Karnataka has become the first State in the country which will grant legal protection to the ‘good samaritans’ who help accident victims with emergency medical care within the ‘golden hour’. President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the related Bill passed by the State legislature.
In medical parlance, ‘golden hour’ means the first hour after the accident. Incidents of road accidents are on rise in India. As many as 1,50,785 people were killed in road accidents in 2016.
The President has given his assent to the Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016, a Home Ministry official said.
Karnataka has followed the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry for Road, Transport and Highways, following the Supreme Court’s direction in 2015 to protect ‘good samaritans’. After the apex court’s directions, the Centre came out with guidelines in this regard for the States to make a uniform law in this matter.
It has been found that bystanders often refrain from helping accident victims due to the fear of legal and procedural hassles, now with the passing of this law things will change as it provides protection to good samaritans and ensure quick medical aid for road accident victims and encourage people to offer first aid to victims without fear of legal wrangles.
Under the new law, the Karnataka Government will provide financial help to good samaritans who help road accident victims.
They will be exempted from repeated attendance in courts and police stations, in case attendance is mandatory, expenses of such “running around to courts and police stations” will be taken care through the proposed ‘Good Samaritan Fund’.
After admitting the accident victim to the hospital, the good samaritan can leave immediately.
All Government as well as private hospitals are bound to give first aid to the accident victims, according to the new legislation.
Another official said there have been many instances when people get busy in clicking photos or making videos of the victims, instead of providing the accident victims medical help.
“With the new law, there will be clear message that good samaritans will not be harassed in any manner,” the official said. There were 4,80,652 road accidents in the country in 2016 in which 1,50,785 people were killed. In 2015, there were 5,01,423 road accidents in the country in which 1,46,133 people were killed.
Karnataka is one of the top five States which saw a large number of people getting killed in road accidents in 2016 and 2015.
The Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016, is the first such piece of legislation enacted in the country.
The Department of Parliamentary Affairs sent the Bill to Kovind for his approval on February 18, 2017, “as clauses 3, 4, 5, 9 and 13 of the Bill are repugnant to Chapter 12, 23, and 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 1973, which is a Central legislation.