What do you think about bystander laws?

Sad we need them but good to have them.

Generally I’d say they should be written with a fair amount of common sense – basically if someone seems to be in need of aid, render it (or ask if that’s more reasonable); if you don’t know what you’re doing or believe you’re likely to make a bad situation worse, stay out of it; if there’s no one else around and it’s life or death feel free to err on the side of life.

Bottom line: don’t discourage people from helping or at the very least offering assistance when reasonable or needlessly punish them because the situation didn’t turn out for the best.

We have the Good Samaritan Law in Tennessee. It essentially holds a person non-liable for attempting to save a life.

Exanple: a tanker tractor-trailer loaded with gasoline, turned over and caught fire. This occured in a remote region of the state. Help was many miles away. The driver was trapped underneath the truck, by his left arm. Passerby stops, and expecting an explosion any minute, takes a saw and cuts the mans arm off. It saved his life. This person was covered under the states Good Samaritan Law.

If they encourage someone to help who otherwise wouldn’t have then I think that’s a good thing.

I am glad they exist. If samaritans could be punished for making a mistake, that would give plenty of people incentive not to try and help in an emergency situation. Basically what @Lightlyseared said.

If the Good Samaritan Law was available in 2002 maybe the grad student could have gotten away with hitting Sandusky in the head with a baseball bat while he was screwing that 10 year old kid in the shower.
That would have saved a lot of heartache and taxpayer dollars.

I’m a brave little soul, and if I was involved in a life threatening situation I could give a flying flip about bystander laws. I will do what needs to be done in the moment and if it deemed somehow “wrong”..well…guess I’ll cross that bridge when it happens.

I once was behind a motorcyclist that went down after hitting a dog.

He had a badly broken leg and was in the middle of the highway and I dragged him to the side of the road. He was conscious, had no back or neck pain and I HAD to get him outta the road.

It all worked out fine.

I also rescued a little boy from his druggy mom who was driving erratically all over the road. She pulled over and he jumped out saying his mom was scaring him.

I took the child up to a local ranch as the mother screamed at me to give him back. Not on my life lady!

Both situations worked out just fine, and, I recieved a citizens commendation award for what the Sheriffs dept. deemed ” heroic intervention.” Silly really, one just does what needs to be done in the moment.

I think the laws also protect bystanders who do nothing. Any comments on that?

@JLeslie Sure. I don’t think people should be obligated to do anything. If they’d have to put themselves in harm’s way to help somebody else, or if they didn’t feel qualified to help, then I think it’s understandable to not do anything and they shouldn’t be punished for it.

@JLeslie There are instances where people have tried to help but maybe had it back fire on them I assume. It depends on the situation. Like @worriedguy stated: what if I did catch a child molestation in progress and in a rage I beat the perv up but then I got sued?

Samaritan laws that protect people who help in good faith are necessary. But laws that compel people to help are misguided. It assumes that failure to help is a blatant disregard.

My position is not at all related to mandated reporting by teachers, doctors, therapists, etc.

Only in America!

@wonderingwhy Regarding the Penn State issue, PA is one of the few states that does not require teachers, coaches, etc to report these things to government authorities.

My wife is a nurse so those laws are very important to her. My emergency help is usually carrying the crying kid back to its parents. None were seriously bleeding but the crying and screaming was damaging to my health. I never thought about the law when I was helping get a woman out of her car when she rolled it. All I remember thinking was to check for broken bones and get her out because the gasoline smell was very strong.

Have you ever heard of a guilty bystander?

I’m glad that they’re there. It would take a lousy sort of person to want to punish me for trying to help him, but the world has no shortage of those. Especially since things like CPR and arterial bleeding can be tricky.

Even with good samaritan laws, if you help and are negligent in helping, you can be held liable for the harm you cause. No one should be obligated to help save a special relationship.

Good Samaritan laws are kind of like Citizens Arrest laws.

A citizen has a right to make an arrest for a crime that occured in his/her presence.

This mostly pertains to felony offenses and not misdemeanors. Although I have taken a man into custody based on a citizens arrest for reckless driving. It varies in most states.