A 26-year-old man died after trying to protect the female passenger who was with him in the car as it crashed.
Thomas Callard-Williams died when the grey VW Polo he was driving crashed near Crack Hill, Bridgend at around midnight on April 30.
His family said that in his last conscious moments he had tried to save the 20-year-old woman who was a passenger in the car.
They said he was a "wonderful" man who was loved by everyone he met and that they take "great comfort" in knowing how he tried to save his passenger when the car crashed.
In a statement, they said: "Thomas Gregory Callard-Williams was a wonderful young man who was loved by all that he encountered during his life.
"All of Thomas’ family and friends take great comfort in the knowledge that his final conscious action was to use his arms to try and protect his passenger, and limit any harm to her. He was a gentleman to the very end. This was our son and brother.”
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
South Wales Police are appealing for witnesses and drivers with dash-cam footage to contact them.
Anyone with information should call them on 101 quoting occurrence number 1900153216.
