THE driver of a 16-tonne lorry, who smashed into a broken down car on a motorway, causing serious injury to a support worker, told a jury he did not have time to use his brakes.

But Slawomir Kraszewski admitted miscalculating the situation.

Ford Fiesta driver Lee Marshall suffered a broken back, collapsed lung and eight fractured ribs when his car was hit from behind by the articulated lorry, crushing his vehicle and sending it spinning across the carriageway into the central reservation.

Kraszewski was driving at 53mph when the lorry struck the stationary car which had its hazard lights on in the nearside or 'slow lane', and did not brake, swerve, or try to avoid the impact.

Such was the force of the impact that the rear end of the Fiesta ended in line with the driver’s door, the jury at Bradford Crown Court has been told.

The prosecution claims Kraszewski was not looking at the road when the accident happened, on the eastbound carriageway of the M62 near junction 26, and was possibly making a call on his mobile phone.

It is alleged that the defendant’s driving fell far below that of a careful and competent driver.

Kraszewski, 43, of Laughton Way, Lincoln, denies causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He told the jury yesterday another lorry moved from the nearside lane to the middle lane ahead of him and he then saw the Fiesta car.

He said he was sure the car was moving and decided to go past it.

Giving evidence through an interpreter, Kraszewski said: “After looking at the left and right mirrors, I lost visual contact (with the car).

"My decision was to overtake and this is why I didn’t use the brakes. I was certain the car was in motion.”

He said he could not make an abrupt movement to the right because other cars were using the middle lane.

He added: “When I have seen that car I was so close I didn’t have time to use the brakes.”

Asked by his solicitor advocate, Andrew Walker, why he had not changed lanes to overtake the Fiesta, Kraszewski replied: “I miscalculated the situation because I was sure the car was in motion and I thought I would have enough time to overtake.”

Prosecutor Abigail Langford has claimed the lorry driver was using his mobile phone before the collision or at the time of it.

He told police he had made a three-minute call to Poland, using the hands free device in the lorry cab, shortly before the crash.

Kraszewski told the jury he made the phone call before entering the M62 from the slip road and said he did not use it, or try to use it, when he was approaching the car.

But questioned by Miss Langford, he admitted it was possible the phone call lasted a few seconds after he had got on to the motorway.

The trial continues.