The driver was jailed for eight months
A truck driver has been sent to prison for eight months for causing the deaths of two people when he lost control of the tanker he was driving, before crashing into a smaller truck and a minibus on Emirates Road near Jebel Ali.
Apart from the two fatalities, ten other people were injured, as reported in the UAE daily, Gulf News.
The Traffic Court of First Instance heard that the driver was not speeding recklessly when the accident occurred. However, an investigation found that the tanker was ‘overloaded’ with sewage, and the brake pads of the truck were worn out along with other faults. In addition, the court heard how the 28-year old was driving ‘inattentively’, which caused him to lose control of the steering.
A judge ordered the driver to pay an AED5000 (US$1360) fine, as well as AED400,000 ($109,000) in ‘blood money’ to the victims' families in addition to the jail term.
A mixture of factors have brought a relatively high mortality rate on the UAE’s roads. In 2008, a study suggested that as many as 5,200 people could die on the country’s roads over the next eight years if current trends continue.
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