Jersey #10 Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 #True story This afternoon I was running very late for a casual meeting with my project partners. While I was trying my best to make it to the particular meeting place an unfortunate event occurred. The event has nothing to do with me but just what I saw and my confusion over what to do at the time. I took a wrong turn on a very small rocky street at around 3:15pm this afternoon. As I was driving slowly and carefully, I saw a man little bit far from me laying flat face up on the right side of the street. He was severely bruised on the head and seemed to be bleeding. As the street was one way I had no choice but to continue driving towards him. As I got close to him, he was trying to get up but as soon as he got up he fell face down on the same side of the street very hard on a rocky surface. At first I thought he was either drunk or high beyond limits but part of me was telling me that he could have had concussion from the head injury which would have caused him to lose partial consciousness. All this happened within 10 seconds or so. Now I was in a shock and scared at the same time. I kept driving away very slowly while thinking whether to call the cops or not. I really wanted to call for help but then I thought the cops would think that I had hit him while driving. Then I thought about finals exams which were coming up and I had no time to be stuck with the cops, lawyers and courts. While thinking all this I realized that I was very late for the meeting so I drank some water and reached my destination. Now I can not stop but think about this incident over and over again. I am kind of blaming myself for whatever that happened. I wish I had never taken that wrong turn. I wonder if it is a very big sin to be selfish and only think about my own safety when someone is really in need. What would you have done? :hmmm: ps - not my personal story! I read it in a book of true stories. I don't have the book on me so I didn't quote it word to word but I described it in my words to the best I can. I have added second half of the story so please proceed to the second page after reading the first half in this post.
Jersey #10 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Posted December 2, 2010 I would've called 911 and made sure the injured person got help Even at the risk of getting yourself into deep trouble? Honestly, I found my self as confused as the narrator and could not come to a conclusion so I thought it would be nice to see what others feel about this.
Jersey #10 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Posted December 2, 2010 Nahi yaar' date=' why would you get into trouble ? actually about 5 years ago me & wifey were out on a evening walk, all of a sudden, I see a car screeching, making a fast turn and bang into the side walk across just 20 feet away from us. a guy bails out..looked pretty scared and runs away from the damaged car, few seconds and another car pulls up...stops..3 guys get down and start chasing the guy...it seemed like they were after his blood. I just called 911, gave them the info about where it happened and told them what happened. to this day...I never got into any problem bcoz I reported the incident.[/quote'] This is a whole different story though. In your story you are not even in the picture of the crime. In the story I posted, it's just one person driving his car and another person badly hurt laying right next to the street. There is no one else on the whole street, just you and that guy. The first thing cops would think is that you ran him over. They would ask you questions and then a court date. It would be feasible to go through all that trouble if the driver had the time and accommodations for it. He was late to a meeting and had final exams coming up. I don't know...I think there is no real "solution" to this story. I want to hear from many more people though...I think your real decision power comes into play when you are in situations such as this one. One with a very strong will-power can take proper decisions in such cases.
Jersey #10 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Posted December 2, 2010 I know what you mean' date=' let the cops question him or examine the caller's car, he would not be in trouble bcoz he didn't do it, welll regarding the court date...the way I look at..is..even if someone had to skip work and lose a day's pay...atlest someone's life was saved bcoz of phone call for help.[/quote'] Morally, that would be the best thing to do!
bihutoli Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 You need to help. There is no two ways about it. Realistically though most people would take the easy way out.
IKnowU Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 If it was India, the best way to do it is by dumping him in a hospital and make sure hes fine. If its in a western society, call the 911/000 or whatever(make sure hes still fine though), and just resume your life like nothing happened.
DomainK Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 In India, you could get into trouble for reporting that. There is a law in place for the police not to bother those who report accidents, but the Indian police usually likes to lay hands on an easy suspect. Even when they are investigating, they like to keep someone on the standby to take the rap so that they could show that they are getting results. In a scene like the above, the police will most likely to detain you on suspicion and by the time you prove that you are not involved, you would have spent some good time lock up, a great deal of money on a lawyer and another good deal as bribe for the police. Most likely, they will also give you some third degree in the lock up telling you to confess.
Sachinism Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Most people would like to think they'd help, though most wouldn't
DomainK Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Once an Indian news channel raised the same subject. They managed to film an accident (real, not candid camera stuff) where the victim was laying on the road side seriously injured and how the crowd was passing by not bothering to help him or call the cops. After sometime, my 7 years old nephew asked the question: "Is the camera crew going to help him or will they film him till he dies?"
Jersey #10 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Posted December 2, 2010 If it was India, the best way to do it is by dumping him in a hospital and make sure hes fine. If its in a western society, call the 911/000 or whatever(make sure hes still fine though), and just resume your life like nothing happened. The local police is not much different in the USA than in India. They would detain you for such cases. Not to forget, it's a much longer process to get out of such cases in foreign countries like the States. What I am thinking is that, the guy could have used a pay phone to call 911 to stay out of trouble and also help the person in need.
kabira Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 You were chosen to help him otherwise why would have you taken wrong turn. This is bad karma you did, you will pay for this sooner than later.
coffee_rules Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Not being high and mighty, being very considerate person, I would probably have called the police. Depending on what kind of an emergency you have, but if somebody's dying and if I am late for a meeting, I think I would have called the police/911 for help. It defines a person, I think.
The Outsider Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 That the police would think you hit the guy is just lame. Fiber, paint, dents etc. would show in a jiffy that your car was not involved. Guys like these are not just phattus but idiots as well.
Ram Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Please dont tell me you passed on an opportunity to help someone because you had an effin meeting. If you miss a meeting, it doesn’t mean the world is coming to an end. But, if you’re circumspect about helping someone fearing the consequences it might have for you (for eg, in India, It could land you in trouble with the police..), then yes, that is a valid, legitimate concern. All of us have a right to self-preservation. Nobody can question my right to look out for myself. If someone actually got off and helped that person, then my respect goes towards him. But someone didn’t and chose to drive on (for reasons other than say ones like ‘I had a meeting’, or ‘I didn’t want to spoil my clothes..’, ), then I am not going to hold anything against him either. For me personally, I’d have definitely tried to call 911 (in the US). If in India, maybe I would have tried to draw a bigger crowd, but I would have definitely stopped to at least take a look. P.S; The ‘story’ sounds completely made up.. wrong turn, one way, rocky road.. but nevertheless. P.S2; For those intrigued by some of the moral questions we encounter every day, maybe you’d be interested to watch a series ‘What would you do’ on ABC. Its essentially a collection of staged scenarios to find out how normal people react to everday situations. Its quite revealing and fascinating. It brings to the forefront a whole host of racial, cultural, sexual and other stereotypes and biases that we as humans have inculcated within our minds over the years.
Jersey #10 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Posted December 2, 2010 That the police would think you hit the guy is just lame. Fiber, paint, dents etc. would show in a jiffy that your car was not involved. Guys like these are not just phattus but idiots as well. You are the messiah of the wrold bro. Everyone other than you is an idiot and lame. God has given you the right to insult and be cocky so be it. You also have the amenities like ICF and the powers on ICF to fulfill the rights given to you by god. What an as$hole Please dont tell me you passed on an opportunity to help someone because you had an effin meeting. If you miss a meeting, it doesn’t mean the world is coming to an end. But, if you’re circumspect about helping someone fearing the consequences it might have for you (for eg, in India, It could land you in trouble with the police..), then yes, that is a valid, legitimate concern. All of us have a right to self-preservation. Nobody can question my right to look out for myself. If someone actually got off and helped that person, then my respect goes towards him. But someone didn’t and chose to drive on (for reasons other than say ones like ‘I had a meeting’, or ‘I didn’t want to spoil my clothes..’, ), then I am not going to hold anything against him either. For me personally, I’d have definitely tried to call 911 (in the US). If in India, maybe I would have tried to draw a bigger crowd, but I would have definitely stopped to at least take a look. P.S; The ‘story’ sounds completely made up.. wrong turn, one way, rocky road.. but nevertheless. P.S2; For those intrigued by some of the moral questions we encounter every day, maybe you’d be interested to watch a series ‘What would you do’ on ABC. Its essentially a collection of staged scenarios to find out how normal people react to everday situations. Its quite revealing and fascinating. It brings to the forefront a whole host of racial, cultural, sexual and other stereotypes and biases that we as humans have inculcated within our minds over the years. +1... I don't know if the story is 100% true or not but it was very interesting the first time I read it. I have seen many one way and rocky roads, especially in Richmond Downtown. I wouldn't be surprised if someone took a wrong turn on one of these gullies because they all look similar. just for clarification, It's not my personal story!
The Outsider Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 You are the messiah of the wrold bro. Everyone other than you is an idiot and lame. God has given you the right to insult and be cocky so be it. You also have the amenities like ICF and the powers on ICF to fulfill the rights given to you by god. What an ashole Don't take it out on me, if the guy in your story is such an idiot that he does not know that even the most basic and preliminary investigation of his car will clear him. Oh yeah, and maybe I should use my 'powers' on ICF because you abused me? Then I shall be able to fulfill the duties for which God has sent me on Earth! :hysterical:
yoda Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Easy in the west - just call 911 and say you saw someone on the side of the road dying as you are driving, done. You may get called to provide info, but no big deal I would assume. I am guessing it could be more painful in India though. BTW, you can't just take someone to a hospital and expect them to get treated in India. If it is an accident, the docs would want you to file a police report first.
The Outsider Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 I am guessing it could be more painful in India though. BTW, you can't just take someone to a hospital and expect them to get treated in India. If it is an accident, the docs would want you to file a police report first. That law has been repealed I think - I might be wrong though. I vaguely remember reading a few years back that now doctors are obligated to admit and treat the patient in emergency situations.
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