Another experience around Good Samaritan Laws in China

[laogui]

Sitting in the backseat, being driven up a very busy main road, Ningbo Beilun, the road totally packed but traffic moving steadily, I saw the little two-year old girl, laughing, clutching a doll, tottering on the centre line of the road.  停车！停车！我要下车帮助她！

 

No one looked, turned their head or spoke, and of the course the car continued on its way.  No other cars or pedestrians made any movement either. When I attempted to open the door I was prevented. No one would discuss the issue.  Clearly they considered it some kind of fraud or scam.

 

I see that Shenzhen has implemented Good Samaritan laws (2013) and that Guangzhou is holding discussions, but there are no national plans.  It is a very dirty stain on the ethics and morals of an ancient but not so civilised society.  The Good Samaritan laws make it a crime not to go to the aid of someone in need, and so it should be.  We have perhaps all read of the attitude of some magistrates that shows they believe 'to help is to prove guilt'...

 

老鬼

 

[Mati1]

Hearing this makes me very sad. Two years of age is way too young to be included in scams on the middle of a main road. I wonder what that was all about.

According to some famous video-bloggers, depending on location and time of the year (holiday season?) the overwhelming majority of beggars or others in very bad shape apparently in need of help are involved in some kind of scamming scheme and giving them money (...) would only strengthen criminal organizations; therefore it would be best to ignore those individuals and move on.

I can't remember hearing about this law before. Given the scam situation, which I guess is worse in rich areas like Shenzhen, makes the law look counterproductive and the whole situation even stranger.

 

I hope the whole situation can be imrproved in a common effort by all parties who care.

[Xiao Kui]

Quote

The Good Samaritan laws make it a crime not to go to the aid of someone in need, and so it should be.  

I think we have something called Good Samaritan laws in the US, but I think it just protects you from being sued/punished if you help someone in distress and it doesn't go well- I don't think it necessarily mandates helping someone in need. A common example is if you save a choking person with the Heimlich maneuver and accidentally injure them in the process. I think a law that protects those who help is a good idea, because it keeps people from being victimized by 碰瓷 scams, while a law that mandates helping would just help the scammers.

[Lu]

19 hours ago, Mati1 said:

the overwhelming majority of beggars or others in very bad shape apparently in need of help are involved in some kind of scamming scheme and giving them money (...) would only strengthen criminal organizations; therefore it would be best to ignore those individuals and move on.

Yet I wonder if that's true. I don't doubt that there are criminal organisations in China that work like that, but at the same time there is no real social security in China, and if you're old, handicapped, poor or otherwise afflicted, begging is often really the only option. And as a casual passer-by, I can't tell those two types of begging apart (if there is a clear line at all - between being destitute at home or being exploited by a begging gang, it's not immediately obvious to me which option is worse).