Do you hesitate to help a road accident victim because of a possible police law entanglement once the injured is hospitalized? Well, the Karnataka state government has now made provisions to shield you from unnecessary legal hassles for having rescued an accident victim.
Yes! The state’s government has drafted a ‘Good Samaritan Act’, which upon ratification in the assembly is expected to insulate citizens who help accident victims. The act was drafted in the light of the fact that people often hesitate to help accident victims fearing police questioning and hospital admission procedures.
According to a report that appeared in The Hindu, the proposed law will hold the police and hospital authorities answerable under Act. The draft of the law, which is currently being completed in the state government’s health ministry, will also include a punishment clause for the officials violating the guidelines.
The death of Harish N on the state highway in Nelamangala prompted the state government to introduce the ‘Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Scheme’. Harish died in a road accident last month after a truck ran over him. The scheme guarantees free treatment to all accident victims in the first 48 hours following the mishap, with a maximum redemption value of Rs 25,000 per victim.
With the ‘Good Samaritan Act’ in pipeline and ‘Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Scheme’ in effect, the city’s traffic police too will begin a campaign ‘Help accident victims, no questions asked’ in April.
“Rewarding those who help victims is also in the pipeline,” The Hindu quoted city traffic police commissioner M A Saleem.
There are 10 road accidents on a daily average in Bengaluru city.
