AN 86-year-old woman has told a jury of her shock when she realised her car had collided with a mobility scooter.

Mary Elizabeth Watson claimed she didn’t see the scooter’s rider, Patrick O’Neill, 85, until after the collision.

She denies causing his death by careless driving at the junction of Fulford Road and Hospital Fields Road.

Giving evidence in the trial, she told York Crown Court she had been stopped by a red traffic light as she drove up Fulford Road towards the city centre.

She watched the lights and when they changed green, she set off.

“There was absolutely nothing in front of me,” she said in the witness box, adding she had seen nothing in her peripheral view either.

Then she heard a bang.

“I stopped immediately and looked back over my shoulder. I was very surprised to see a mobility scooter on the floor and a gentleman who appeared to have fallen off it,” she said.

She alleged she moved her car to a safe place to park.

“I got out and walked back,” she said. “I was still in a very shocked state.”

The jury has seen dashcam footage showing Mr O’Neill travelling from the opposite side of the road to her on the pedestrian crossing in front of the stop line for motorists at the junction.

Asked by prosecution counsel Dan Cordey if she had looked to her right before moving off when the light turned green, she said: “After three years, I cannot remember. Usually, I glance round and check the mirror but after this period of time, I cannot swear that I did.”

The jury heard the collision occurred on the morning of June 5, 2019, when the weather was fair and dry, and Watson was driving from her home in Wighill Lane, Tadcaster, to do some shopping in York city centre.

She told the jury she knew the route, including Fulford Road, well.

The jury heard a prepared statement she gave when she was interviewed by police on July 29, 2019. Mr Cordey said she made no mention in that statement of checking to her right.

She declined to answer questions in the interview.

Defence expert Steven Green alleged that it was possible that the mobility scooter was in a blind spot caused by the car’s A post between Watson’s windscreen and driver’s door and therefore could not have been seen by her. This is disputed by the prosecution.

He alleged that if she had seen Mr O’’Neill she would have had two seconds in which she could have avoided the collision.

The jury heard that Mr O’Neill moved onto the pedestrian crossing when it was showing a red man, indicating that pedestrians should not use it.

The jury heard that Mr O’Neill suffered eight rib fractures in the crash and that he died on June 14, 2019. A forensic pathologist concluded that the broken ribs had restricted his breathing and they were among the causes of his death. He had other illnesses and medical conditions.

The trial continues.