Here is an article I came across on another site. I think in situations that people choose not to help because of the fear of getting sued by the criminal. Truly sad what has happened.
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... "The law now forces potential good Samaritans to stop and consider their own financial security in addition to making an untrained determination whether their assistance would be considered "medical" or "rescue" before helping someone in need. " ....
Heroism may make you liable
Michelle Pearl, Correspondent
Article Created: 06/22/2008 04:31:19 PM PDT
You have just witnessed a horrific collision. Would your instinct be to stop and help or drive on by?
The "Good Samaritan Law" was meant to protect those who make the selfless decision to aid someone who is injured or ill. The intention of the law is to remove bystanders' hesitation to help someone for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death.
In 2007 a California court changed the parameters of the law, and in doing so may have re-created dangerous apprehension in those who might consider coming to the unsolicited aid of another human being.
Let's consider a pair of scenarios.
Jessica, a nurse-in-training and her mother Beverly, a registered nurse, watched in horror as a motorist driving in front of them on the freeway crashed into a big rig that had stopped at the top of a hill for Caltrans work. The motorist swerved, but not in time to avoid the truck's massive rear bumper. The driver's side of the car was torn open by the impact; then what was left of the vehicle was launched onto the side of the freeway in a crumpled heap. The vehicle's airbags had failed to deploy, leaving the driver's arm ripped open and severely damaged by the unprotected impact.
The two women who witnessed the accident did not hesitate. They pulled to the side of the road and let their instincts and training take over.
Jessica stripped off her white jacket and created a pressure bandage that she applied to the victim's arm. When every inch of the jacket was soaked through, she and her mother ripped up a sheet from a bystander's car and did everything in their power to stem the profuse flow of blood.
Jessica and Beverly's noble actions prevented the driver of the crushed vehicle from bleeding to death in the precious minutes that it took the ambulance to weave through the tangled traffic and arrive on the scene. Their actions would be protected under the newly revised wording of the Good Samaritan statute.
In essence, the law now says that while emergency medical care like Jessica and Beverly rendered is protected by the Good Samaritan Law, an emergency rescue is not.
Lisa Torti watched as the car in front of her spun out and slammed into a light pole at 45 mph. She knew the two occupants inside; the car she was in had been following a friend's car. Frightened and uncertain what to do, Lisa jumped out of the vehicle she was riding in, and took her friend Alexandra Van Horn out of the passenger side of the car that she feared would blow up.
Van Horn was left a paraplegic after the accident.
Although it never was determined whether the accident itself caused Van Horn's injuries or whether her paralysis was caused by her removal from the vehicle by Torti, Van Horn sued Torti.
The court initially determined that Torti was protected under the Good Samaritan Law. However, that finding was later overturned by the Court of Appeal after it modified the wording within the law to include the word "medical." The appellate court found that in rescuing Van Horn from the vehicle, Torti did not provide emergency medical care to Van Horn, so therefore she was not fully immune from a lawsuit.
The law now forces potential good Samaritans to stop and consider their own financial security in addition to making an untrained determination whether their assistance would be considered "medical" or "rescue" before helping someone in need.
The author Philip Roth once wrote, "Action is the enemy of thought."
When it comes to the potential efforts of a good Samaritan, thought might well turn out to be the enemy of action.
Michelle Pearl is a longtime traffic school instructor and the owner of InterActive! Traffic School On-line (
www.trafficinteractive.com). Send questions to
drivetime@inlandnewspapers.com or write to DriveTime c/o The Sun, 4030 N. Georgia Blvd. San Bernardino, CA, 92407. Some reader questions will be answered in print.
