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A lorry driver who failed to see an 85-year-old man crossing the road has gone on trial.
Robert Barnett (pictured) denies causing death by careless driving. He was driving an HGV in a “stop-start” traffic queue in Melton Road, Leicester, when Kantilal Shah walked in front of the stationary vehicle.
As the articulated lorry slowly moved off, Barnett unknowingly knocked over Mr Shah, and the pensioner fell under the vehicle, which passed over him.
A woman driving a car following closely behind had no idea anyone was on the ground.
It would have been impossible for her to have seen him — and she drove over him, Leicester Crown Court was told.
Mr Shah, the founder of a family accountancy business in Melton Road, who was well known on the Golden Mile, suffered fatal chest injuries and died in hospital.
The tragedy happened near the junction with Lancashire Street at about 11am on July 10 last year.
Avik Mukherjee, prosecuting, said the lorry was correctly fitted with six types of mirrors, including one specially angled to see directly in front of the cab.
He said: “The driver should have seen Mr Shah crossing, but failed to do so because he had a lapse in concentration.”
Witness David Hills allegedly saw what happened from his Hair Today barber’s shop opposite.
In a statement read out, he said he knew Mr Shah, who was “quite frail”.
He said: "I saw Mr Shah on the pavement on the opposite side of the road to me.
"He stepped into the road directly in front of the lorry, with his right shoulder a foot from the lorry, walking towards the centre of the road.
“Before he got to the offside to look for traffic on the other side of the road, the traffic started to move off and the front of the lorry made contact with Mr Shah’s right side. It toppled him over.”
He also described a Honda behind driving over Mr Shah.
The Honda driver, Vijya Chauhan, in a statement read out, said: "As far as I was aware the lorry was driving normally.
"I was doing 10 or 15mph and felt my car had gone over something and I stopped.
“When I got out I saw a black walking stick in the road and saw a gentleman lying in the road and I didn’t know how he’d got there.”
She is not being prosecuted.
A witness ran after Barnett’s lorry and told him he had run someone over.
He replied: “Have I?” and immediately returned.
In interview, Barnett, 55, of Sheridon Street, Coton Fields, Stafford, told the police: "He must have walked straight in front of my grille.
“I never saw him. My cab is quite tall, I never felt a thing.”
He said he did not see anyone in front when using his angled front mirror, telling police: “I’d looked at the mirrors and by the time I had my foot on the accelerator, that split second must have been when the chap walked in front of me.”
Barnett said he did not see anyone who was about to cross on the pavement and had “no idea” which side of the road Mr Shah crossed from.
Police accident expert Pc James Lawrence said that if Barnett had checked the front-facing mirror — showing what was within a metre of the front of his cab — he would have seen the pedestrian.
He said: “It’s not likely to be one second. It’s going to take a time for a pedestrian of his age with a back condition and a walking stick.”
The trial continues.
