Some days people make me sick... Witnessed an accident and no one helps.

I was driving back to the North Shore this afternoon around 4pm when I witnessed and old man completely lose control of his car, clip and nearly kill an unsuspecting cyclist and hit a tree head on doing at least 40-50kph.

There had to have been at least 50-60 witnesses as the intersection was packed and there were plenty of people on foot in the area. Out of all of those people only 2 people bothered to get involved, myself and another person who witnessed the accident from a distance.

The accident sounded horrible and I was expecting to find the driver in bad shape when I came running up to his window. His seatbelt saved his life. The cyclist who was the luckiest person on planet earth at that exact moment was shaken but ok after the out of control car's bumper clipped his rear tire and the cyclist somehow managed to stay upright during the entire ordeal. It wasn't his time to die apparently.

I had to cross 4 lanes of traffic to get to the scene and I was pretty shocked that only 2 people out of dozens of bystanders bothered to do anything about it.

WTF is wrong with our society that people feel that they don't need to get involved when they see a fellow person in trouble? It would have been different had there been a dozen people rushing to the scene with their phones out but there wasn't. No one did anything. Just after it happen there were two people in their early 20's snapping photos on their phones with big smiles on their faces.

I fucking hate humanity sometimes and this road we've been headed down for far too long is sickening. I was brought up to help those who are in trouble. Whether it's on the side of a trail or the side of a road I WILL ALWAYS do what I can to help someone out. I thought this was normal. I'm ashamed to be human today.

I had to get this off of my chest as it's been pissing me off ever since we found out everyone was ok :flame:

If two people were already running to the scene why should others get involved? You don't need 60 people all dialing 911 do you?

Isn't there some sort of group observer effect in that if people see other people they're less likely to help out because they think someone else will stop. This theory holds that the same people that happen upon a situation on their own will stop and help out.

Years ago I came upon a cyclist that had just crashed head first into an iron girder. Because this was before cell phones were prevalent and before I'd taken any first aid all I could do was stop ask if someone else could call 911 and then boot to the nearest building to see if there was someone with first aid.

in the end it didn't matter because the guy died before the ambulance got there.

If two people were already running to the scene why should others get involved? You don't need 60 people all dialing 911 do you?

No one was running at that point. It took me a good 30-60 seconds to get through traffic (in my car) and get to the scene. Everyone just stood around looking stunned and most people had already began to continue on with their day. Pretty weak IMO.

May I be the first here to thank you for helping them out.

Stay Human.

Well done. The bystander effect is well documented and those who don't fall prey to it are rare.

People suck. Fact.

Well done MikeO.

Nice work.

It happens all to often.

If two people were already running to the scene why should others get involved? You don't need 60 people all dialing 911 do you?

I get your point. But there could be worse things than 60 people running to help (and dialing 911). Its too easy to just say, 'Im not going to get involved… theres people there already'.

Its like they teach you in first aid … one person should take charge. "You call 911", "You help me open the car door", "Anybody here a doctor or trained in First Aid?" etc. Otherwise it would be chaos. I say good on you taking the initiative to be that person.

The number of people who jumped into help as a percentage is probably also representative of the percentage of people who do trail work.

They say there are three types of people in life.

Those who make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those who wonder what happenned.

There are very few who fall into the first catagory.

The number of people who jumped into help as a percentage is probably also representative of the percentage of people who do trail work.

shameless plug: http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=144688

I appreciate the kind words from the people on here but it wasn't my point in posting it. The thanks need to be directed to the other guy who stopped as well.

I've been in a few situations before where I've had to jump in and help but I was one of only a couple people around. I was honestly blown away at the complete lack of response by everyone around. It still bothers me that no one did anything. I don't know how any of those people could have slept last night after doing SFA. 2 people out of at least 50? That's a horrible percentage and it makes me sad.

It wasn't a dangerous situation. We weren't taking on an angry mob. There weren't bullets flying. I don't want to be all preachy or anything but if you see that someone is in desparate need of help, help them. That's all.

FWIW i saw a guy down on granville street today, and there were at least 8 people helping him out (one of whom had a rather large first aid duffle). obviously whatever happened had been a good 15-20min previous, but at least it shows that people are still willing to help out.

i think part of the problem could be liability, not everyone is aware of the good samaritan act.

on another note.. i had a first aid situation at my office (i'm an attendant) where i called 911 as the co-worker was in distress, and bc ambulance took her to st pauls. she got the bill for the ambulance ($80) and didn't want to pay, figuring the office should because she's not the one that called 911. so now the office is being billed $500 as a "corporate" rate, rather than the $80 personal. maybe next time i'll just let her croak. lol.