what a $hithead society we live in

[Gypsy]

this from sky news...



The disturbing CCTV footage



ROADSIDE VICTIM:http://www.purple-angel.co.uk/roadside.bmp

Security cameras have captured scores of drivers ignoring a woman laying injured by the side of the road.

Some of the motorists even swerved to avoid the woman rather than stop to help.


Police believe the 25-year-old woman may have been attacked before staggering to the spot in Sidcup, Kent.

A spokeswoman for Victim Support branded the incident a "sad sign of today's society".

We asked you whether you would have stopped? Why do you think so many people kept on driving? What does the incident say about modern day society? What can be done to change people's attitudes?

[triker_gal]

We've just watched this on Central News !!!


Completely gobsmaked that not one person stopped to help. The problem with society these days are, they're too busy, most dont care, some dont want to give statements, some fear they may get in trouble. There's all sorts of excuses/reasons given but for god sake , we're all human !!!!

I'm just glad we're not all like that :mad:

[technoboiler]

dont judge everyone the same
due to my line of work i am on my way home at pub kicking out time
this has resulted in numerous occasions where i have stopped to administer first aid and call for ambulance etc for victims of too much drink or attack
i have even been the person giving first aid whilst coppers stood by and watched!
so not everyone drives by....a lot of ppl just dont know what to do in situations and so they dont stop,,,,,confusion plays a part,,,and fear.

[triker_gal]

I didn't say "everyone" , most

[technoboiler]

i was posting that the same time as u triker,,,,so i didnt know what u posted,,,it was a generalisation..

[triker_gal]

now worries, I doubt that anyone for one moment would think nobody cares. Of course there are alot that do care and would stop, its just ashame that in this incident no-one did :(

[Rabid]

hopefully the CCTV operator called the emergency services immediately after all thats what they are there for isn't it?
Its a shame that most peaple are to full of their own self importance than to help somebody in need. We ought to be more like the germans and make it an offence to not to stop at an accident/incident unless there is somebody else there.

[defarter]

It's what life is about today unfortunately, I've stopped to help people as I'm sure a lot of other people would as well, Fear is what makes a lot of peeps blind to whats going on around them and getting involved to most is trouble. :(

[sicknote7]

From all accounts a passing bus driver did stop to help.

[triker_gal]

Yes, thankfully the bus did stop to help, but the police say she had been lying there a good 5 or so minutes before. In that time there were many cars passing by. :(


I just hope this never happens to me or anyone else , cos we just might be lying there bleeding to death one day with no offer of help.

[krammer]

i'd like to believe that all those people who drove past that women are ashamed of themselves, though i doubt it. i am sure however, that if she had been their daughter, wife, sister they would be the first to condemn the actions of the motorists.

[Rogue Monkey]

I think the council painting lines over her was a bit much! :eek:

[technoboiler]

pmsl,,,,,,,,,oh yr soooooooo bad.....

[xjtriker666]

trouble is if ppl stop an help that person an something serious happens to that person after u have helped them they can sue ya fer damages even tho u have tried to help that person......that is one reason y ppl dont stop to help other ppl in trouble...sign ov the times i,m afraid....even trained ppl r very unlikely to help bcause ov being sued...an yes it does happen.......

[Miss Demeanour]

actually, that's not strictly true.

if someone administers first aid, that can be legally justified on the grounds of necessity, or even 'implied consent' - arguing that the person would've consented, were they able to. (Although the former is the usual defence). A Jehova's Witness can sue over being given a blood transplant, however if no-one to know he was a JW, he was unconscious, and it was necessary to save the life, then the action is highly likely not to succeed.

Where people usually get embroiled in being sued is where that care falls below the standard expected of professionals (A breach of 'duty of care') which is usually misreported by the gutter press.

However just remember people can 'sue' for practically anything - it doesn't mean they're going to be successful - the suits are often reported in the press and given sensationalist headlines, but strangely, the result a month or so later ends up in small type on page 27...

So, unless you do something really *really* daft (like taking a crash helmet off a breathing accident victim who otherwise appears unharmed) it is highly improbable you'll get sued.

Back to the point - it's very sad this happened, but unfortunately, many people nowadays think someone else will deal with it...

[devon-tony]

sadly it is a sign of the times, indeed we now live in a very fcucked up society, drummed into peoples heads is that if it goes wrong we will just sue!!!

theres also the possibility that people may have felt threathened by the situation, hardly the norm, and maybe the people that did see it were afraid to help???

about 8 years ago on a friday night in southend, on way home from the pub, I stopped to help a guy sat on the kerb dangerously close to the traffic on a busy main road, right outside the courthouse as a matter of fact, bent down closer to try and help him to his feet and was well unprepared for a stanley knife to be held to me and then have my remaining cash fleeced from me, so as much as peiple might want to slate me for it, I would have to say that hand on heart Im not sure that I would have done anything, although if I had looked and seen the blood I guess that it would have been apparaant that help was needed.

the young kid that works for me also came up with an interesting train of thoght, if the CCTV wasnt there and just after you stop to help, the police arrive, guess whos going to be suspect number 1 !!!!!!!

but heres a thought for you, if they got her on CCTV, how comes they dont know how she got there???

[Miss Demeanour]

CCTV wasn't a 'permanent' one.

[Grav]

The CCTV was actually fitted to the bus that stopped, i can only assume the bus driver turned the camera to face the road.

[dracken1]

to expand on what devon tony said.

a few years ago i was travelling home through cannock chase, to those that don't know its 1000's of acres of trees with roads running through it..
i saw in my headlights a woman lying half on the verge half in ferns. i stopped,she was covered in blood and unconscious, mobile phones were a rare sight then so i put her in my car and took her to stafford a&e.
2 days later she came around and gave the name address etc of her attacker.
but in those 2 days my life was sheer hell which i spent in a police cell. i had blood on me a passing motorist reporting seeing me dump a body, when in fact i was putting her in my car, a simple mistake but one they belived,
and they were convinced they had the right person when in the process of turning my camaro inside out they found my colours. so then it was a case of my club been involved and that she was some slapper who had offended us in some way (she turned out to be a girl from newcastle having it away with her boss).
when it was all sorted they still did't let me go with a sorry sir but we have to be cautious.. no it was a we'll remember you!! lolol.
so would i stop to help if the same situation arose? i honestly don't know

[Nitrowing]

i've stopped for a few incidents - in cases where I was able to help I rang (or got someone else to ring) 999 and got on with the re-assurance & ABC. Watching an entire crowd of people wander off and leave me too it at a bike crash was horrifying - they all just walked away as soon as I started helping the injured!!
The main problem is people not knowing what to do (in which case it's better if they walk on by), because they know they don't know 'how' to help they get scared and flee.
I've always had people stop and help me when I've been on the ground and I'll always do the same :)

[rommel]

Even if people were scared of what might happen, the least someone could have done, in this age of the mobile phone, was to have stopped the car/vehicle next to her and called for an ambulance/police and remained there until they arrived!!!!!

[Shudy]

Surprised she didn't get a ticket off an over zealous traffic warden. Try leaving a motor there for 5 minutes.

[Freak]

To be really honest, I'm not sure that I'd stop. I would if I'd seen the initial incident or accident which caused her to be there, otherwise I'd be very concerned about being blamed for knocking her down or attacking her.
Not sure if thats the fault of the compensation culture or the the frickin "lets nick him, he's closest" police.
Sad really, It's certainly not the way I was brought up. Not so long ago, I would have stopped for anyone or anything, but these days I have to think twice, by which time I might have passed by.

[Santa]

Like just about everybody else I was apalled that this could happen. I think the point made that folks didn't stop because they didn't know what to do is a very valid one. Why is basic first aid not a compulsory subject at school?
WE also live in a 'me first' society these days, nobody gives a toss for anybody else. As I see it the least we can all do is bring our own kids up to have a wider view of life and society so that perhaps in future this trend could be reversed (or am I being too naive?). There is also the issue that we pay more each year in council tax towards policing and seem to get less and less for our money ( good grief - a biker complaining about lack of police on the streets. If that's not a sign of the times I don't know what is!). Too much reliance is placed on cctv etc when generally the resulting images are of such poor quality that you can't identify people anyway!

[bill?]

"Too much reliance is placed on cctv etc "

yeah the police use it all the time to avoid places where there is a problem or trouble.


there's been too many incidents where someone has gone to help a 'victim' only to get mugged themselves. so in area's where this happens people just cross the road or go a different direction when they see a body in the road.

and as for ringing the police about anything, they seem more concerned about your details, what you've been doing, when / if you got a police record, and nothing about what you want to report. by the time you have finished the phone call you feel guilty.

[Rabid]

I agree Bill i think that the state are partially to blame for this type of thing. They try to molly coddle us to much then dont understand when we cant/wont do something.

[Freak]

Wiv ref. to my previous posting.
I've been thinking about this most of the day. Would I have stopped?

Oddly, if it had been an old person, child, cycle rider or biker (i.e. wiv their bikes) I would have stopped straight away without the slightest hesitation.
I cant really explain my reluctance (not really the right word) to want to stop for other age groups. Perhaps I dont trust people.

[Kingo]

As a parent of 2 epileptic daughters I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of this sort of thing, when my daughters were young they used to have grand-mal siezures (fits) where they would go unconsious anywhere and just fall down on the ground, and people would just walk past totally ignoring them as if they were not even there :mad:

[krammer]

yeah, some valid points well made. a couple of months ago at work me and my mate saw what at first appeared to be a petite woman struggling with a really big fella, we jumped out of the van prepared to kick fuck out of him when, in fact what had happened was his blood sugar had dropped, he'd jumped out of his car leaving the engine running in the middle of the road and tried to get to a shop to buy a sugary drink and a chocolate bar. he collapsed and the women who was passing at the time was struggling to get him to his feet. i ran into the newsagents, got him a bottle of coke and a choc bar gave them to him and within a couple of minutes he was ok. so i understand peoples reluctance to get involved but on this occasion my first impression of a scene turned out to completely wrong.

[GarrysPhrogg]

I feel very much like freak on this one and I don't really know why!!! I don't consider my self to be a bad or uncaring person, but I am very dubious about someone laid in the street, Like freak said I wouldn't hesitate at helping a biker just stuck at the side of the road or a child or elderly person, but Im terrified of drug abusers etc and the way we always here about the good samaritan going to the aid of someone then getting mugged by them, also the case of dracken (i think it was him) who was accused of things after helping someone, looking at it now though I would stop but I wouldn't aproach them or touch them until I called someone else to stop too so they were a witness, it is a sad society that we live in but not because the majority are selfish and uncaring they are just untrusting and scared.

[Dougie]

Seen it too often....
Man beats woman.
Punter steps in,remonstrates with man.
Woman turns on punter,"Don't talk to MY man like that"
Punter gets panelled by man and woman.
Man and woman go off best of pals (til next fight)
Punter goes to hospital.
Punter minds own business in future!

[Tiger Lily]

:mad: A workmate a while back stopped her car to help a woman who looked pregnant and had fallen into the kerbside in front of her. She bent down to her, the woman turned round and whacked her round the face, almost breaking her nose, jumped up & ran towards my workmates car. My workmate then noticed that there was a man sitting in her drivers seat. He didn't stay there long. Luckily my workmate had removed her car keys. They both ran off, the girl removing a cushion from her front as they ran. But unfortunately they also had my workmates handbag.

This happened on quite a busy road in daylight. The offenders were never caught.

[Doro]

maybe it's stupid but I would always stop to help, I couldn't live with myself if I just ignored someone who may be dying. I'd act first and suffer any possible consequences later. Ok so today's society might make me lock my car doors before I left my car, or stick my bag round my neck, but I'd still try to help.

Even if all I did was re-direct the traffic so no-one ran over her, or a simple call to 999, I'd do my best.

Some of the things I've read in here have made me very sad, and worried about the future.

:(

[ollie]

the cctv pictures you can see were from the bus that stopped (useful for once - normally they're used for getting the number plates of motors in the bus lanes :o )

[Doro]

I read in today's paper that this was indicitive of 'Blair's Britain' etc etc

and a sign of how society was breaking down blah blah blah



This fella stopped to help someone who'd been mugged. The victim was an immigrant and the guy didn't really agree with immigrants being here. But he'd watched several other immigrants walk round the victim, even crossing the road to avoid him, just in case the muggers were lying in wait for more victims. So this geezer risked his own safety to help someone he didn't know or like very much.



The Good Samaritain...!




and that was in biblical times...!!



not bible bashing, just showing evidence that this sort of thing has always existed

[Rogue Monkey]

I think you should do wot you thinks right at the time. Maybe by doing that you end up in the ****e. But, at least you know in yerself that you did the right thing. H,mmm! am I bollocksed or wot? :o :p