Only 7 per cent in Chennai aware of Good Samaritan Law: Study

The Law assumes importance as it renders a legal framework for the protection of Good Samaritans or those bystanders who render help to injured people.

A World Health Organisation report has revealed that about 50 per cent of road accident victims die within 15 minutes of the accident due to severe cardiovascular or neurological injuries. They can be saved in the golden hour through basic life support, but bystanders do not come forward to offer help fearing harassment by police and for the fear of detention at hospitals and also due to legal formalities.

A writ was filed by the SaveLIFE Foundation seeking a supportive framework for the bystanders to act upon promptly, saving lives.

On March 30 2016, the Supreme Court approved the guidelines and standard operating procedures issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Under Article 141 of the Constitution, the Apex Court gave it force of law, thereby making it binding on all States and UTs of India and therefore instituting the Good Samaritan Law.

The recent study by the foundation regarding awareness levels about the law among various stakeholders found that apart from abysmal levels of knowledge about the law, the various parties have not been doing enough to realise the full potential of the law. Around 95 per cent of medical professionals said that the hospitals had not displayed the GSL Charter at entrance and about 85 per cent said that there was no GSL committee in the facilities, while training of hospital staff in the hospitals was around 90 per cent. Talking to DTNext, Piyush Tewari, founder and CEO of the SaveLife Foundation said that considering that TN has been recording most number of road crashes in the country, it was imperative that the State took efforts to make the law more effective as it could help save lives. In 2017 alone, there were 1,299 deaths in 7,000 crashes in the city. He said, “They could follow in the footsteps of Karnataka that enacted a state law into effect. Another way to go about it is to reward Good Samaritans who swung into action to save lives. Ambulances alone cannot save lives, you need people to call these ambulances on time or make an attempt to take victims to the hospital. Madhya Pradesh and Maharshtra too have been promoting the law over radio through frequent advertisements.”

He added that the fact that hospitals have not been putting up the charter in the hospitals was in contempt of SC ruling. “Overall, by not encouraging people to come forward to save lives they are causing negative behaviour.”