Be a Good Samaritan and save a life
Don’t be afraid to help out a road accident victim and become a Road Hero. The law is there to protect you
Did you know 17 people die on Indian roads every hour? Road accidents alone have claimed more than 2,00,000 lives in India, according to statistics by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, causing an economic loss of about 3% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
According to the Law Commission of India, more than half of these victims died of preventable injuries, which means their lives could have been saved had they received medical intervention on time. Several surveys have found that bystanders around the accident site are unlikely to help a victim, primarily due to the fear of being caught up in legal proceedings.
There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel. On March 16, 2012, the Supreme Court of India acted on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and passed the Good Samaritan Law that provides a legal safeguard to those who help the injured on the roads.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), bystanders can play a gamechanging role in saving lives. They are the first point of contact for the injured and can help by calling for an ambulance, providing first aid or even rushing the injured to the nearest hospital.
Meet two such Good Samaritans, who have saved hundreds of lives on the road and set an example for the rest of us to follow.
SURAJ PRAKASH VAID: MAN OF THE GOLDEN HOUR
71-year-old Suraj Prakash Vaid was all of 24 when he witnessed an accident on the busy Vikas Marg in Delhi where a speeding car ran over two pedestrians, who were severely injured. A large crowd had gathered and yet no one was willing to take them to the hospital.
That was the first time he offered help. He took the victims to Lok Nayak Hospital in an auto-rickshaw and saved two lives. Since then, there has been no looking away. A taxi driver by profession, he has pledged to save the lives of road accident victims and has rushed hundreds of them to the hospital over the last three decades.
Along the way, Vaid has received many commendation certificates and rewards from the police. He was also the recipient of a national award for road safety given by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2002. “Most people don’t come forward to help in accident cases, not because they are callous but because they fear getting tangled up in legal proceedings. My experience with both the police and the hospitals has been very good. They have always appreciated my efforts,” he says.
Since the implementation of the Good Samaritan law, he feels the situation has only become better.
RAGHVENDRA KUMAR: HELMET MAN OF INDIA
Computer engineer Raghavendra Kumar has distributed nearly 50,000 helmets for free to two-wheeler riders over the past decade. It all started in 2014, when Kumar lost a dear friend from his home district of Madhubani in Bihar, KK Thakur, in a road mishap in Noida. They were riding a bike without a helmet and suffered serious injuries.
Since then, he has been distributing free helmets in memory of his friend. He has already distributed them in 22 states, including Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.
Last year, when he faced a cash crunch, he sold parts of ancestral land in Bihar and a house he had bought in Greater Noida to fund the purchase of helmets. So far, he has already spent more than ₹2 crore on buying helmets. Hailed as the Helmet Man of India, he has been felicitated with several accolades for this exceptional initiative.
The stories of Kumar and Vaid are truly inspiring examples for all of us to follow!
So, if you or your loved ones come across an accident victim on the road, be a Road Hero and extend all the help that you can!