The number of such cases seems to increasing by the day; it already seems to be quite frequent in bangalore and even when you really do hit someone and try to help (as in the case of jaysmokesleaves;
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...-accident.html) the law is never on your side, they are just out to fleece you.
This trend has unfortunately led to a number of people advising against stopping under any circumstance. I too was almost convinced of this view till a few days ago...
Me and my mom had gone to drop my dad off at the airport early in the morning and were returning via university road towards hinjewadi. After crossing the parihar chowk intersection, we came across a bad accident. Just opposite the old octroi naka (before sangvi junction) was a man lying on the road, his scooter a few meters ahead of him. He was bleeding profusely and his helmet had been thrown off his head (it was one of those cheap helmets with almost no padding and no fastening clip). This was at around 5:45 am.
I stopped my car at the side of the road and got down to see what was happening. A few bystanders were standing at some distance from him, just staring at him. I asked of anyone had called the ambulance or the police, to which everyone said no. This kind of shook me, they were just coolly standing there and looking at him. I had left my phone in the car, so I asked the driver of another car (who had just stopped next to me to see what had happened) to call the 100 or 102 (my car was stopped a little ahead). He picked up his phone, started dialing some number and drove off....
Seeing the situation, I ran to my car and tried desperately to call 100, 102, but there was no response. So I drove ahead to the octroi post and my mom got down and told the guy behind the counter of the accident and asked him for the nearest police station's number (sangvi being the nearest). He too first tried 100, but no one answered, so he searched for the number and called the station. They answered and said they would be there in 5 mins.
As soon as this was over, we drove back to the scene of the accident and the same crowd was still there; i noticed many people in their cars slow down to see the accident, some even got down to have a closer look, but no one did anything to help. And its not just taxi drivers in indicas who stopped and got down, I even noticed some educated people from a honda city, a palio, and a swift get down, see the guy and walk off.
The time was now 5:55; all that had happened above took 10 mins. Once I got back to the scene, my mom started calling medipoint hospital (which was the closest private hospital) and I went to the guy and tried to check his pulse. Now I could be wrong since i'm no medical professional, but I couldn't find a pulse. but since he had sustained such a severe head injury (the left side of his temple was smashed and his blood had oozed to a distance of over 2 metres.) its possible that the pulse was too weak for me to detect. While I tried to check his pulse, I got a closer look at him and now understood why people didn't want to come near him.....lets just say it was not a pretty sight, at all.
I was just about to ask some of the bystanders to help me lift him and put him in my car when the police came. As soon as they took the corner at sangvi phata, I got back to my car, asked my mom to get in, and took a u-turn to get back in the right direction; the reason for this action was that I don't trust the police, at all. I was the only guy in a car who had stopped to help, I was on the same side of the road as the accident and my car has a dent on the right side fender; fearing the police's thirst to try and get a hit and run suspect, I slowly kept on driving and saw the police take the man into their van on my rear view mirror; i felt relieved and silently prayed for the man's life.
I am not proud of the fact that I backed off just as i saw the cops, but i'm not a maharashtrian, and if even by the slightest chance I get stuck in a police case, I don't have the ability or the means to fight it through. Just seeing the whole incident shook my mom; she hasn't slept properly for the past few days.
My bottom line is this; no matter what happens, PLEASE ACT LIKE A HUMAN FIRST and an Indian second. Atleast try to do your best (ensuring you won't get stuck with the law) before you decide to ignore an accident.
MODS, if this is the inappropriate place for this thread, please shift.