A Whitehorse man who was driving the SUV that struck and killed a 69-year-old man in February made his first appearance in court late this morning.

Keith Ramage, 56, has been charged with two offences: careless driving and failing to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk.

Ramage told the Star Monday he was driving north along Fourth Avenue late on the morning on Feb. 26 when the man ran into the street in front of his GMC Jimmy near Tags Food & Gas.

"He was right in front of me, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it,” Ramage said in an interview.

The driver had been heading from a bank downtown to his home in Arkell.

"It was a fine day, until....” he said.

One word sums up the accident for Ramage: "Terrible.”

He recalled how an ambulance crew arrived shortly after the mishap, followed by RCMP officers, who later gave him a ride home.

The street was closed off as investigators examined the scene.

Police determined that Ramage was sober.

The charges — alleged violations of the Motor Vehicles Act — are non-criminal and have not been proved in court.

Ramage told the Star his case involves disputed aspects. Those include whether certain footage shot from the Yukon Inn caught his white SUV on film or whether that vehicle belongs to someone else.

A former carpenter for the territorial government, Ramage has lived in the Yukon for more than 25 years.