In India, every year, more than 1,50,000 people die in a road accident, with nearly 400 deaths in a single day. The road accidents and the fatalities caused by it, cost us a whopping 3% of our GDP every year. According to WHO, India alongside China is listed amongst the countries which take the highest amount of lives of people on roads.
The shocking aspect is that most of these deaths could have been averted if the victim was provided assistance by the surrounding crowd. But instead, the crowd in India watches the victim lying on the road, bleeding profusely, fearing that they would be harassed by the police officers, and the hospital staff for bringing the victim to the hospital, along with repeated visits to the police station, and then getting into the hassle of doing legal paperwork.
To curb the inflating numbers of the death toll in road accidents, and to encourage people to help these victims to get timely medical assistance, this law was established by the Indian government in 2016. Various organisations have been rallying to the Indian government to get this law established, since the past few years.
What Are The Provisions Of The Good Samaritan Law?
The Good Samaritan Law protects the rights of the bystanders who want to come forward and help the victim. It makes the road smoother for them. These guidelines state:
1) A bystander or Good Samaritan who makes a call to inform police shall not be forced to reveal their name.
2) In case a Good Samaritan is forced to reveal their name, then disciplinary action would be taken against the official who is the first responder.
3) The Good Samaritan who takes the injured to the hospital should be allowed to leave the hospital immediately and they should not be interrogated.
4) The Good Samaritan shall be suitably rewarded as per state specification.
5) The disclosure of personal information by the Good Samaritan shall be made voluntary and optional including in Medico Legal Case (MLC) form by the hospital.
According to the WHO standards, the bystanders can provide assistance to the victim in one of the following ways:
- Give basic first aid to the patient, till the time the ambulance arrives.
- Call other people and the ambulance for help.
- Take the victim to the nearest hospital, if no immediate help is available.
Has There Been Any Impact Of The Good Samaritan Law?
Even though it has been almost three years since the Supreme Court passed the judgement, what we see is grim reality. Around 84% of the Indians do not have any clue about this law. Around 76% of medical professionals have accepted that they have not partaken any suitable actions against the professionals who had violated this law. Nearly 59% of the Good Samaritans have confessed that they were detained by the police and were made to do legal paperwork, even after the law was established. With such a lack of awareness, on the side of the common people as well as the state machinery, things are not going to be better soon.
What Can We Do?
1) Spread awareness among people through campaigns, events, and workshops that work on sensitising citizens about helping others and also safeguarding laws.
2) Call the ambulance as soon as you can, and if you don’t know what to do, then wait for the ambulance.
3) Empathise with the condition of the victim.
4) Have patience on the road.
5) Ask the government to create a better infrastructure of roads for everyone, including persons with disability.
6) Build a sense of collective responsibility, instead of pushing it off to other people present there.
Even though there is a lot left to be desired in seeing changes on our roads, we can do our part and understand that things take time to get established and the change that we desire to see will only come when each of us takes the first step.