UAE | Traffic and Transport
Heavily pregnant women 'shouldn't drive'
Warning given after mother-to-be found guilty of killing unborn baby in crash.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:39 May 3, 2009
Dubai: A traffic prosecutor has cautioned women in the third trimester of pregnancy to avoid driving to protect their unborn babies after a court on Sunday convicted a heavily pregnant woman of accidentally killing her unborn child.
The Dubai Traffic Court of First Instance fined the 27-year-old Lebanese woman Dh2,000 and ordered her to pay Dh20,000 in blood money. A person has to pay 10 per cent of blood money for accidentally killing a foetus, according to Sharia. In the UAE, blood money amounts to Dh200,000.
Salah Bu Farousha, Head of the Traffic Public Prosecution, advised women in the third trimester of pregnancy to avoid driving except in urgent cases.
"We are trying to protect the foetuses' rights to live&that right is protected by law. Pregnant women, who are about to deliver, should protect their and their foetuses' lives and avoid driving as much as possible except in emergencies. The Federal Penal Code punishes any suspect who accidentally causes the death of an individual," Bu Farousha told Gulf News.
Records said the nine-month-old female foetus died after the umbilical cord was cut.
Presiding Judge Dr Ahmad Hassan Al Mutawa, who pronounced yesterday's verdict, suspended the fine for three years, during which the accused must not repeat the crime, on humanitarian grounds.
"The court treated the defendant leniently based on Articles 83 and 84 of the Federal Penal Code no 3, of 1987. According to Sharia, a foetus which dies in a mother's uterus is entitled to 10 per cent (known as Al Ghurra) of Dh200,000 blood money," ruled Dr Al Mutawa at the Traffic Court, which was attended by Traffic Prosecutor, Yousuf Al Zarouni.
Bu Farousha said they charged the 27-year-old woman with reckless driving and failing to keep a safe distance from the car ahead of her. She was also charged with causing her foetus's death and injuring the man who drove the other car.
"The female foetus is a life that was killed accidentally. We considered the humanitarian situation of the accused but the foetus has rights [blood money] which are preserved by law. Any woman in the third trimester of pregnancy, who causes the death of her foetus in an accident, is liable and will be prosecuted.
"We have laws which protect foetuses and yesterday's verdict should be a deterrent and alarming as well because it sends out a strong message to the public," he said.
The Traffic Public Prosecution tries to protect unborn children against negligent or reckless driving that endangers their lives.
Bu Farousha told Gulf News: "We ruled out any criminal intention and concentrated on the mother's accidental error, recklessness and failing to keep a safe distance. We prosecuted the woman to protect the foetus's rights and because accidental killing is punishable by law."
The female counsellor of the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services, who examined the defendant, testified before the traffic prosecution that the umbilical cord was cut and caused the death of the unborn child.
The verdict can be appealed within 15 days.
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