Need of Good Samaritan Law for Increasing Willingness of Bystanders to Assist Victims of RTA

Need of Good Samaritan Law for Increasing Willingness of Bystanders to Assist Victims of RTA

Dr Savitha Krishnaswamy

Department of Public Health, K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, NITTE (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Road traffic accidents are a silent pandemic especially in a country like India where urbanization has been happening on a large scale recently and most of the population travel to cities for employment, education etc. which cannot be averted. The worst hit are major cities like Mumbai, Chennai and other metropolitan cities where accidents claim several lives and also cause disability in other cases, either short term or permanent. The price which is paid by the affected person cannot be estimated just on a monetary basis as it affects the overall quality of life of not just the person but also of the family members. Even people who are willing to assist accident victims are reluctant due to several factors; few of them being legal hassles and the fear of detention at the hospitals. Hence this paper will focus on the present need of good Samaritan laws and their appropriate enforcement for increasing the willingness of bystanders to assist RTA victims, as this is the solution until such accidents can be averted as a whole.

Key Words: Road traffic accident (RTA), Samaritan law, golden hour, trauma, emergency