Driver fined Dhs15,000 for verbally and physically assaulting pedestrian in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court obligated a man to pay Dhs15,000 as compensation to a woman for verbally and physically assaulting her while she was using a zebra crossing.

The driver bypassed waiting cars and deliberately stopped in the middle of the zebra crossing and when the woman alerted him, he verbally and physically assaulted her.

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in which she stated that she was subject of physical assault, verbal abuse, slander, insult, threats and endangerment while crossing a pedestrian crossing.

The vehicle in front of her stopped to allow her to cross the road but another vehicle suddenly and dangerously overtook that vehicle and stopped in the middle of the zebra crossing, which posed a direct threat to her safety and life, she added.

She knocked at the back of the vehicle to alert the driver to her presence in the zebra crossing, gesturing to him that he should abide by the traffic rules, she said.

He, however, got out of the vehicle, headed directly towards her and physically pushed her forcefully without any legal justification, which constituted a clear and direct assault on her in a public place, she added.

When she told him of her intention to call the police, he told her to take a photo of the vehicle’s number plate and continued to provoke her again before he directed obscene and insulting words at her, using indecent and offensive phrases repeatedly with the intention of insulting and humiliating her, she said.

He kept reminding her that it was her who assaulted him first though she remained calm and self-controlled all the time to avoid any escalation, she added.

The audios and videos of the surveillance cameras installed in front of a restaurant recorded the entire incident, she said, adding that the operations room listened to part of what happened and heard the defendant loudly repeating the phrase ‘take a photo of the vehicle’s number plate.'

A man from the operations room even asked her to document the number plate, which proved that the incident was taking place at the time, she said.

What the defendant did; namely, physical assault in a public place, verbal abuse, insults and endangerment, was a crime and clear violation of traffic law that would warrant criminal accountability, she added.

Based on the above, the court fined the defendant Dhs3,000 for the first charge and Dhs1,000 for the second and obligated him to pay the judicial fees.

The court explained that the defendant’s assault on the plaintiff’s physical integrity resulted in her inability to perform her personal duties for up to 21 days, during which she had no income source.

Hence, the court hereby obligates the defendant to pay Dhs10,000 for that material harms plus Dhs5,000 for the moral harms that the plaintiff had befallen.