Chinese Toddler Run Over, No One Helps! - Page 25

On October 18 2011 13:35 Kaiyotic wrote:
I wouldn't put it past the courts to "reason" that if you stopped driving to make an emergency call, you probably caused the accident. Not that it makes it right to not call, just something to think about.

The legal problem in this situation is not straightforward at all. In the US, and most western countries, you can generally count on due process and rule by law: You'll be tried with the same laws in the same way as everyone else. You cannot assume that in mainland China. The judges can do basically whatever they like, with no real check to their power. Your video evidence? Not likely to make a difference if the judge has already decided how to rule-- there's a reason a courtroom is one of the scariest places to be in mainland China. And something about lawyers: defense lawyers regularly get intimidated by the CCP when they take on a controversial case. There are probably hundreds of thousands of lawyers; how many are going to stand up to the party and risk being imprisoned or "disappeared"? Even they are doing the right thing, they won't be doing it for much longer. The Constitution itself states that you have rights...until the government takes them away (Article 51, for those who want to check).

There's no redress of grievances. Someone mentioned that half a billion signatures on a petition would change things. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this, and cry at how depressing it is. A petition in China can often be little more than a list of people the government targets next. Hence the "mind your own business" mentality.

Part of it is just the class problem in the mainland. My family's from Taiwan, but we visit China often enough. The first thing my parents tell me when we get to the airport? Don't trust anyone you don't know. There are a lot of poor people in China, desperate for money, who prey upon people who are overly generous, overly trusting-- it's not unheard of to be kidnapped when you try to help someone, though obviously that wasn't the case here. This is the environment you live in. Add in the fact that the 2006 precedent scares the crap out of the altruists who are left, it's almost surprising anyone steps in to help anyone anymore. I agree with Blasterion's point here; of course it would be morally right to help the girl, but you can't know what the risk is to yourself. In the most perverse interpretation, if you walked and saw the girl lying there, you could think that she was faking it to bait you into helping her before someone else abducts you for ransom; a longshot, for sure, but not beyond possibility-- which is truly scary. (If you think that her injuries couldn't possibly be faked, remember what China is known for. The blindings like in Slumdog Millionaire still happen, and sometimes it's not just eyes you lose.)

I can't say that I would help the girl out even if I walk past; I'd probably report the emergency and walk away, because there's not much more you can do without exposing yourself to harm or costs that could ruin you and all of your relatives.

If you want me to say who's a fault, it's clear: the truck drivers and the system. It's tragic that this occurs, but understand why people don't help: there's a real threat of financial and bodily harm.