Incorrect crossing…and failure to appreciate pedestrians

The Traffic Court ruled to convict a vehicle driver and a pedestrian, after it was proven that they committed simultaneous errors that led to a run-over accident, the injury of one of them, and the destruction of a vehicle.

According to the indictment, the Public Prosecution in Dubai charged the first defendant with two counts of wrongfully violating the safety of another person’s body and destroying property owned by others, and to the second accused of not adhering to traffic etiquette and rules, and destroying property owned by others.

During the trial sessions, the first accused was present and denied the accusations against him, while the second accused was absent from attendance despite being legally notified, which allowed the court to examine the case and decide on it, facing a legal judgment in his presence, in accordance with the text of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The court extracted the facts of the case from its papers and what was discussed during the trial session, and it was proven that the first defendant drove his vehicle without taking into account the circumstances of the situation, with negligence and inattention, and without appreciation for the pedestrian users of the road, as he ran over the second defendant while crossing the road from a place not designated for pedestrian crossing, on a road with a speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour.

The court confirmed that the error was not limited to the vehicle driver alone, but extended to the pedestrian, after it was proven that the second accused crossed the road dangerously from a place not designated for pedestrian crossing, which directly contributed to the accident, and led to him being physically harmed, in addition to damaging the vehicle.

The court made clear in its merits that it did not rely on the denial of the first accused, and considered it merely a defense that does not stand up to the existing evidentiary evidence in the case, stressing that the traffic error was definitely proven against the accused, each according to his role in the incident.

Accordingly, the court ruled in the presence of the first accused, and in the legal presence of the second accused, to fine the first accused 4,000 dirhams, and to fine the second accused 2,000 dirhams.

mfouda@ey.ae