Hyderabad: Good Samaritans who rescue accident victims will get immunity from civil and criminal proceedings under the new MV Act. A research conducted by an NGO, Save Life Founda-tion, in 2018 showed that 33 per cent of respondents who were hesitant to help accident victims said they feared police harassment, Another 28 per cent attributed it to legal hassles and necessity of court appearances.
Hyderabad stands third in lack of awareness about the Good Samaritan law after Chennai and Bengaluru.
According to the 201st report on medical treatment after accidents and during emergency medical conditions, 50 per cent of the fatalities among accident victims can be averted if they are admitted to a hospital within the first one hour, the so-called ‘golden hour’.
Research has found that most victims die if no such care is available. The purpose of emergency medical care is to stabilise the patient which is not done as people hesitate to help those injured in accidents.
“How can we confirm that a person has been injured in the accident and had not been intentionally harmed and brought to hospital to exploit the law,” said traffic expert Vinod K. Kanumala. He said the back end processes were going on to test the viability of the Good Samaritan law. “Many doctors are unaware about the law,” he said.
