Reporting Driving Accidents in India

I was coming back from hanging out in Saket for Valentine’s night when I saw a man lying on the Ring Road highway! 

Because it was dark and the highway was not properly lighted, I only saw the shadow of a man and couldn’t be sure there was actually someone there.  I was on the phone (Blue Tooth) with a friend and we were just talking about hit and runs and traffic accidents and road rage in Delhi.  I had just finished agreeing with her that it is best not to take matters into your own hand – i.e., in India, especially Delhi, you should not stop your car if you see someone in need.  Chances are, you will be blamed for the accident.  If a crowd develops, you could be hit and beaten.  If the cops get there, they will question you!  Being a good samaritan has generally not been a good idea.

A few minutes later, I saw this man and my gut reaction kicked in.  I pulled over to the left and then immediately reversed my car.  There were three people standing on the two-feet high sidewalk.  One was a man in his 40s.  There was a young girl, in her late 20s.  And there was someone else.  I immediately yelled at the man, in Hindi, why he wasn’t helping the guy!

He and I both ran to the middle of the road and looked at the man.  I saw he was breathing.  He had blood coming from his mouth and from his head.  It looked like a leg may have been broken but I couldn’t tell because it could have just been his pants giving it that look.  The main thing was that he was breathing.  By this time, 3-4 other guys had stopped.

I asked if there was a hospital nearby, thinking I would put the man in the car and take him there.  No one seemed to know and I think one guy even said there wasn’t any.  I didn’t know what someone is supposed to do to get help so I asked the man I had initially talked to to call someone.  It turns out you dial 102 to get the ambulance and 100 to get the police, the equivalent of 911 in the States.  The man called 100 and reported that the ambulance will be there in 2-3 minutes.  A couple of others had stopped and one guy said there was no ambulance going to arrive unless you called the police.  He said we had to call 100, not 102.  A few minutes of random discussion and I dialed 100, told the lady where I was on the Ring Road, and she said she was dispatching a cop. 

Right around that time, I saw an ambulance come.  It was relief that indeed it did arrive and not hours later, but very quickly.  I was a bit surprised but not so much either.  The guys who got off the ambulance did not look like they were professionals at all.  One guy had an unclean beard.  They were not dressed in any kind of uniform.  I asked loudly, almost giving directions, if they had a stretcher.  Immediately they got it, as if I had to ask for it for them to take action instead of them doing it themselves.  If they were going to check the guy first, then they should have done that and not let me stop their procedure.  Regardless, the main thing is they arrived on time, there was a stretcher, they put him in the vehicle, and took him to the hospital.

I even thought of giving the ambulance driver Rs. 1000 or Rs. 1500 towards the care of the man.  I didn’t know how much it would cost, but clearly more than that.  It was going to be something that perhaps got him admitted was what I was thinking.  Then I thought that it would never get to the hospital, the driver guys would just keep it.  So I didn’t give it to them.

As I walked to my car, I saw that the police had already arrived.  The crowd of 3-4 people had gone to the cops and were explaining what happened.  The original man who I had talked to, he was wearing a nice coat, looked like a decent person, and I probably were thinking the same thing – the man has been helped, let’s get out of here before we get in trouble.  He shook my hand twice and thanked me as I thanked him.  He said if I hadn’t stopped, he was not going to help the man.  He wasn’t going to do it alone.  He told me the guy was crossing the highway, one car missed him, and a second red colored one, hit him.

I got back in my car, started driving home, and called my friend.  I described to her what all transpired.  She said it was good that the ambulance came.  If I had taken him there, he might not have gotten treatment.  This way, he will surely get help.  I didn’t know why and I didn’t think to ask at the time.  We discussed how the sad thing is that they have created the highways with good speed now (up to 100 km/hr when no one is there but usually never faster than 45 to 50 due to traffic and massive construction everywhere) but there is no walkways for pedestrians to cross from one side of the road to the other.  The only thing they can do is cross directly on the high-speed roads.  They’ve built a highway, but not really thought it through to provide full measure of expected traffic on the foot.  Walkways over or under need to be built.

In India, and this is something that perhaps is slowly changing, it is true that people do not help anyone in need if they see them on the streets like that.  If you stopped and helped, it was usually you who was questioned.  People assumed you were the one who caused the accident.  The idea of you being a good samaritan didn’t exist.  Maybe still doesn’t except for rare circumstances.  My gut reaction, having grown up in the States and being me, was to get this man help, even if I knew in my mind that I could be getting myself in trouble.  All I know is that I’m glad I saw him, glad I stopped, and glad the man got to a hospital.  As my friend said, at least now he has a chance to live and get treatment.  I had done my good deed for the day.