YOUNG dad Kenny Jacobs would almost certainly be alive today if he had been wearing a seatbelt, an inquest heard.

The 27-year-old was driving his Audi at double the 30mph speed limit on a road he knew well when he lost control and it struck a wall, the Gloucester inquest was told.

The car rolled over twice and he received fatal head and chest injuries when he was thrown out through the smashed driver's window.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Gloucestershire Deputy Coroner David Dooley said Mr Jacobs was driving at excess speed and it was this together with his decision not to wear a seatbelt that caused his death.

Following the hearing at the new Gloucester Coroner's court in Barnwood, his wife Hayley said: "I still cannot believe Kenny has gone and I miss him terribly.

"He was such a wonderful husband and father and a brilliant person. He will always be in my heart.

"I would like to thank my family, friends and neighbours for all their love and support."

Fitness fanatic and martial arts enthusiast Mr Jacobs, who ran his own satellite TV and aerial business, lived at Forest Edge, Drybrook.

The inquest heard that he died on February 12 2010, when his red Audi was the only car involved in the accident on Hawthorns Road, not far from his home.

He was on the way to the gym he used in Ross-on-Wye and knew the road very well, having travelled the same route many times before.

Accident investigator PC Dave Holland estimated the car's speed before the accident at around 60mph but said the limit for that road was 30.

"It appears that the car's front wheel caught the verge and it slid broadside down the road before the front hit a wall," he said.

"It then rolled over twice, coming to rest on its wheels, but Mr Jacobs was thrown out through the driver's window. He was not wearing a seatbelt."

One of the car's rear wheels was torn off in the accident, but a vehicle examiner found that the Audi had been well maintained and in good order beforehand.

Mr Jacobs was discovered lying in the middle of the road by Mrs Gloria Gibbons soon after the accident must have happened, the inquest heard.

She said at first, she thought it was a sheep in the road, but her granddaughter, who was travelling with her, realised it was a man.

She called the emergency services and then went to see if she could help Mr Jacobs, who was lying next to a red car.

"There were bits of the car all over the road, and glass everywhere," she said.

"The car engine was still running and there was a smell of petrol so I turned it off. Other people arrived and tried to help the man and I was asked to go and get a nurse who lived in a nearby house."

A post-mortem examination found Mr Jacobs had died from extensive head and chest injuries.

Summing up, Mr Dooley said: "If he had worn a seatbelt, he would not have been thrown out and would almost certainly have survived," he added.