Friday, June 06, 2008

People Ignore Hit and Run Victim

Some Mod-Bloggers know that my wife was the victim of a hit-and-run accident when a pickup truck rear ended her car. Thankfully, there was a concerned citizen who followed the pickup truck and contacted the police. Since then, I have found that hit-and-runs are on the rise in the U.S. In an age where we teach our children that it's "me first" and no one is responsible for their actions, this is the logical conclusion. Well, even more disturbing is this recent hit and run in Hartford, CT. An elderly man walking across the street is hit by a car and not only does the car keep driving, but NINE other cars passed right by him. Bystanders on the sidewalk waited over 40 seconds before even getting close enough to stop traffic. When asked why no one would help, one person responded "This area here is hot, a lot of bad stuff." When asked why people wouldn't call for help (though four people did call 911) he responded, "If you want to, but you're involved then." While I understand people fearing for their life in a high crime area by being labeled a snitch, it appears it's more than that... people value their time as too important to "waste" it on getting involved. Chief Daryl Roberts summed it up best by saying, "We no longer have a moral compass."

Warning: The link is to the story. On the story is a video that contains the actual surveillance tapes of the hit-and-run. The video is disturbing, but in my opinion, worth watching to see what a heinous act this was.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We in CT have seen this clip over and over on all the news outlets. It is disturbing now matter how often they show it.

Fear of litigation is one reason for not helping.

quizwedge said...

But doesn't CT have a Good Samaritan law... that is, if you help in good faith, even if you end up doing harm, you can't be prosecuted?