A jury has heard that a retired driving instructor in Worcester was killed when his car was involved in a head-on collision with a lorry would not have been killed if the lorry had been properly serviced and was in a road worthy condition.
Prosecutor James Dunstan called the lorry a 'death trap' and claimed that Desmond Bird, a former driving instructor in the area, died in an "accident waiting to happen."
The accident happened when the lorry's brakes failed, causing it to skid across the road and crush Mr Bird as he was driving in the opposite direction.
"A lorry coming the other way failed to take the bend, crossed the double white line in the centre of the road, and hit him head-on," said Mr Dunstan. "The only reason for the accident was the failure of the rear brakes."
The lorry owner, 63-year-old Ronald Leslie Currie, of Rakeway, Chester, pleads not guilty to manslaughter, unlawfully killing Mr Bird through gross negligence.