A driver and his passenger died following a 98mph crash in a tunnel, an inquest heard.
Callum Miller, 27, from Stockport, suffered fatal injuries when his Audi S3 crashed head on with a taxi inside Queensway Tunnel under the River Mersey in Liverpool just after midnight on October 17 last year.
His passenger Paige Rice, a 22-year-old nail technician from Birmingham, also died in the crash.
Mr Miller struck two other vehicles before he 'lost control' of the Audi S3 and collided with a cab at 98mph in the 30mph tunnel, the inquest at Gerard Majella Court in Liverpool was told today.
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The taxi driver was seriously injured and spent weeks in hospital before he was eventually discharged. He has suffered life-changing injuries, including those to his right leg and hip, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Forensic collision analysis, which examined CCTV footage, revealed the speed Mr Miller had been travelling as the cars collided at 12.25am.
Initially a criminal investigation was launched, with detectives looking at pursuing death by dangerous driving charges.
However, due to the 'condition of those involved, that couldn't be progressed', the inquest heard.
Mr Miller, who was from Stockport, died from a traumatic brain injury the day after Paige, on October 18.
Recalling the facts of the fatal crash, Coroner André Rebello, told the inquest: "The vehicle [Audi] entered the Queensway tunnel.
"It was travelling for a short distance off side. It lost control and went even further to the off side and collided head on with the blue coloured taxi.
"Both vehicles suffered heavy damage with the force impact and the taxi travelled backwards some considerable distance."
The coroner said Ms Rice, who was a passenger in the Audi, suffered severe injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Miller sustained severe injuries and was transferred to the trauma centre at Aintree University Hospital. He was on life support and was sedated before he was confirmed dead the next day.
The inquest heard that the Queensway tunnel is a single carriageway road with two lanes, separated by a double solid white line.
There were 'no apparent defects on the road markings or street furniture', the coroner confirmed.
The coroner concluded both died as a result of a road traffic collision. Mr Miller's medical cause of death was recorded as 'traumatic brain injury'.
He also recorded that Mr Miller had been the driver and was travelling at 98.4mph when he 'came into the path of an oncoming taxi'.
Analysis of footage revealed the Mercedes taxi was travelling at 24.6mph.
Coroner Rebello urged the families of Paige and Callum to remember the pair by their 'happy memories' and not by their deaths.
He said: "When I die, I want people to remember me for the person I am now. I don't think anyone here would ever want to be remembered for their death. It is appropriate and gives these young people dignity in their deaths if you celebrate and remember the lives that you remember in your hearts.
"Death is debilitating and covers a rollercoaster of human emotion; revenge, joy, love."
He urged the families to remember the 'person you continue to love' and added that the 'only way you can do that is by storing up happy memories'.
He continued: "Life is not measured in time, it is measured in love. So please celebrate those lives."
