The widow and the mother of a road accident victim have been awarded a compensation of Rs 54.14 lakh by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here today. Dilip Pathak (then aged 35 years) was on his way to Shirdi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on August 6, 2011, with his friends when their car rammed into a stationary truck on the Kalyan-Nagar road in Thane. Pathak, who was sitting next to the driver, received grievous injuries and died on the spot.

The petitioners told the tribunal that the accident occurred due to the negligence of the truck driver as he had not turned on the vehicle's tail lights when it was in the stationary position. They sought a compensation of Rs 70 lakh. The deceased worked as a fitter in a shipping company based out of Mumbai and earned USD 1,236 per month, they told the tribunal.