A driver in Dubai faces a 2,000 AED penalty for a hit-and-run accident
The Dubai Traffic Court has issued penalties in a hit-and-run case involving an Arab national who caused an accident and injured two Asians.
The court found the first defendant guilty of driving without considering road conditions, lacking caution, and disregarding traffic etiquette and rules, resulting in harm to road users.
The two other individuals, both Asians, were convicted for crossing the road from an undesignated pedestrian crossing area, violating traffic rules, and leading to the accident, which also caused damage to the first defendant's vehicle.
According to the Public Prosecution's investigations, the first defendant failed to pay attention to road conditions while driving, and the second and third defendants crossed the road from an unauthorised location, resulting in the collision and injuries. The court, in its ruling, stated that the evidence aligned with the accusations against the defendants. The first defendant admitted in the police evidence report that he did not notice the pedestrians passing in front of his vehicle.
The court determined that the second and third defendants were guilty of not adhering to traffic rules by crossing the road from an unauthorised location. They admitted that they failed to observe the street being free of vehicles.
The penalties issued by the court included a two-thousand-dirham fine for the first defendant, who was subsequently released. The second defendant, tried in absentia, received a two-hundred-dirham fine for not adhering to traffic rules and another two-hundred-dirham fine for damaging the first defendant's vehicle. The same penalties were imposed on the third defendant.
The public prosecution appealed the initial ruling before the Court of Appeal, arguing that it was an error in applying the law. The appeal emphasised that the imposed penalties were below the required amount specified in Article 464 of the Federal Crimes and Penal Code No. 31 of 2021, which sets a minimum penalty of one thousand dirhams.
