Need felt for Good Samaritan laws
After the Delhi gangrape in December 2012 and the Jaipur accident in April this year, Save Life Foundation, a non-profit organisation has initiated a debate on the Good Samaritan Law that encourages bystanders to help road accident victims and also protect them from police harassment. According to a study, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Global Road Safety Partnership at the International Feder-ation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, three out of five bystanders refuse to help a road accident victim.
The survey was carried out among 1,027 road users across Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Indore and Kolkata. Within each location, the survey was conducted at busy city intersections, as well as along highway stretches leading to the city.
According to Piyush Tewari, founder of Save Life Foundation, “Public inaction is often blamed at apathy, but in several mass-casualty incidents such as building collapses and train crashes, it is the public that is often the first to respond to victims, but this is not the case when it comes to victims of road accidents and violence.”
Nearly 74 per cent of bystanders are unlikely to help severely injured roadside victims whereas 88 per cent are scared to go to the police station, as sometimes it is at odd hours. It is often seen that a person who informs the police receives numerous phone calls from the police regarding the accident. The police also unnecessarily drags them into the case. Many people are scared that they will have to go to courts several times as witness if they report a case.
“Good Samaritan Laws exist even in developed countries that have efficient ambulance and emergency services, as governments globally have recognised that bystanders can play a complimentary role to such services and must therefore be protected from legal hassles,” said Praveen Agarwal, advocate and senior partner of Agarwal Jetley and Co.
The foundation added that 80 per cent of victims fail to receive emergency medical care. According to the 201st Report of the Law Commission of India, an astonishing 50 per cent of those who currently
die can be saved if they receive timely medical attention.
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