The Capital not only lives up to the adage of being the crime capital of the country but has moved a notch higher on the inhuman scale.
A survey conducted across seven cities by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) India - a global market research company - and commissioned by NGO Save Life Foundation revealed that Delhi recorded the highest percentage of bystanders (96%) who were unlikely to help a road accident victim.
The study had a sample size of 1,027 across the cities of Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Indore and Kolkata.
Accident victims in Kolkata and Indore were most likely to get help from bystanders.
The survey also revealed that a whopping 74% of bystanders were unlikely to help severely-injured roadside victims. Of these, nearly 88% respondents stated their reluctance stemmed from legal hassles, which included police questioning and court appearances. "In Delhi, 91.3% bystanders were afraid of legal hassles," said Piyush Tewari, Founder, Save Life Foundation.
According to the study, just 39% of the bystanders in Delhi believed their city had an efficient rapid response ambulance service, while 71% of them expressed demand for a Good Samaritan Law, which offers legal protection to those who help the injured or people in peril.
{{/usCountry}}According to the study, just 39% of the bystanders in Delhi believed their city had an efficient rapid response ambulance service, while 71% of them expressed demand for a Good Samaritan Law, which offers legal protection to those who help the injured or people in peril.
{{/usCountry}}"People are not apathetic to helping a person in need but certain systems have to be put in place to make people come forward," said Sandeep Ghosh, vice-president, TNS India.
The study also revealed that 88% of the respondents expressed the need for a supportive legal environment to enable Samaritans to help the injured. About 77% bystanders felt that hospitals unnecessarily detain such people and often demanded money from them for the victim's treatment.
It also revealed that 80% of road accident victims in India do not receive any emergency medical care within the first hour of the mishap.