Recognizing Altruism- Good Samaritan Laws

Table of Contents

Recognizing Altruism- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways took an initiative to award Good Samaritans who save the lives of road accident victims with a cash prize.
This is a welcome attempt to reduce India’s staggering annual death toll from mishaps.

Global comparison: India ranks third among 20 nations that have the highest number of accidents.
- India fares far worse on an important metric- cases to fatalities ratio- compared to the U.S. and Japan, which have more recorded crashes but fewer deaths.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data: Even during COVID-19 led severely disrupted mobility period, 1,33,715 lives were lost in 1,20,716 cases attributed to negligence relating to road accidents.

Motor Vehicles law and Good Samaritans:
- Under it, a Good Samaritan voluntarily helps an accident victim with no expectation of payment or reward.
- Under the law, the good Samaritans have no legal obligation to record his involvement or aid the investigation in the case.
- Last year, a chapter was added in the Act through an amendment, to sensitize police forces and hospitals on good Samaritans.
National Road Safety Board: Government recently notified National Road Safety Board.
- Mandate: to formulate standards on, among other things, safety and trauma management, to build capacity among traffic police, and put the crash investigation on a scientific footing.
Associated Challenges: Even after the amendment last year in the Act, altruism is still affected by the perception of harassment and legal complications.

About: It will reward socially-minded individuals who offer immediate assistance and rush a victim with certain kinds of injuries to the hospital, with ₹5,000 and a certificate of recognition for saving a life.
Funding: State governments are responsible for the plan, with the Centre providing an initial grant, but the Union Transport Ministry will give its own award of ₹1 lakh each to the 10 best Good Samaritans in a year.

Government should start with scientific road design and standards, and zero-tolerance enforcement for violations.
Good Samaritan Plan: It should be implemented with the goal to reduce accidents and the ratio of deaths and injuries to cases.
- Eliminating the bureaucratic barriers: District Committees tasked with awarding good Samaritans should readily recognize their contribution, aided by the police, hospitals, and RTOs.

Many more people will continue to be impelled by sheer altruism to help road users involved in a crash, and governments should get bureaucratic barriers out of their way.