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Where have all the Good Samaritans gone?
A Connecticut community is still stunned after police released video showing a hit-and-run victim lying motionless in the street while bystanders appear to do nothing. The footage captured one driver stopping but then pulling back into traffic, as well as a man on a scooter who circles 78-year-old Angel Arce Torres and then leaves.
Police Chief Daryl Roberts said the incident demonstrates that people “no longer have a moral compass” or “regard for each other.” But other officials have cautioned against jumping to conclusions, citing the fact that everything happened in a short period of time and at least four people called 911.
Even still, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has called the footage “beyond chilling”: “There seems little question that the driver of the car that struck Angel Arce Torres on May 30 knew what happened. Almost as chilling is the reaction of some passers-by who did little in the moments after the crash to assist Mr. Torres.”
back to top37 Comments to “Where have all the Good Samaritans gone?”
It looked bad. The article in the paper said that several 911 calls came in soon after it happened. But you would think someone would stop to assist.
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So, tell us again that man is good.
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I have read that people are more likely to take action when they are alone than with a bunch of other onlookers. In a crowd, each person looks to the others for a lead to follow, and as a result no one leads.
I’m not sure what I would have done myself, but I hope I would have done something. I’ve always been told not to move an injured person, but I would think just kneeling by him and telling him help was on the way would be something. And maybe then someone else would try to do something also, like redirect traffic.
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People simply have no character. Things like this are becoming more and more commonplace, unfortunately. The 6th commandment doesn’t just mean to not kill, but to do everything within our power to preserve life. We live in a society of death. Absolute death.
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Pauline referred to the notion that people may be more likely to take action when they are alone than with a bunch of other onlookers.
If true, this is just as chilling as ever (I’m talking about the notion, not Pauline). But I don’t think the main explanations are sociological or psychological. It’s primarily moral!
Jesus said, “Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12)
Too many of us are walking around in a moral coma, and don’t even know it.
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First responders are trained to ask specific people for help especially when there’s a crowd. You don’t yell “somebody call an ambulance” because then everyone will assume someone else is doing it.
Most people aren’t trained in how to deal with a situation like this. Some may have simply been too shocked by seeing a hit and run like that. Pauline is right, though. I’d hope I would’ve let the guy know help was on the way and stayed there with him until then.
In this lawsuit crazed society, I’m sure some people worry that if they do the wrong thing to help, they’d get sued. That’s certainly the case for administering CPR. If you call for help and administer CPR for 10 minutes and then determine the person is dead and so you stop, you could potentially be sued. You must continue CPR until help arrives or you are no longer physically or safely able to continue even if you know the person is dead. There’s a commitment factor there; same as the good samaritan without the potential lawsuit.
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I lived in Connecticut for five years. The three big cities (Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford) are indeed rather scary in several ways.
I recall walking in New Haven around the body of a small boy who was hit and killed by a car. The police were already there and the little body was covered when I came to the scene. His bicycle was nearby. The problem in New Haven was the extreme presumption of pedestrians (young and old), all over the street whenever they felt like it. But no matter whose fault the accident is, it is unacceptable to pass coldly by a body when helop might be needed.
In the 90s, I heard that the rate of welfare dependency in Bridgeport was the highest ratio in the entire nation, with New Haven and Hartford not far behind. Yet, Connecticut was the #1 richest state in the union, per capita.
Connecticut is a very blue state but in real life practice, it is starkly segregated. People stay to themselves and with their own kind quite rigidly (compared to other places I have lived, like Calif, Texas and Minnesota). New relationships were not that easy to build (but they were worth it when I did).
We had a liberal Republican governor in those days and he ended up being corrupt.
Just my observations.
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I think Pauline absolutely nailed it, and Joel missed the Mark. I wouldn’t call response to an accident a moral issue. Even those on this blog who many would refer to as immoral would jump to help someone if there were nobody around.
A large group setting causes an incredibly complex socioligical dilema. If you had asked each of those bystanders before the incident if they would respond to someone who had just been hit by a car right in front of them, I guarantee you they all would have said yes.
It’s easy to say after the fact “I would have helped, unlike those immoral people”. There were probably some very moral folks in that group.
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I think people don’t know what to do and don’t want to get involved in case things go bad. We live in an age of protocols and procedures for everything and outrageous lawsuits for not following them.
How many people know how to use those AED’s (Automatic External Defibrillator) at airports and businesses? Practically no one.
I am a trained first responder and rescue diver. One thing we learned is that doing something is usually less harmful than doing nothing. And you won’t be sued for helping. Even in cases where some things may cause some harm are better in the long run. For example, administering CPR may break someone’s ribs, but if they aren’t breathing you have no choice. You won’t be sued.
In countries like Israel, where everyone serves in the military you will never see anyone standing around because they know what to do.
I would love to see a national campaign to get Americans trained as first responders. Perhaps there could be an incentive from corporate insurance providers.
I would even be open to having mandatory one year service in the National Guard so that everyone is trained for emergencies. Then you wouldn’t have the Katrina problem where everyone sits around waiting for Uncle Sam to save them and complains endlessly when he’s a couple days late.
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“I would even be open to having mandatory one year service in the National Guard so that everyone is trained for emergencies.”
As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That’s a horrible idea, Xion. It would have the opposite of its intended effect, put a huge burden on the military, increase the size of government, and cause people to take LESS responsibility for their own actions.
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All the Good Samaritans have been sued and put in prison by whack jobs.
What do you expect when half the country is insane?
This part of the country, is quite near whack job central and way worse than other part of the country when it comes to helping others in life or death situations.
Still, it is best not to get old and go walking in the street in heavy traffic.
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I know this is a tragic event, but it does remind me of the Seinfeld finale.
Ah, the Good Samaritan Law. Who would have thought it would end with that!
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I’m wondering how involved I’d be willing to get and I think it depends on how bad Mr. Torres injuries appeared—which may have been what kept others from helping. If he was a mess and looked beyond help, I could understand the hesitancy to physically get involved. I’ve seen paramedics approach these things and even they are cautious about what they initially do.
Were he bleeding profusely, as in a severed artery, I perhaps would have tried to stop the bleeding as I remember that first aid emphasized the importance of doing that so he doesn’t bleed to death. But if he were just oozing blood from the head or somewhere else, I’d probably let him lie because with this the possibility of further injury is greater from moving or touching him than him loosing his life from bleeding to death. And, I would not have moved him to make him more comfortable for the same reason.
I certainly would have been near and talked to him, whether he responded or not, if for no other reason than to make a larger obstacle in the street for other drivers to see.
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A few weeks ago, third son finished a life saving course for his military unit and was eating in a restaurant with some friends when a server fell to the floor with seizures. Shy son went to his aid as a given, keeping his head from banging tables and chairs while all onlookers did just that. Son pulled the guy’s wallet and handed it to a fellow soldier to check for a medical condition as per regs. Son then needed said soldier’s assistance and soldier handed wallet to onlooker. Emergency crew arrived and took over and onlooker began to walk out. Son stopped him and retrieved the wallet for server. The person being served when the incident began was a nurse. People are people. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
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#10 I don’t see how training will make people LESS responsible, but you’re right that America may be too big for such a sweeping solution.
When tragedy strikes, we’ll have to just continue to sit in our yards and whine and complain and wait for Uncle Sam to save us.
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Red Cross First Aid/CPR training is everywhere. I also took training from the LA Fire Department that went beyond First Aid/CPR. One thing I got from that is that the first person on scene is in charge. He/she (isn’t this awkward?) tells others what to do until authorities come.
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Most states have a “Good Samaritan” law which removes the threat of liability for damage done by the assistance, as long as:
1. The care rendered was performed as the result of the emergency
2. The initial emergency or injury was not caused by the person invoking the defense, and
3. The emergency care was not given in a grossly negligent or reckless manner.
Unfortunately lawyers still have a field day with the definition of the word ‘Emergency’. A woman in CA was sued by a victim because she said the car wreck was not an emergency.
Also, according to item #2, if you are involved in a car accident, it could be argued that you are not allowed to help the other victims since you may have caused their injury in the first place. Lawyers ruin everything good in life – Sorry NJL!
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Graceland,
While I would agree that a large group setting has a complex psychological and sociological dynamic to it, I am going to agree with Joel Mark here – that doesn’t let anyone off the hook, morally speaking.
“I guarantee you they all would have said yes,” to the question of would they help may be true. But that is just what they self-report.
“There were probably some very moral folks in that group,” is also undeniably true. But that doesn’t mean their behaviour, in that circumstance was moral. The flip side of that arguement is when you say, “Even those on this blog who many would refer to as immoral would jump to help someone if there were nobody around.” Well, if they were to do so, then at that time and in that circumstance they would be the more moral person, than the “moral” person who did nothing.
Remember that this is the whole point of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It confounds the expectations people hearing the story originally had about who will act morally and who will not. The “immoral” Samartian acts morally, while the “moral” priest, does not. The true neighbor is the one who acts morally towards others, not the one who we feel beforehand is “nicer” or more “moral”.
The morality of our actions isn’t in what we say we will do, nor in our past actions or overall pattern. It is what we do and say in each, present, situation.
By the way, though, you absoultely nail it when you state:
I am sure that, more than not, I view myself as a better person than I really am, and probably better than others. And that we all do. Remembering that judging others after the fact is easy, should keep us all more humble.
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I was thinking about what I would do if I were driving a car. I saw the following quotes:
“even more disturbingly, passing cars and people on the sidewalk nearby did nothing to help Torres.”
“As Torres lay in the street, nine cars passed him without stopping.”
“It’s a clear indication of what we have become when you see a man laying in the street, hit by a car and just drive around him,’ Roberts said.”
The fact that the cars didn’t stop in the middle of the road certainly gave emergency vehicles quick access to the accident site.
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Thomas,
You raise good points, and I agree with a lot of them. But in the parable of the Good Samaritan, you have individuals who are acting as, just that, individuals. They are confronted with a victim and are left with their own (indeed) morals for determining whether or not to help.
I just don’t think that morals were the primary factor in this recent case. Many of those people, when put in a situation like the parable, would have likely been Good Samaritans. In a large group setting, those moral inclinations were challenged by a sociological complexity that does not exist in the parable. I’m not excusing their non-action. Rather, I’m suggesting that morality played a lesser role in each individual’s (as part of the large group) decision to be a bystander.
In other words, I don’t think that it is the greatest of moral people who would have risen to the challenge in this case. I think it is the most sociologically-aware (which could include training in emergency response) who would have acted.
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Xion wrote: “Lawyers ruin everything good in life – Sorry NJL!”
I hear ya. This reminds me of a multi-state question on the bar exam. Person drowning in the ocean. Another goes to his aid and is about to drown himself. What to do? No, you don’t have to keep trying to the point of your own death. A fellow examtaker caught me outside before the afternoon session all upset having realized that she chose the wrong answer. I reminder what we learned in bar review: “Don’t love ‘em; don’t hate ‘em; they don’t care about you; don’t care about them.” So, yeah, lawyers are literally taught not to feel.
I saw the tape on the news, and I heard that the area is not only a high crime area, but these sorts of things have happened there before. At least some people called 911. But you’re right — why did no one standing there stop traffic and at least talk to the guy.
I disagree with the sociological excuse that in a group people wait for someone else to act. It may be so now, but I don’t think that was always true. It still comes down to what you would want done for you, that you should do.
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It still comes down to what you would want done for you, that you should do.
Of course. I’m not justifying the nonaction, just explaining what I think caused the nonaction. Obviously they should have cared for the guy instead of just standing there. It’s not an excuse, but it is definitely a sociological dynamic that complicates things.
Again, we shouldn’t be so quick to think we would have acted differently.
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I am not certain how son would have responded had he not just come out of training. One would hope he would have stepped forward, but without the training he might not have had the confidence to try to help. Doing something is generally better than standing around staring.
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I don’t know the condition of the man in the street who had been hit, but it’s a sad commentary on those around him to just stare and wait, not going to his side and trying to at least touch his hand and talk to him. If he was awake at all, he must have been in pain, shock and plain scared.
I was at the scene of an accident one time, it was dark — an elderly woman had been hit by a car. I parked ran to her side and talked to her, she was in pain, I waited with her as the ambulance came. I prayed for her. I went straight to UCLA where she was taken and waited until her daughter arrived and sat with her. People are in shock, they need comfort.
Another time I was in a restaurant near the University, a young woman was sitting at a table and slumped to the floor, I hurried to her side and tried to talk to her. She told me she had given blood and hadn’t eaten. I held her hand, and asked her if it were possible for her to drink some orange juice, she answered YES. The waiters ran for the juice. She needed help sitting up, so I helped her, then she sipped the juice. All this time, people were sitting watching the drama unfold, doing NOTHING. When she was able to sit on a chair I waited to see how things were going to go. A man walked by, and made it plain I was foolish to have given her orange juice, as he said “she could have chocked” — obviously he didn’t realize she could talk and was able to sit up a bit, as he was to far away in the restaurant to know one single thing that had transpired in the conversation. I asked him why that would be since she had given blood, fainted and needed something right away, —- I also asked him who are you to give orders, at which he said “I am a doctor” I looked at him and said “if you are a doctor why would you sit and watch this woman laying on the ground and do nothing” with which he walked away like a small boy without an answer for his despicable behavior.
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I purposely waited to respond to this blog to see what others would say.
Of course everyone chickened out though a few hinted around the subject manner.
What I saw was a group of black people who refused to come to the aid of a hispanic person.
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Graceland wrote; “In a large group setting, those moral inclinations were challenged by a sociological complexity that does not exist in the parable.”
Wrong. The moral implications of the Good Sam parable stand REGARDLESS of the “sociological complexities.”
Graceland wrote; “I’m not excusing their non-action. Rather, I’m suggesting that morality played a lesser role.”
Wrong. Selfish disregard of a seriously hurt person is a moral matter! Indeed, it’s a mora coma.
Secure the environment by stop the traffic. Do what you can to make sure no further harm is done. Comfort the hurt person as best you can. Keep wisdom in mind but by all means don’t do NOTHING!
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I would not have stood there. That’s a fact. I know myself and my history enough to say that. It’s no big deal except that standing there is totally unthinkable.
One time in Mexico, I was in an audience of 300 people listening to a speaker. A man jumped up and violently assaulted the speaker (he did not approve of the speaker’s free speech) and then attempted to run away. It all happened in what seemed like a split second. Everyone sat there frozen except me and one other guy. I went across several seats to get to the aisle just in time to tackle him. Then others soon helped out and the guy was held.
He was taken to prison and the speaker went to visit him the next day to ask why he did it. The Catholic attacker did not like what the Protestant speaker was saying.
If any of you want to question my motives or my confidence, fine. By I can still speak for myself on this blog, for which I am grateful.
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Wrong. Selfish disregard of a seriously hurt person is a moral matter!
I don’t think you are in a position to know that it was “selfish disregard”. For any people who saw the man and said to themselves, “Wow, that guy is in rough shape, but I’m kind of in a hurry and don’t want to get involved in something that messy” then SURE, it’s selfish disregard and it is completely a question of morality…just like the Good Samaritan.
I, on the other hand, am inclined to think that the thoughts running through peoples’ minds were, “Huh? What? Is that guy dead? Hey, did you see what happened? How about you? How long has he been laying there? Are any of you doctors? I don’t know CPR.”
Again, how can you be so quick to think you’d have handled the situation differently? Was it just by some freak occurrence that of the 25 or so people that were there, none were as moral as YOU?
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Joel Mark (27),
My apologies. You are quite the hero. If anything horrible happens to me, I pray that you will be somewhere in the vicinity to do what no one else is moral enough to do.
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25 – Hmm… they didn’t mention that on the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet!
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We were driving to the mountains to snowboard once in a heavy snowstorm. We were about to pull onto a big hill when we saw a Ford Explorer sliding down the hill and flipped on its side in a ditch.
We jumped out and ran over to help. But the guy was as calm as could be. He was in the cab sideways with his seatbelt on talking on his cell phone. We motioned whether he wanted help. He said No. It sounded like he was in the middle of a conference call or something. Maybe he was making a big sale.
So we called 9/11 and explained the situation. They told us not to do anything since the man didn’t want assistance. I wonder if his deal went through.
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Xion,
He was probably calling his lawyers so he could sue Ford and Firestone for his defective Ford Explorer that flips too easily. It’s a good thing you didn’t try to help him anyway. He might have sued you too!
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Recently, I Iowa, the truck ahead of me was literally blown off the road and tumpbled over in a gust of wind. The entire rig was flat on its side. When I stopped, the wind nearly ripped my car door off and it did blow my glasses right off my face and carried it some 30 feet away. But I ran to get it and went to check on the driver. He was standing (a bit bloodied) verticlly in his cab that was horizonal and in a daze. Help was on its way already. The driver said he was okay. It was unforgetable.
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Joel, and I bet you started praying when you saw what happened. I’m glad there are people like you who think of the injured and see what you can do to help.
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Graceland wrote; “If anything horrible happens to me, I pray that you will be somewhere in the vicinity to do what no one else is moral enough to do.”
If I thought or realized you were injured and I could help in any way, I would do what any person with half a heart would do–stop and try to help.
Graceland, your wording leaves me with the impression that you are demeaning me in some back-handed way. I really don’t know why but you are a fellow child of God and I would help in any way I reasonably could. Please pardon me if I am wrong.
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“The World is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.” — Albert Einstein
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I took my wife to NY City to see a play. We took a short walk in Central Park and came back to find our car windows smashed and all of our stuff gone. They even stole my Bible. This was in broad daylight right on 5th Avenue with joggers and people everywhere.
There were even people sitting on a park bench literally 10 feet from our car, but no one saw anything. We went to the police station to report the incident and they laughed at us. They handed us a form to fill out. It was promptly filed.
People are far less likely to get involved or care about others in cities.
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