Law enforcement authorities have warned motorists in the country against running away from accidents causing injury or death. They have encouraged motorists to inform police authorities.
A top official at Dubai Traffic Prosecution said that in the last few years a total of 717 cases of accidents where victims have been run over. This has caused the injury and death of several victims from various nationalities.
Multiple hit-and-run accidents have also been reported across the country since last year. The official added that a hit-and-run is a misdemeanour but could become a felony if it resulted in death or injury.
Colonel Makki Salman, Acting Director of the Crime Scene Department of the General Department of Forensic Evidence and Criminology in Dubai Police said that the driver’s escape usually puts him under suspicion of other transgressions, including driving without a license, driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or psychotropic substances, and other abuses, which leads to the person leaving the circle of the traffic violation and falling into the crime circle punishable by law Traffic and traffic, especially if the accident has other consequences.
He stressed that the drivers involved in a hit and runs and accidents would never be able to escape because they will be identified through cameras and others methods in the investigation.
All drivers must observe traffic rules and regulations, always be attentive on the road, and never escape the scene if involved in an accident
Dr Hassan ElHaiss, advocate and AlRowaad Advocate and legal consultancy explained that The government of UAE has issued Federal Law number 21 of 1995 regarding traffic controls in UAE and highlights the fines to be imposed on the individuals who commit traffic crimes. It is evident that the UAE has zero-tolerance policies for any hit-and-run cases and imposes an obligation on all drivers in an accident to call the police at the site of the accident immediately.
Pursuant to Article 5 of the Traffic Law, the driver upon facing a road accident shall call the police and hand over the relevant documents of the motor vehicle causing an accident and the documents of the other vehicle or human or information in relation to the property damaged.
Importantly, the driver shall inform the police within 6 hours of the accident in case the police were not nearby the accident. The importance of calling the police is to ensure the rights of the victims, and even the slightest mishap in the country is required to be reported, which thereby allows the victim to file a civil case if needed. Lawyers of Dubai recommend the following steps to be undertaken by drivers in any road
Primarily, the drivers of both vehicles – who has caused the accident or who has been hit by the other – shall immediately step aside and park the vehicle at a safe place on the side of the road to prevent further traffic on the road. In another scenario, if you as a pedestrian have been hit by a motor vehicle and the driver is trying to escape from the accident site, you shall immediately note the number plate of the vehicle.
Secondly, you shall call the police on 999 for immediate action to be taken and if you require an ambulance at the site of the accident. Importantly, you are allowed to take pictures and videos of the damaged vehicle but not of the individual as it is against cybercrime law to click images and videos of an individual without his or her consent.
Recent hit-and-run accidents
On October 24, Sharjah Police arrested an Arab driver in his fifties in a hit-and-run accident. The driver ran over an Arab in his thirties, killing him on the spot before running away.
The operations room received a report at 3pm on Sunday that a run-over accident took place on Al Taawun Street in Sharjah where a man died and the driver ran away. The Sharjah Police launched a manhunt for the scaping driver and managed to identify and arrest him in five hours. He confused his crime and transfer to public prosecution.
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