Truck Driver Ordered to Pay 89,000 Dirhams in Compensation

The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Claims Court has ordered a truck driver to pay AED 89,080 to a freight and customs clearance company that employed him, as compensation for the damages and losses sustained by the company as a result of a traffic accident he caused after running a red light.

The case details go back to the company filing a lawsuit against the driver, who had joined the company in July 2025, seeking to hold him liable for compensation of AED 280,000 for the losses it incurred as a result of the accident.

The company explained that the driver ran a red light in October 2025 while driving one of its trucks, causing a traffic accident that damaged other vehicles and endangered the lives of road users.

A final criminal judgment had already been issued against the driver, convicting him over the incident and fining him AED 10,000.

The company stated that it incurred several financial losses as a result of the accident, including AED 50,000 relating to the impoundment of the vehicle over reckless driving, in addition to its claim of AED 230,000 for the truck being out of service and impounded for 230 days.

The amounts claimed by the company also included truck towing fees, traffic fines, and amounts paid to extend the vehicle's impoundment period, affirming that the driver's fault caused it direct financial damage requiring compensation.

For its part, the Court explained that the final criminal judgment established that the driver committed the fault of running a red light while driving the company's vehicle, endangering the lives of others, causing the accident, and damaging the vehicles.

It noted that the establishment of the driver's liability by a final criminal judgment means that the civil court's inquiry is limited to determining the damages proven to have been sustained by the company, verifying their direct connection to the fault committed by the driver, and assessing the value of the compensation due for them.

The Court relied on Article 255 of the Civil Transactions Law, which provides that compensation shall be commensurate with the damage sustained by the injured party and the loss of profit, provided this is a natural consequence of the wrongful act.

The Court concluded that the occurrence of damage to the company had been established, but that the value of the losses had not been proven in the full amount claimed in the lawsuit. It therefore ordered the driver to pay the company AED 89,080, in addition to the fees and expenses of the case.