Hit-and-run victim left in street without help... What Have We Become?

I've always make it a point to help other folks. I can't understan someone not helping the fella. It figured that instead of any of our people doing anything it was our much maligned police officers.
I can understand the fear and shock part of it, sure. But geeze.... maybe it should be mandatory for people to recieve basic first aid training so they know what to do in similar situations.

As another poster stated, the Good Samaritan law prevents people from being sued for rendering aid to strangers (and that was mainly for docs/nurses, as laymen have less to worry about).

I can understand people hesitating to touch an individual that is bleeding out as they may not want the victims blood all over them (if the persona appears to be homeless, a thug, drug addict, whatever). But I doubt if that 78 year old man, that others knew, would fall into that category.

But one would think people, especially those that knew who this guy was, would talk to the man and offer some comfort while waiting for the authorities at the very least. Instead it seems like they are standing back and looking.

It would seem people are more likely to stop and help an injured animal than a human...

Although of course, anyone who didn't see the accident would surely be thinking to themselves upon arriving at the scene "Now, should i really be getting involved in this?"

"I don't know what happened, the guy could've fallen out of someone's trunk, or jumped out a police car or something equally as questionable whereby legal/criminal procedings are concerned"

"I could get into a lot of trouble for helping this guy out, though i couldn't possible know that until i helped him, i'm not going to risk it"

"I've got a family, screw this!"

I recall a quote which went along the lines of something like "There are a thousands excuses to justify evil, but only one reason that can justify Good".

It would seem as society advances through history, we've gained more and more excuses to be ignorant of the plight of others.

Originally posted by Anti-Tyrant
It would seem people are more likely to stop and help an injured animal than a human...

Depending on the person, that is most definitely true. I would not hesitate for one moment to render aid to an animal, but I also realize that many people (at least where I live) would not bother and animals are particularly vulnerable so I feel especially obligated to help them.

Sadly children used to have the same level of protection, but not anymore. Now many people are often afraid to touch, or even talk to a child even when it is obviously in distress or in harms way.

This was terribly upsetting to me.

If you watch the video, you can plainly see that the 2 cars shot FULL SPEED into the oncoming lane of traffic, crossing the double yellow line, so they wouldn't be inconvenienced with having to slow down for the SUV that was signalling a right turn into a parking lot or something.

Those a-holes were tailgaiting, so they couldn't see the pedestrian until it was too late and they were already committed to the asinine "dart around" move.

It happens when someone goes to turn left as well....Everybody dive-bombs around on the right side. Bike lane, sidewalk, your LAWN, whatever it takes! They cannot be troubled with waiting an additional 5 SECONDS for the car ahead of them to complete their turn!!!!

THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME HERE!!! It's quite startling when you're traveling the other direction and suddenly there's a grill in your face, and then they dart back. I don't know how many times my heart has pounded due to this stupidity.

And the worst of it is, the traffic law enforcement in this state is absolutely pathetic. You know that cellphone while driving ban, requiring the use of a headset? Forget about it. I see cops all the time talking on their cellphones while driving, and they NEVER enforce it. Nor the speed limit. Nor illegal lane changes. Nor maintaining a lane of traffic.

It's disgusting to me. This entire state needs to go back to driving school.

I moved to CT a few years ago, and the whole time, I've never in my life witnessed such a rude, self-entitled, indignant bunch of drivers.

[/rant]

[edit on 6-6-2008 by tjack]

What amazes me, is that you people believe this sort of behavior is something new.. It's been going on for decades in big cities, but has only now began reaching epidemic proportions across the country. It will soon be coming to a small town near you, if it already hasn't.

I've lived in several large cities during my life, and been witness to more than a few robberies and assaults being committed in broad daylight without a single person lifting a hand to help. Personally I've always tried to intervene if possible, but usually, all I ever got for my efforts was a kick in the teeth both literally and figuratively. In most cases If you expect gratitude from the victim, you'll be sadly disappointed.

You may ask why this is? Well, there's a couple of reasons. In big cities it's sort of an unspoken rule that you mind your own business. If you don't, someone will start minding yours, which is something you really don't want.

The majority of the people committing these types of crimes are members of gangs, and when you mess with one of them, you'll have to deal with the whole bunch. If you have a family, you better think long and hard before you act. By electing to be a "do-gooder", you may just be putting their lives in danger as well as your own.

Secondly, believe it or not, the victims will oft time turn on you out of fear of retaliation from the attacker. If, and when the police do arrive on the scene, you will become the agressor in the scenario. Talk about frustration! You've just made a whole new bunch of enemies for nothing.

The victims will then say you attacked the poor mugger, rather than you came to their assistance! The police will then lecture you on how you should have just minded your own business, and called them. They know the score all too well. You'll be lucky if you aren't the one put in cuffs. After a few instances like this, you'll find yourself muttering under your breathe, Never again..

In the case of accidents like this, it's probably more a matter of ignorance on the bystanders part as to what to do, fear of getting hurt themselves, or simply not caring enough to take the time to render assistance. It's that "let someone else do it attitude.. I don't have time". They'd be outraged if the shoe was on the other foot, and they were treated in a like manner, but hey, that's just human nature.

[edit on 6/6/08 by LLoyd45]

reply to post by LLoyd45


Like the man said, Lloyd, there are thousands of excuses to do evil (in this case the evil is ignorance of another man's plight), but only one reason to do good.

You can list as many as you want, but they are all excuses.

And when the police tell you that you shouldn't get involved, it's because they don't want people taking the law into their own hands, the same reason they don't want people to go around town armed with shotguns in an attempt to kill all the gangs - sooner or later you'll get the wrong person.

Say, for example, you decided to give chase the man who stole the little old lady's purse; He runs into an alley, and you run after him.

Suddenly you're surrounded by 6 of his mates and brutally assaulted for being a goody-two-shoes...

If you're lucky.

That is another reason (the meaning is ultimately the same) they tell you not to get involved, not because of any petty legal issue.

I believe that all they want you to do is administer first-aid if needed and contact the police, but other than that i don't think that chasing someone down for something that is material is a worthwhile venture.

You are right that this is a problem that has always existed in human society, and perhaps it spawns from our ideal that in order to get ahead in live, you need to compete.

Stopping to help someone who faltered is not going to help you win.

[edit on 6-6-2008 by Anti-Tyrant]

[edit on 6-6-2008 by Anti-Tyrant]

I'm glad that this story is making such a stir! My brother-in-law who is all of 18 years old was knocked over in a hit-and-run last month. He has a fractured skull, smashed pelvis and both his legs are broken in numerous places. The car did not stop. This happened less than a block from his home. Someone in the area recognised him and phoned his brother who is in an entirely different city, approximately 3 hour flight away, who then had to phone his mother who then called an ambulance! If someone nearby could have just called an ambulance straight away, he would not have had to lie in the middle of the road for a couple of hours before the ambulance arrived. Now, somebody managed to get the registration number of the vehicle and gave it to the police who arrived at the scene. However, the police went to see the registered owner of the vehicle and he denies having used the vehicle that night and says he doesn't know who could have been driving it. He had the cheek to tell the police that perhaps the car was stolen and then returned. Yeah right!!!
Anyway, this sort of behaviour is not just happening in America, it is all over the world and is another indication of the lack of empathy of the common man.

Originally posted by LovingSoul

Anyway, this sort of behaviour is not just happening in America, it is all over the world and is another indication of the lack of empathy of the common man.

Again, it is not the common man who is at fault.

It is those who seek to stand on the shoulders of the common man, and seeing as it's accepted nowadays for common men to try and better themselves and others, no one seems to have a problem with it.

Try not to place blame - you'll put yourself in the way of ambitious fools.

What's wrong with people, thats messed up! I would've stopped my car parallel to him and stopped traffic in that lane, if not just to protect him from getting run over again! If everyone has to be 30 minutes late to work so someone doesn't die, I'm sure your boss would forgive you

reply to post by LLoyd45


That is true but it also depends on where you are. I recall an Oprah show a while back, it was about self defense and all that. Anyway they staged an attack scene, a well dressed female is attacked by a large, scruffy looking man in a parking lot in full view of a very busy street. There was no way an onlooker would suspect it was a domestic violence issue.

The woman is screaming and fighting and the scene is CLEARLY visible to all of the cars nearby stopped in traffic. It was quite dramatic. The people in the cars did nothing, though a couple of them blared their horn.

I do not recall where that took place, but trust me they would not have tried a stunt like that in Georgia. Too many people in this state are armed and the likelihood of a civilian pulling out a gun to intervene would have been too high in many areas.

[edit on 6-6-2008 by Sonya610]

reply to post by Sonya610


What's your point here, exactly?

You don't need a gun to be able to call the cops, friend.

reply to post by Anti-Tyrant


Sorry I was replying to LLoyd45's post, not yours. For a minute I thought I was losing my mind because I kept rereading your previous posts and I was sure you had been talking about muggings, but the text was gone!

reply to post by LLoyd45

Originally posted by Sonya610
reply to post by Anti-Tyrant

 

Sorry mate, seems we've got the wrong guy here.

Originally posted by Sonya610

That is true but it also depends on where you are.

You're right Sonya, it does depend a lot on where you happen to live. In small southern towns like mine, you may very well receive assistance if you find yourself in trouble, but It's changing, and in direct relationship to the demographics of the community. With the influx of all the illegals into the community, the crime rates have begun to rise, and people are starting to get scared.

No longer can a person protect themselves in our politically correct society without be called a racist and perpetrators of hate crimes. In my opinion, the hate crime laws are ridiculous. A crime is a crime, no matter who commits it or for what reason. Locked their butts up, and throw away the key!

The woman is screaming and fighting and the scene is CLEARLY visible to all of the cars nearby stopped in traffic. It was quite dramatic. The people in the cars did nothing, though a couple of them blared their horn.

I do not recall where that took place, but trust me they would not have tried a stunt like that in Georgia. Too many people in this state are armed and the likelihood of a civilian pulling out a gun to intervene would have been too high in many areas.

I've seen things like that happen so many times it isn't even funny. People are too scared or too apathetic anymore to asist anyone in trouble. It's the "better you than me attitude" at it's best.

A gun is nice to have, but whoa be unto the man or woman the pulls it, much less uses it, even to prevent a crime. The laws are so twisted nowadays that the criminals have more rights than the victims. You may shoot them and save yourself or someone else from harm, only to be sued in a civil court, and lose all that you own to the very same scumbag. That's irony for ya!

reply to post by Voxel


Let me just add to your thought. The way this was reported, who came out of it looking like solid gold?? The cops, that's who. So it's not just to breed distrust in your neighbors, but to increase the trust in the law and to glorify them.

Great post BTW!

Peace

Originally posted by LLoyd45
A gun is nice to have, but whoa be unto the man or woman the pulls it, much less uses it, even to prevent a crime. The laws are so twisted nowadays that the criminals have more rights than the victims. You may shoot them and save yourself or someone else from harm, only to be sued in a civil court, and lose all that you own to the very same scumbag. That's irony for ya!

In this state (GA) the laws are quite good, if one is in fear for their life or the life of another the authorities don't give them a hard time at all.

The local news channels frequently run stories about home owners or store owners shooting someone in self defense and surprisingly even the media does NOT give the story a negative slant. In fact they usually protray them as local citizen heros. Better still the state is improving the carry laws as we speak.

I think it has a very positive effect. Personally I know I would be more likely to assist someone thanks to our laws, and I like to think there are a lot of good old southern boys that would do the same for me. I believe it even helps when it comes to being a good samaritan as if people feel less vulnerable they may be more likely to assist strangers.



[edit on 6-6-2008 by Sonya610]

Originally posted by Voxel
reply to post by Orwells Ghost

 

CNN is making way more out of this story than it seems. It is part of the plan to get you to stop trusting your neighbors and friends. It seems to have worked well considering all the "What happened to America!?" posts on this thread.

The video clearly shows people opening cell phones to call for paramedics and a group of people clearly standing next to the victim. I see a group of people put their own lives in danger to stand in a roadway with active motor vehicle traffic. Yet all the news can do is cut the video to show the crowd for less than one second and crop the video so that you can't see what else is happening.

People helped. What more can you expect people to realistically do? They aren't doctors or nurses or paramedics. They probably already know that moving the victim will make matters worse. So all they can do is call for help and keep any other cars from running the victim over. Thats exactly what they seem to do, even with the creative CNN editing.

I love how CNN created a news story in this case instead of reporting it. A guy a motor scooter simply drove away? Are you sure? Did you try contacting the driver? Maybe he left to find a police officer to flag down or a local precinct to alert. Why do you accept CNNs psychic powers and assume that he really did just drive off laughing to himself?

Everyone in this thread saying that the people were heartless and selfish, answer one question: What would YOU have done differently if you saw that from the sidewalk?

Jon

I completely agree.
They take an incident, and portray their version of reality upon it, and play it over and over and over.. in order for you to feel a certain way.. such as what is happening in this thread.. omg we suck we deserve hell etc.. etc.

...BS!

you don't "pick" these "leaders" that you say are horrible.. They're chosen far before the ballot is checked.
you don't "pick" these celebrities that are disgusting... they're purposefully plotted in front of you like a puppet show in the rear of Plato's Cave so that you observe this as reality and then it reflects in your feelings and actions.
and you don't "pick" these news stories that are on constant rotation.
It's to keep you buffered in a shell of anxiety.. or at least a general feeling of unease as far as your concept of "other people" goes.
Screw the "man is in essence evil.. by nature" bs argument...
that's ONLY true if you choose it to be within yourself.
And no.. screw the "fear and violence sell that's why! duuuumnyeaaa" argument.
incredible discoveries and incredible status-quo-defying stories sell even better.


DEFY this PATHETIC FARCE and use it as a reason to be EVEN MORE of a good human.


-

[edit on 6-6-2008 by prevenge]

[edit on 6-6-2008 by prevenge]

[edit on 6-6-2008 by prevenge]

Originally posted by Anti-Tyrant
[
Like the man said, Lloyd, there are thousands of excuses to do evil (in this case the evil is ignorance of another man's plight), but only one reason to do good.

You can list as many as you want, but they are all excuses.

Call them excuses or rationales, but that makes them no less true. Would you really put your own safety and that of your family in jeopardy for no good reason? If the victim refuses to even help themself, why would you rush to their aid? Nobody will give a crap about your heroism, and certainly won't come to your assistance when the fallout heads your way. Remember, police reports have all your contact information on them as well as the criminals. Do you really want Joe Sociopath and his buddies having your name, address, and phone number?If you're not concerned about yourself, what about your wife, kids, parents, etc..?

And when the police tell you that you shouldn't get involved, it's because they don't want people taking the law into their own hands, the same reason they don't want people to go around town armed with shotguns in an attempt to kill all the gangs - sooner or later you'll get the wrong person.

There really aren't enough police to prevent crimes, they're just there to investigate the aftermath and place a toe tag on your corpse. In another 48 hours if no one is arrested, you'll just be another unsolved crime statistic.


[edit on 6/6/08 by LLoyd45]

reply to post by Sonya610

It's great that your state is so open-minded about gun ownership and the use of them. I imagine a gun is a big confidence builder for some people, but it may very well get you killed if you're unwilling to use it.

Pointing a gun at someone is one thing, but actually taking another human life is something all together different. Most people freeze up long before that point, and end up getting shot or beat to death with their own weapon.

Remember, most criminals comitting a violent acts are probably armed themselves, and have no compunction about using their weapon against you. If you choose to pull it, you'd better be prepared to use it as well.

I'm not trying to criticize you, I'm just saying the all actions have their own specific set of consequences.



[edit on 6/6/08 by LLoyd45]