Chinese Toddler Hit By Van, Then Ignored For Several Minutes By 18 Passers-By

[JoJo]

Eeriely similar to the situation in the parable "the Good Samaritan", somewhere in China recently a 2 year old girl who had wandered off from her mother was hit by a van, which then carried on and 18 people (and another van which ran over her again) passed by over several minutes before someone finally helped. Apparently some paused to look but none offered assistance. For more information see the video at the below link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15341136

Apparently there's already been an uproar in the Chinese media and blogosphere over this so it can't simply be down to cultural values. I simply can't understand what went through these people's minds who just walked by, why on Earth wouldn't you help an injured child bleeding lying in the road? For some reason this has hit me harder than any child abuse news story I've read recently, perhaps because those can be put down to the actions of a few incredibly twisted individuals whereas these were just ordinary "normal" people on the street!

So Escapists, why do you think they turned a blind-eye? As a bonus, if you have anything that can help lift my spirits, please post pronto!

Edit:

Spoiler: Unedited video of the incident: WARNING contains very disturbing images including the little girl being run over twice, watch at own risk

Found an unedited video, one of the worst things I've ever watched, clearly shows that the passers-by saw the child and deliberately ignored her.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

Probably a little something known as the Bystander effect [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect].

 

[Daystar Clarion]

inb4 lost faith in humanity.


And like the poster above stated, the bystander effect is quite common.

Would I have done something? Most likely I would have, but I'm not going to start bitching about how 'heartless' people are.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

The only thing any normal person could do is call an ambulance.

 

[StrixMaxima]

It's sad, but is it really surprising?

Unfortunately, no.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

The F***!?

How can people just walk by and turn a blind-eye to an injured human being, let alone a toddler?Either these people are truly heartless, selfish bastards, or the population size of their own country has gone to their heads.

"Eh, there's already a BILLION of us. One less child would actually do us good."

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE WORTHLESS SACKS OF FLESH, BONES, AND MUTATED, SPONGE PROTEINS SHOULD BE ARRESTED AND SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR CALLOUS DISREGARD FOR A HUMAN INFANT LIFE!

Or just let them get run over by a van, twice, dumped in the alley, and deny them medical attention. You know, keep things interested.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

In my opinion, they turned a blind eye because they do not have any value for human life. They are inconsiderate, and I hope they are tracked down to be put in jail.

That's actually abuse in my opinion, because in America if they knew you walked by a dieing person then you should get your butt busted. Clearly I can't believe THAT many people walked, and I mean literally walked by eying the injured girl but moved on. What's wrong with people?? Sorry if I sound emotional, but for God's sake it's just a small little girl who is bleeding obviously. Thank goodness at least that woman came to her rescue- props to her.

The only thing any normal person could do is call an ambulance.

The bystander effect is universal, even in America people in emergency situations in crowded areas get ignored. A normal person in the crowd would not act. Crowd psychology is fun isn't it.

 

[standokan]

inb4 I don´t want to live on this planet anymore

OT:Maybe.. they thought the child was.. sleeping?

 

[Aeshi]

In all fairness most toddlers are a pile of whinging and leaking bodily fluids even when they haven't been run over twice.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

The bystander effect is universal, even in America people in emergency situations in crowded areas get ignored. A normal person in the crowd would not act. Crowd psychology is fun isn't it.

What I meant is that there aren't many people with the medical expertise to stabalise a child who has suffered severe trauma with their bare hands, and if they do they are more likely to damage the child even further.

 

[thespyisdead]

perus päivä (basic day in Finnish) in china

i've heard of a similar story, along the lines of an old man being run over, then the same car reversed on top of him, and then rode away

china is a terrible place... :/

 

[GoAwayVifs]

The bystander effect is universal, even in America people in emergency situations in crowded areas get ignored. A normal person in the crowd would not act. Crowd psychology is fun isn't it.

What I meant is that there aren't many people with the medical expertise to stabalise a child who has suffered severe trauma with their bare hands, and if they do they are more likely to damage the child even further.

Fair enough, I misunderstood your post.

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

That shit wouldnt roll in Portugal, i´ll tell ya that.Someone would at least pick up a phone and call an ambulance. Poor kid...

 

[DarkRyter]

I read this same story over at Sankaku Complex, with alot more anti-sinoism.

 

[Signa]

In all fairness most toddlers are a pile of whinging and leaking bodily fluids even when they haven't been run over twice.

That's so cruel I laughed. I'm a sick person.

OT: So no word yet about if she's going to be ok?

 

[the spud]

This has happened before, you know. I read an article about it somewhere. It is just a lot easier to not give a shit. I guarantee that alot of the people here saying "Oh, those heartless bastards" would have done the same thing. It is just human nature.

 

[Jadak]

The bystander effect is universal, even in America people in emergency situations in crowded areas get ignored. A normal person in the crowd would not act. Crowd psychology is fun isn't it.

What I meant is that there aren't many people with the medical expertise to stabalise a child who has suffered severe trauma with their bare hands, and if they do they are more likely to damage the child even further.

I think most people at least have the expertise to move the child off the road. Sure, it's possible they'll do harm while doing so, but know what's guaranteed to cause more harm? Getting hit by a second fucking vehicle.

 

[scorptatious]

This is rather shocking to me. There was practically no one on the street and those who did happen to pass by didn't even so much as give the girl a glance. That's just sickening.

Probably a little something known as the Bystander effect [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect].

But there weren't that many people going by her at once according to the video footage. If it was an especially large crowd maybe, but there was one guy by himself who walked past her and didn't help. I can't see any excuse for that.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

The bystander effect is universal, even in America people in emergency situations in crowded areas get ignored. A normal person in the crowd would not act. Crowd psychology is fun isn't it.

What I meant is that there aren't many people with the medical expertise to stabalise a child who has suffered severe trauma with their bare hands, and if they do they are more likely to damage the child even further.

I think most people at least have the expertise to move the child off the road. Sure, it's possible they'll do harm while doing so, but know what's guaranteed to cause more harm? Getting hit by a second fucking vehicle.

Yeah, just drag around the toddler with possible spinal injuries. Don't try to stop the traffic or anything.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

You have to work very hard to resist human nature. It's all about practise really, but the point is a lot of you would have done the same. I can with all honesty say that I wouldn't have, but only because I've been in enough situations for me to realise walking away when someone needs help is wrong.

But as it is human nature, I cant be 100 % sure.