Monday, November 16, 2015

Guidelines On Protection Of Good Samaritan While Saving Lives Of Road Accident Victims (2015)

Protection of lives of road accident victims is possible to the maximum possible extent only if good people come forward to take them to hospitals. A timely first aid and early access to medical facilities is sine quo non for lesser mortality rates.

Supreme Court of India addressed this issue and other related ones in Savelife Foundation & Anr v. Union of India & Anr, Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 235 Of 2012 (SC) (PDF). A Committee was constituted by the Supreme Court and one of the points of reference was incorporated into clause (x) which reads as follows:
(x) Deliberate and develop a set of guidelines for protecting Good Samaritans from police harassment and legal hassles. The guidelines will aim to address the root causes for fear of harassment and legal hassles in general public regarding helping injured victims. These guidelines will also serve as a foundation for further legislative work in the area of protecting Good Samaritans.

In a welcome move, the Narendra Modi led Government has issued Guidelines on Protection of Good Samaritan While Saving Lives of Road Accident Victims (2015) (PDF). This shows the sensitivity of Indian Government towards the precious lives that can be saved if road accident victims can be taken to hospitals as soon as possible.

Although there is no dearth of good people to take accident victims to the hospitals yet legal formalities and legal hassles have forced many not to take the much needed actions. Now with these guidelines it can be hoped that more precious lives would be saved.

Perry4Law organisation (P4LO) welcomes this move of Indian Government and hopes that more such constructive and pro active initiatives would be taken by the Indian Government in near future.