A legal consultant has urged the people of Dubai to be conscious of the laws concerning pedestrian crossings because even the jaywalkers will be penalized. This followed a run-over accident in Dubai in which the court ordered a motorist and a pedestrian to pay a certain amount of money as stated by the Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm.
The motorist was convicted to pay Dh3,000 for endangering the safety of others, and the pedestrian, Dh200 for crossing at an undesignated area.
The law in UAE expects the pedestrians to cross road at only zebra crossings, bridges or subways. Its failure attracts the provision of a Dh400 fine on any vagrant found not heeding the directive. In the case illustrated above the court was merciful while at the same time convicting the both of them.
Crossing the roads carelessly may result in the worst, the Dubai Police have time and again been demonstrating. Last year, eight persons were killed and 339 others injured by being run-over, because they crossed the roads from un touch areas. In 2023 alone, 44387 people flogged for jaywalking.
Traffic legal analyst Abdulrahman Al Qassem gave notice that even pedestrians are not exempted from the law. ‘Yes even if I the pedestrian am coming from an unspecified zone it is the mandate of the driver to be cautious and avoid crashing onto me,’ he said.
In January this year driver and two jaywalkers were fined after the later got injured in an accident in Dubai. The Arab driver was charged because he did not follow the traffic rules as stipulated by the Dubai Traffic Court while the Asians were deemed to have crossed the road from the wrong section. The driver was penalized Dh2,000 while each of the five pedestrians was let go with a Dh400 fine.
Unauthorized reincarnation of pedestrians is prosecuted with a Dh500 fine and six black points when the forgery takes place at appointed crossings.
In an interview recently, a Dubai Police official said that one must wait for the complete movement of a pedestrian across the road. Many drivers increase their speed after some pedestrians have crossed part of the carriageway.
“However, drivers should pause until the pedestrian has entirely crossed before continuing, or they will be fined,” the officer said.
The police use smart devices to check violations at pedestrian crossings. “The offenses are logged on video and double-checked by the police before the fines are proceeded.”
