coroner Gareth Lewis said the reason why the Citroën crossed into the opposite carriageway remained a matter of speculation.

He recorded a verdict that Mr Evans and Mr Hunter had both died as the result of a road traffic collision.

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