was killed has pleaded not guilty in Magistrates' Court to drunk driving.

Wayne Edward Charles DeRoza yesterday denied driving with an alcohol level in excess of the legal limit of 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood when he was arrested on November 12.

DeRoza, 43, of East Avenue, Southampton, also pleaded not guilty to having an overloaded truck and bald tyres on November 12.

It is understood 63-year-old Clifford Darrell's taxi overturned after colliding with DeRoza's truck around 9.30 p.m. that night.

The taxi ended up being crushed between the truck and the Barnes Corner wall at the junction of South Road and Middle Road, Southampton.

Mr. Darrell, who was from Sandys, was the 15th road fatality of 1998.