A CRASH on the A39 which claimed the lives of four people was caused by the "reckless mad actions" of a local driver who hit speeds of at least 70mph as he overtook a caravan just before a blind bend.

Bridgwater pensioner Jeffrey Hinton lost control of his blue Volkswagen Passat car as it rounded the corner and ploughed head-on into an oncoming Vauxhall Astra.

In the seconds before the fatal collision, he had narrowly missed hitting an oncoming lorry rather than abort his overtaking manoeuvre on the Cannington Straight.

Police later discovered all four tyres on his Passat were substantially under-inflated which would have left the vehicle unstable and difficult to control.

Mr Hinton, 68, of West Street, died at the scene on June 5 last year.

Three passengers in the Astra also died from multiple injuries sustained in the crash - the driver's wife Susan Fellows, 59, died in Frenchay Hospital and their friends Percy Darby, 76, died in Musgrove Park Hospital and his wife Anne Darby, 73, died at the scene.

All three were from the West Midlands and West Somerset coroner Michael Rose told an inquest in Taunton on Tuesday there was nothing Mr Fellows could have done to avoid the collision.

"It was a reckless and careless overtake and it resulted in Mr Hinton reaching speeds of about 70mph," he said.

"There was ample space for him to brake and to go back and I don't know why he took this stupid action.

"Witnesses describe how he was fighting to keep control of the car.

"He met Mr Fellows head-on and it resulted in the deaths of four people."

Mr Rose said the A39 between Bridgwater and Minehead, together with the A358 between Williton and Taunton, were the two most dangerous roads in his jurisdiction as coroner.

"But every death on them is a result of human error and I have not seen such a serious lack of control of a car as I have seen today," Mr Rose said.

He recorded accidental death verdicts on all four victims and added: "For three of them, that is understatement for what occurred."

Witness Marcus Garratt, of Casino Road, Doniford, had been following Mr Hinton's Passat as he drove home at around 2.30pm.

He said Mr Hinton had waited for a break in the traffic before trying to overtake a 4x4 towing a caravan on the Cannington Straight but, as he pulled level with the caravan, a lorry came around the bend in the opposite direction.

He said he pulled back as he did not think the Passat would be able to complete the overtaking manoeuvre and had expected him to pull back in.

Instead, the vehicle accelerated and narrowly avoided hitting the lorry, pulling in front of the 4x4 with just feet to spare.

"I saw the brake lights come on on the caravan and I assume the driver of the lorry braked as well," said Mr Garratt.

"I actually said to myself 'He's not going to make this'. It was very, very close."

He said Mr Hinton had finished overtaking "almost at the end of the bend" and estimated he was travelling at around 70mph.

As he turned the bend, he saw the Passat had crashed on the wrong side of the road and had come to a stop at right angles to a black Vauxhall Astra.

In a statement read to the hearing, Dale Abblitt, of Cambridgeshire, said he had been taking his family on a caravan holiday when Mr Hinton overtook them.

He said the "blue car driver was pushing his luck" as the lorry advanced and he had braked "reasonably firmly" to avoid a collision.

"The driver of the lorry and I made gestures to each other as if to say 'What was he doing?'"said Mr Ablitt.

"I said to my child 'That man was driving stupidly' and I explained to the children that, if he carried on driving like that, he would kill himself.

"I consider the driving of the Passat was outrageous and dangerous when it overtook me.

"It was as if he was driving without a care in the world for anyone else."

Fellow motorist Simon Caines, of Bristol, had been driving towards Bridgwater just ahead of the Astra and said Mr Hinton's Passat had gone around the bend so fast it was leaning over.

"The back end of the car was sliding out. Just as we were passing, the rear wheels gripped and it shot across the road into the car behind," Mr Caines said.

A police vehicle examiner found all four tyres on the Passat were under-inflated, with one having just 14 psi of air in it, compared with the recommended 30 psi.

Investigators concluded there was nothing Mr Fellows could have done to avoid the collision and that the state of the Passat's tyres would have caused both under and over-steer, a major contributory cause of the accident.

Police officer Andrew Hill said the bend could be taken at a maximum of between 47 and 55mph.

"When the vehicle was pushed beyond the maximum speed of the bend, and with tyres below inflation, it would have become highly unstable," he said.

"When Mr Hinton crossed the carriageway, Mr Fellows had neither the time nor distance available to him to avoid a collision."