Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 225 posts

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

#101

Post by aianus »

shripadk wrote: post #67
tunap wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

India's Caste System is very rigid, apparently. I asked an Indian friend in college to explain it to me before the interwebz. After the rage she showered upon me for asking I never followed up. Perhaps I will now... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India

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).

How does the caste system survive if you can't tell what caste someone is by looking at them?

Is it on your ID card? Can you tell via their accent? Is there anything stopping someone from moving to a different city and pretending to be a different (better?) caste?

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

#102

Post by LionessLover »

pif wrote: post #71
witty_username wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if the person doesn't have money who is going to pay for the bills? Medicine costs money.

That's what a society is for: mutual help.

Some societies have a tree structure with "help" flowing only one way... as we can see from this and other articles (also about China), this is not actually a natural condition but a consequence of the rules (laws) in the society.

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

#103

Post by lucio »

asib wrote: post #83
moyok wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you're "driving" (a scooter?) just off the road, or walking alongside a road, it is better to doit counter-traffic so you can see the traffic comming.

If you switch sides, the traffic will aproach from your back, and that's a lot more dangerous.

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

#105

Post by anu_gupta »

curiousgal wrote: post #96

Oh wow, just when I thought I couldn't be more disgusted by India for its rape culture, I come across this. Call me racist but I will never set foot in that country.

Good. More than happy to not have people like you anywhere near India.

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

#106

Post by LionessLover »

Xcelerate wrote: post #82
dominotw wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

You can go to India and lead by example instead of from your comfortable room.

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

#108

Post by jlg23 »

tunap wrote: post #11

Tragic. I, personally, could not sit idly by and watch, or record, anyone suffering without attempting to assist. Consequences be damned, I would hope for the same assistance if I were injured & needing aid. This is something I have spent a lot of time contemplating lately as I watch people texting while operating multi-ton vehicles at any speed, let alone at 80mph(130kmh)down the highway. I have witnessed a notable…

> Tragic. I, personally, could not sit idly by and watch, or record, anyone suffering without attempting to assist. Consequences be damned, I would hope for the same assistance if I were injured & needing aid.

Until last year I would have said the same but then I learned about the harsh reality in the Dominican Republic: A rich person who helps will always be blamed even if one arrived at the crash site an hour after the crash. In case of bodily harm to the victim, the accused goes to jail until trial (which can take weeks or even months). You can even get some insurance that covers you for that case - if you have that, you can go into a hotel in Santiago that was converted into a luxury prison. And of course the accused is asked to provide for all 50 or so people in the victim's family until s/he can work again - because none of those 50 people has a job and they depended on the victim's low paying job to feed them all. And one cannot count on a fair trial since corruption is so widespread that even judges are for sale (friends were ordered to pay severance package to a former employee based on a 12 year long employment - they arrived on Hispanola 9 years ago, started their business 8 years ago and had all papers to prove it...)

So no, I would not always help anymore.

I think India is doing the right thing: Enabling people to help by creating the laws that protect them from becoming a victim themselves.

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

#109

Post by up_and_up »

hackeratti wrote: post #88
baking wrote: post #85

American GI's noticed the same thing in India during WWII but it was attributed to Hindu fatalism. I wonder if that cultural history plays an unspoken role too.

What is Hindu fatalism? Hearing the term for the first time.

Karma. If something happens to you, it is your actions in the past either in this life or a previous life which are the original cause. Hence you are just receiving back the same as you have given. The problem with ignoring someone in trouble is those people are actually missing the chance to create good karma by helping those in need.

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

#110

Post by shripadk »

naveen99 wrote: post #76
shripadk wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government/charities need not award us any lottery. All the Government needs to do is bring a law that protects the good-samaritans (remove all the unnecessary legal hassles and allow us to be anonymous). Heck I would even be willing to pay the hospital's initial deposit only if I don't have to be entangled in all sorts of legal issues. Currently if you report an accident or get the injured person to a hospital you'l…

> you'll be treated as a witness and have to attend all court proceedings sounds like FUD. why should a witness have to attend any time other than one time to testify (usually as a friendly witness, i imagine forcing hostile testimony is even rarer). court proceedings can include filing various forms which are done by one person or not done at all (causing delays). I don't see anyone dragging you to court to file pap…

It is not FUD. It is a fact and has been the case with lots of accidents in India. If that was not so, the Supreme Court of India would not have approved guidelines on how to treat Good-Samaritans. Read about it here: http://thewire.in/2016/03/30/sc-guidelines-now-protect-good-... .

The PIL (filed by SaveLIFE foundation) that enabled this issue to be brought to the notice of the Supreme Court clearly states that 88% of the people who they surveyed had attributed this hesitation to fear of legal and procedural hassles: “These hassles include intimidation by police, unnecessary detention at hospitals and prolonged legal formalities,”.

The problem is that these guidelines are not enforceable unless they are turned into a law.

Post reply on HN