AN HGV driver told police he did not see an elderly pedestrian before knocking him down on a street in Harrogate.
Asda lorry driver Robert Cottrell, of Highfield, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, has denied causing the death of 89-year-old Derrick Bell by careless driving and yesterday prosecutor Nicholas Barker read a summary from his police interview following the collision in September 2011.
In the interview Cottrell, 52, said he had passed his HGV test in 1991 and had driven for Asda for 10 years without any problems.
Cottrell said he had been driving back to Adel in Leeds from Harrogate that afternoon when the collision occurred on Station Parade.
He said he had been travelling slowly when he set off again after stopping in a line of traffic.
Cottrell said he had slowed down to let another male pedestrian cross the road in front of him, but he then heard a ''thud'' and saw the injured Mr Bell.
In his interview Cottrell said it was clear that Mr Bell was badly injured and he held his hand while a woman called for an ambulance.
Cottrell told police he had not seen Mr Bell at all and said he did not recall using a mirror fitted to the articulated lorry which gave the driver a view of the front of the vehicle.
Mr Bell died in hospital after suffering multiple injuries in the collision.
The trial continues.
