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Driver guilty of negligence, rules

The court considered the driver responsible for the accident, despite the fact that the pedestrian was jaywalking.

The court records showed that the Public Prosecution accused Saif A. K. of reckless driving, which resulted in an accident and damages for the victim, in addition to damaging another car on the road. However, the Abu Dhabi Traffic Court found the defendant guilty and ordered him to be fined Dh1,000, while preserving the civil right for the injured pedestrian and the damaged car’s owner to demand compensation.

The verdict prompted the defendant (Saif) to appeal before the Court of Appeal, which upheld the verdict of the lower court and rejected the plea.

The defendant filed another appeal before the Supreme Court, and he argued that the accident was the responsibility of the pedestrian who was jaywalking as he suddenly decided to cross the street and the defendant claimed that he tried to avoid him by swerving left and right.

The Supreme Federal Court did not consider what Saif stated in his appeal, and answered the plea by saying that the mistake of the defendant is a major contribution to the accident and the accident would not happen were it not for his mistake.

The apex court added that deciding who’s responsible for the accident is the responsibility of the court handling the case. It said that the report of the accident showed careless driving by Saif, who did not pay attention to the victim jaywalking.

The court stated that the defendant was not paying attention when he said that the accident took place while he was approaching the main road coming out of a minor road, in addition to the fact that he did not notice the municipality’s machines, nor did he notice the signs of ‘men at work’.

The apex court, then, rejected the appeal filed by Saif, and ordered him to bear the expenses of the lawsuit.

• UAE