The Dubai Civil Court of Appeal upheld a ruling by a first-instance court to compensate an Arab woman (71 years old) 141,000 dirhams for damages she suffered due to a hit-and-run accident. The court rejected an appeal submitted by me to increase the amount of compensation to 500 thousand dirhams, and an appeal submitted by the insurance company, which is obligated to pay the compensation by reducing the amount specified for it, due to its participation in the error.
The plaintiff based her claim on the fact that she was crossing the road when she was run over under the wheels of a bus insured by the defendant company, driven by an Asian driver, as a result of his lack of appreciation for road users, according to the police report.
She reported that she suffered severe injuries, consisting of fractures in various parts of her body, including the right forearm, wrist, and hand, in addition to her leg and the heel of her left foot. She remained in the hospital for two full months for treatment, and her bill exceeded 66 thousand dirhams, and she is still receiving treatment.
The Public Prosecution charged the offending driver with wrongly endangering the safety of another person’s body, as he drove the bus without taking into account the circumstances of the situation and taking the necessary caution, and without adhering to traffic rules and instructions.
The woman was also charged with crossing the road without adhering to traffic rules, as she did not cross the lanes designated for pedestrians, and they were referred to the Criminal Traffic Court.
The report of the road accident expert at the General Traffic Department of Dubai Police, who went to the site of the accident, proved that it was revealed through the inspection that both parties were involved in the error, as the driver was negligent while driving, and did not pay attention to the pedestrian road users, while the woman did not adhere to the safe crossing of the lane designated for that. .
The Penal Court ended up convicting both parties and fined the first 1,000 dirhams and the second 200 dirhams, suspending the implementation of the sentence for a period of three years. Then the case moved to the civil aspect.
The woman filed a complaint with the Insurance Disputes Settlement and Resolution Committee, in which she requested that the insurance company be obligated to pay the treatment expenses of 66 thousand and 326 dirhams, and an amount of 400 thousand dirhams in compensation for the material and moral damages she suffered as a result of the accident, and insurance benefits. The committee ended up compensating her with an amount of 80 thousand dirhams, and refused. Other than that, there are no requests.
The plaintiff was not satisfied with the committee’s decision, so she appealed it before the Civil Criminal Court, and submitted an invoice issued by the Dubai Health Authority including the costs of treatment, pointing out that she is still receiving treatment, and that the committee’s decision to compensate her with an amount of 80 thousand dirhams was unfair, and did not take into account her entitlement to compensation as she is an elderly woman. Her age, and that the injuries she sustained will make life difficult for her at this age, and she will need someone to care for her permanently, in addition to the psychological pain that the accident left in her psyche, as she stayed in the hospital for more than two months, and she still visits it periodically.
For its part, the insurance company submitted a memorandum, at the end of which it requested that the lawsuit not be accepted as a matter of time and appeal, and that it be rejected on grounds of lack of validity and proof, given that the plaintiff in turn caused the accident.
The court of first instance responded to the company’s argument that the date for appealing the decision is still open, due to the absence of documents proving that the plaintiff was notified of the decision of the Dispute Settlement Committee. In essence, the court ended up amending the committee’s decision to increase the amount of compensation to 141 thousand and 600 dirhams, and the plaintiff and the defendant company appealed before the Court of Appeal. Which upheld the ruling.
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