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If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

bbc.co.uk

81–90 of 225 posts

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#82

> Oftentimes if you assist someone the police will assume you're helping that person out of guilt. That doesn't make the bystanders apathy any more tolerable. I'd like to think I would help someone in need even if I went to jail for it (you never know what you'd actually do unless you're in the situation, but still...)

>I'd like to think I would help someone in need even if I went to jail for it You have no idea how bad indian courts and jails are. You would not want to go to jail in India. It would be miracle if you get to see a judge in India between absentee judges, strikes, power cuts ect. Absolutely noone will give a shit about you being incarcerated unfairly.

If that's the price you have to pay to save someone's life, then so be it.

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#83
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My brother and sister-in-law were being driven to the airport to come home (to Cupertino) by his Father-in-law, at 2 in the morning. He drove at high speed, ignoring traffic lights and signs. They were alarmed; he was unconcerned. "Nobody is about this time in the night; we're perfectly safe!" So there's some kind of mass insanity going on in India for sure.

This used to happen to me every time I had to go to the airport in the night, and would book some local taxi to do that. The drivers just never cared about the traffic signals in the night. The prevalent attitude seems to be that traffic rules are more like guidelines and can be broken if it seems "okay" to do so. Driving on the wrong side of the road is for example quite common, and most people do it to avoid making…

When I was in Vietnam & Indonesia, I regularly saw people driving on the wrong side of the road. Luckily, they would generally drive just off the road, so traffic on the road wouldn't be at risk of a collision. It was also similarly common to see entire families riding on one scooter - I regularly saw families of 4 riding together.

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#84
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Caste system is not the same as Racism. However, it has nothing to do with accidents. When you see a person involved in an accident in India you won't be able to make out his/her caste by looking at them (unlike race where the racial features are apparent).

Thanks for the info, I assumed apparel and appearance were distinguishable between the groups. I will follow up on my unanswered inquiry for my edification.

I can help you get a fair idea of the prevalent caste system:

1. You can get all knowledge about the caste system from the interwebs. Especially read up on "Manu Smriti" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Smriti). The caste system that was practiced centuries ago does not exist today. So whatever you read on the interwebs take it with a grain of salt. A lot has changed for the better.

2. Caste doesn't come into picture in day-to-day life (unlike race where you might be harassed for the race you belong to as there is no escaping your racial features).

3. Caste plays a major role in marriages. Inter-caste marriages are discouraged by a section of the society. This is more prevalent in northern parts of India in comparison to the south.

4. Education/Government jobs have a quota system for lower castes. This has become a reason for hatred between the upper and lower castes because it doesn't encourage meritocracy.

5. In some really orthodox parts of Indian society (which is very small) segregation exists where lower castes are not allowed for example to take water from the same well as the rest of the village.

6. Violence on lower castes still exists in some villages.

However I can happily say that I have hardly come across any casteism myself. Maybe that is because I live in urban India.

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#86
Also related, but a different problem: the "hit-to-kill" phenomenon in China. Drivers try to kill any pedestrians they injure because they will be liable for more economic costs if the victim survives.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2...

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#87
I am from India and many people I know at least think that they will get into more trouble with police or hospital formalities if they help.Even many films made here portray same picture to the public. My mother once told me (when i was a kid) one person from her hometown who was a lorry driver ,once helped an accident victim and took him to hospital. But in the end they framed the same guy on murder attempt and he had to run behind the case for long time and he eventually lost everything. Having said all this,I personally think how can someone ignore an injury to anyone ? My conscience will not let me pass through without offering help if I ever see anything.

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#89
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's called the Bystander Effect, and the most disturbing thing about it is that its strength is in proportion to the number of people present. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

Yep. Take charge until an authority arrives. Engage the victim, if conscious, ask questions and gather any info you can to give to 1st responder to arrive on scene. Give direct commands to specific peoples. Do NOT make matters worse by moving the injured unless immediate danger is present. Most importantly, educate yourself/certify beforehand. I used my CPR cert once 25 years ago, yet I still renew it every year. Oh…

Also: do what you can to create, and maintain, a decent ingress into the scene for emergency personnel - clear a hallway, get the doors opened, and keep the way in and out clear.

Re: If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why

#90

Relevant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Wang_Yue context: "...the story of a man named Peng Yu in Nanjing who was sued by a woman after helping her. The old woman was successful in seeking damages from the man because the judge claimed that the man wouldn’t have helped her unless he was guilty of injuring her in the first place..." -- https://chinachange.org/2011/10/20/the-good-samaritan-in-chi...

Not really relevant, the problem in China is that one has[1] to pay for a disabled person for all that person's life while a death incurs a one time payment.

[1] IIRC the recently changed the relevant laws or are currently debating to change them.

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