In a landmark step that would enhance road safety, the government has notified a set of guidelines for the protection of Good Samaritans in the country.
The move came following a Supreme Court order on a petition filed by SaveLife Foundation, which works in the field of road safety in India, in December last directing the Union Government to issue guidelines to save for the protection of Good Samaritans. According to the guidelines, a bystander or an eyewitness to an accident who takes the injured to the hospital may leave immediately after furnishing address and no question will be asked to him. Similarly, the police can’t force the person informing about the accident to reveal his name and personal details.
It will be the Good Samaritan’s choice to share his name and contact details in medico legal case forms, which the police fill out when an accident victim is brought to the hospital for treatment. The guidelines, issued by the ministry of road transport and highways, have also asked the State governments to work out a plan to reward or compensate Good Samaritans to encourage citizens to come forward and help road accident victims.
The accident eyewitnesses will be examined only once during police investigation or trial in court and action will be taken against government officials who force a bystander to reveal name and personal details. The guidelines will protect a person who helps an injured person on the road, from legal and procedural hassles at the hands of the police, hospitals and legal entities. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will be issuing these guidelines.
“Issue of guidelines for protection of Good Samaritans is a great step but it is also important to have a law for this. Otherwise, this will be just like any other set of guidelines in our country, which are not being followed properly.”
Save Life Foundation has also drafted a Bill for the protection of Good Samaritans, which was submitted to the Union Health Ministry.
The Bill seeks to protect Good Samaritans from civil and criminal liabilities by establishing a supportive legal environment. It looks at three important aspects of the issue — the rights of a Good Samaritan who helps a road accident victim, the duties of hospitals with respect to provision of emergency care, and directions to law enforcement authorities with regard to questioning a Good Samaritan. It also gives clear directions to hospitals to not demand payment of treatment fees from the Good Samaritan, and not to delay treatment for payment of hospital fees. A Good Samaritan Fund is proposed to process claims of hospitals in such cases.
A bystander or an eyewitness to an accident who takes the injured to the hospital may leave immediately after furnishing address
