DH200K blood money for kin of accident victim

abu dhabi — The family of a man who was killed in a road accident that resulted from reckless driving will be paid blood money of Dh200,000 in addition to Dh50,000 in damages for losing their relative, the UAE’s top court has ruled.

Official court records stated that the Asian man was killed in a road accident in one of northern emirates. Police investigations showed that the driver of the vehicle, which belonged to a local company, caused the accident because he was driving recklessly.

The man’s family filed a law suit against the company driver and their insurance firm demanding for compensation for the loss because of the death of the sole bread winner of the family. The Court of First Instance had ordered the driver and the insurance company to pay blood money of Dh200,000 to the family of the victim and Dh50,000 in damages.

Both the driver and the insurance firm challenged the verdict and the appeal court reduced the blood money to Dh100,000.

The victim’s family appealed to the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi which has cancelled the appeal court ruling and upheld the verdict by the first instance court.

The Supreme Court judge said in his ruling that no justification was given by the appeal court in cutting the blood money from Dh200,000 to Dh100,000.

The court also said the Dh50,000 compensation to the family for losing their relative was a reasonable amount because it was awarded after assessing all factors. The family had demanded for a much bigger compensation payout for the loss of their relative.