The Court of Appeal started the trial of the Omani driver accused of causing the death of 17 people on a bus he was driving during an accident during the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The traffic court had previously sentenced him to seven years imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 dirhams, in addition to a blood money of 3.4 million dirhams.
The defendant demanded a list of similar incidents at the scene, a four-lane road leading to the entrance of Rashidiya Metro Station.There are two lanes dedicated to heavy buses and taxis on the right, while the other two lanes on the left are for light vehicles.
The driver did not follow the signs and the compulsory bus route although he used the same road several times before the accident, and entered the lane for light vehicles, which led to the bus colliding with a metal barrier.
Defense attorney Mohammed Saif al-Tamimi said there were reports of similar incidents on the same road, and called on Rashidiya police station to provide the court with a list of such incidents.
According to the defense, he had previously demanded in the first instance court the assignment of an independent expert to examine the site of the accident, but his request was rejected, which led him to review a specialist in road engineering in Australia, and was provided with all documents and pictures associated with the incident, due to his extensive experience in the planning of incidents and the preparation of hundreds of technical reports.
The defense said the Australian expert reported that the distance between a warning metal curtain above the lane where the accident occurred, and the metal barrier that penetrated the bus from the left only 12 meters, which is insufficient distance and should be at least 48 meters.
The expert also stressed that the metal barrier that collided with the bus must be made of different material to be broken in case of collision, to serve as a warning to vehicles that violate this path, and do not cause casualties.
During the session, the defense dealt with the road signs, indicating that they do not meet the standards, which makes it difficult for drivers to see them clearly, especially in the case of sunlight on their faces.
The appeals court in Dubai accepted the bail application for the accused Omani driver, while leaving three passports, including the defendant's passport, according to his lawyer, Mohammed Al Tamimi, who said the court accepted the request under a pledge from the insurance company to pay the blood money.
The Dubai Traffic Prosecution charged the driver with accusing him of causing the wrongful death of 17 passengers and injuring 13 others of various injuries, in addition to damaging property, and ended after inspecting the scene of the accident, that it occurred on a road consisting of four lanes leading to the entrance of Rashidiya Metro Station. The road has two lanes for heavy buses and taxis on the right, while the other two lanes on the left are for light vehicles.
It also confirmed the presence of warning signs with intermittent illumination 342 meters from the collision site, showing the designated route and allowable heights for vehicles of all types, including heavy buses, and warns of the presence of bumps on the road to calm the speed, in addition to two large-sized sign boards to alert drivers to The compulsory itinerary, the first 317 meters from the collision site, the second before the iron barrier that rammed the bus, a road sign 40 kilometers and a high-speed exit before the iron barrier.
The driver admitted in the investigation not to follow the signs and the mandatory route of the bus he was driving, carrying 30 passengers of different nationalities, pointing out that he used the road more than once before the accident.