Would You Stop And Help If You Witnessed A Road Accident?

[richieudon]

I heard screams from my house yesterday. I wondered what was going on?

It was just getting dark and I was about to take the wife and baby for some dinner.

As I turned out of my soi I saw the ambulance coming. There was a bit of commotion up the road and I stopped to take a peek as now there was a croud gathering.

I saw police handcuffing a guy around 30 years old, face down on the floor and then being thrown into the ambulance.

His motorbike was slightly mangled and his helmet was split in half on the side of the road (yes he was wearing one!).

I asked my wife what happened and she told me the guy was drunk, veered of the road into a concrete post and went into a ditch.

When some locals tried to help him he wanted to fight them all and the police were called.

She also told me "If you EVER see an accident NEVER stop to help, you could get into trouble!"

I have heard before of farangs witnessing accidents and then being blamed for causing them although I don't actually know of anyone myself who's had this happen. I do have friends that have seen some nasty things happen but just drove on for fear of being caught up.

Anyone had any experience of this sort of thing happen to them...?

[neverdie]

This has been discussed a thousand times on thai visa.

Theres alot of people on here that support your wifes theory about not stopping to help as you might get the blame for something, apparently its happened to someone before, sounds like an urban myth to me.

Anyway, it all comes down to what you can live with, if you can handle driving past a remote accident scene knowing that you can assist someone but fail to do so & perhaps you later find out they perished because they suffocated or something simple like that, well thats up to you to live with. In the event you drive past an accident scene and theres endless amounts of thai people doing their thing, then theres probably no point stopping anyway, afterall what good could a farang do there anyway?

Personally, I have stopped at just a couple of MVA's where I was first on the scene and have helped there without problem, so I guess the choice is yours?

[junglist]

I once even stopped traffic with people beeping and yelling just to help get a pour little puppy off the road. People here have become hard and sadly often heartless. Stop and help. If you were in need wouldn’t you hope someone would stop and help?

Now all that said every situation is different. If the person how has wrecked his car was drunk and wants to fight then forget him he is scum and doesn’t deserve any assistance.

[londonthai]

at least what should be done in situation, when you first witness an accident, is to call police and give them report, if there are likely to be injured/dead.

[Jonathanpattaya]

This has been done to death, if you'll pardon the pun?

No, do not get involved.

[madjbs]

If you wouldn't stop at a road accident where you are first on the scene then you should be ashamed of yourself. It would be a disgusting thing to do, leaving somebody to possibly die.....

[Thongkorn]

I have stopped and assisted in an accident . i would like to think that if i had the misfortune to have an accident someone would help me. Dont Belive all that you are told or read. Yes urban mith.

[jaapfries]

I have stopped and assisted in an accident . i would like to think that if i had the misfortune to have an accident someone would help me. Dont Belive all that you are told or read. Yes urban mith.

All of you who believe in this so-called "Urban Myth" you are extremely naive.

I have lived/worked in this wondrous Kingdom for almost 18 years and my position on this matter is as simple as it is sensible:

NEVER ever stop at ANY accident scene ! !

It could literally cost you millions of Baht; not to mention "time spent in a jail cell".

I never said this is an easy thing to do; but believe you me: you're begging for trouble !

BTW; I am most certainly NOT some bitter, long-staying expat; I am a very happy, totally in-love-with-Thailand positive person, butI do recognize the stark cultural differences between this land and 'the old country'.

Cheers,

JGK/Pattaya

[londonthai]

why?

[MyphuketLife]

I don't know if I could live with my self, but even the paper tells farangs not to stop (wish I could find the article)... Even if you don't get blammed for the accident, if you stop and give any sort of medical help you could find your self paying hostipal bills, as Thailand has no laws that protect some one trying to help. If the family wanted to they could simply accuse you of doing the wrong thing, and you will get stuck with the bills. it was in the paper and discussed on this forum about a year ago....

Knowing all this I still think I would stop... I know dam_n well if I was in a ditch I would hope some one stopped to help me...

[sibeymai]

Nobody stopped to help me after a highway accident. Lots of Thais standing around gawking and stealing what they could get their hands on from in the car, but nobody helping.

Well, if that's how the locals play it, there should be no further example needed.

[Farfetched]

Nobody stopped to help me after a highway accident. Lots of Thais standing around gawking and stealing what they could get their hands on from in the car, but nobody helping.

Well, if that's how the locals play it, there should be no further example needed.

I was involved in a rather severe on car accident at the end of October. After being forced off the road into the median, we struck a tree and spinning the car around several time. Before I could even get my wits about me, several local Thais were at the car door assisting myself and my friend from the car. They helped us accross the road to a food stall where they tended to our many cuts from flying glass, until an ambulance and the police showed up. They retrieves all our belongings from the car and even found my glasses in the weeds after they had been kncked out the broken window during the accident.

Well, if this is how the locals play it, there should be no further example needed. Yes, I would stop if I were first on the scene or felt I could provided needed assistance.

[uhuh]

Nobody stopped to help me after a highway accident. Lots of Thais standing around gawking and stealing what they could get their hands on from in the car, but nobody helping.

Well, if that's how the locals play it, there should be no further example needed.

I was involved in a rather severe on car accident at the end of October. After being forced off the road into the median, we struck a tree and spinning the car around several time. Before I could even get my wits about me, several local Thais were at the car door assisting myself and my friend from the car. They helped us accross the road to a food stall where they tended to our many cuts from flying glass, until an ambulance and the police showed up. They retrieves all our belongings from the car and even found my glasses in the weeds after they had been kncked out the broken window during the accident.

Well, if this is how the locals play it, there should be no further example needed. Yes, I would stop if I were first on the scene or felt I could provided needed assistance.

yes, this is how the locals play it

i know of many cases like yours

admittedly, there are some rotten eggs too: the ones that steal belongings from an accident scene...

but they are a minority

[wasabi]

I would call the police and keep driving. I realize many Thai's would stop and help me if I had an accident but a Thai helping a downed Farang vs a Farang helping a downed Thai simply does not result in the same reception from the Thai community. There's too much risk of receiving blame or having your intentions misunderstood.

[nidhogg]

There's too much risk of receiving blame or having your intentions misunderstood.

We come from countries where there are frequently enacted "good samaritan" laws, which provide a measure of legal protection to some one trying to help.

Be warned that there are NO such equivalent laws in Thailand, and yes, you could end up in a great deal of trouble in trying to provide asistance, however well intentioned.

[madjbs]

Very poor excuse. An urban myth, with no actual examples of anything bad taking place.

Anyhow, even if it were true, people do risky things all the time without a second thought. People crash cars, are you going to stop driving? People get run over on the street, are you going to stop crossing the road? People fall down their stairs and break a leg, are you going to stop using stairs? All of these situations have hundreds of documented cases, yet people will continue to do such things without a second thought. Whereas the "farang being blamed for everything" situation has none, yet people are already claiming they won't stop and save someone because of it, rather leaving someone to possibly die.

If people are already on the scene then there is no need to stop, if you are the first there and there is nobody else about then you are a awful example of a person. I hope you are never in the same situation, we will see how you feel then......