Compensation for Damage Caused by Unknown Vehicle Accidents In the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The injured person, in the context of obligatory motor’s insurance, has a direct right towards the insurer to meet his right to compensation for road traffic damages. Under an obligatory insurance policy, such approach harmonizes with this type of insurance, which aims to preserve jeopardies and protect the rights of the injured and his relatives. In the compulsory insurance, the right of the injured person depends on knowing the insurer or the person causing the traffic accident. This right may be eliminated in the case of unawareness of the identities of the insurer or the person causing the traffic accident, and the injured person will be denied the right to reparation and will bear all the financial burdens resulting from that incident, especially since the UAE legislator did not provide the injured person with another avenue to resort to in such case. Finally, the researcher concludes that the UAE legislator limited the idea of compensating the injured person of traffic accidents to the idea of compensatory insurance and neglected the idea of social solidarity, especially in case of inability to claim compensation. This study proves that the idea of social solidarity revolves around two principles, these are: compensation is merely a grant or assistance guaranteed by the State; and compensation is a right in the legal sense which must be determined within a specific legal framework. Therefore, the UAE legislator and other concerned government agencies are recommended to enact legislation or a special regulation that allows the establishment of an insurance fund responsible for repairing all sorts of damages caused by vehicle accidents unknown to the injured, such insurance fund will be as a basic foundation for adopting the idea of social solidarity.