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

[Xanadu84]

Every person who passed that kid by thought the kid would be helped by someone else. Probably someone better qualified.

This is not evil. It is stupidity based on human nature. Nature that we all share, even if we suspect that we wouldn't be THIS bad. It's a shame, but its not a damning criticism of China. This could happen anywhere.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

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.

now correct me if i'm wrong..but in the video that is NOT a crowded area by any means, the VERY least someone could do is call an ambulance, not to mention both drivers are fucking retarded as hell for doing such a thing, you've gotta be KIDDING me if you hit, let alone run over something and not notice it.

i understand the bystander effect, and i'm not saying i would do anything more than call 911 if i were there, but that is a small child, not a grown human being, you can't be that heartless to just leave the child their and not giving a single ounce of fuck along the way.

 

[Nouw]

Isn't the bystander effect only valid when there's a large crowd of people? Can someone explain please? Seems to be a disagreement there and I don't want to make an opinion uniformed.

See it's shit like this that I hate. There is no fucking need for ponies in this thread but LO AND BEHOLD we have a huge pony image in a thread about a child getting run over.

I find it rather sad that you hate how someone is cheering someone up. Yes it is a pony, do you have a problem with it? It's no better than your cold comment. Yes it is a thread about a child being run over, why are you suddenly so serious when your post says that the only part that you dislike is the guy who hit the child the second time. Is it now alright to do it once?

the worker ants

Heinlein was on to something after all! Thank you very much for helping me understand.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

One part of me is not surprised since it has happened elsewhere, unfortunately.

And the other is just disgusted, really really disgusted, and sad.

 

[Jamash]

It's funny seeing these "only in China" comments coming from Americans, when America has the worst child abuse, neglect and death statistics in the Industrialised World.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15288865

Every 5 hours a child dies in America from abuse or neglect, so clearly it's not "only in China".

 

[Burst6]

I think i have an idea of what was going through the minds of the people that just went by.

"what's that? oh my god that girl looks hurt, but what the hell am i supposed to do? Ill just go away and pretend i didn't see anything. Maybe someone else will come along and help. It's a poor dying girl, i'm sure the next person to come along will do something"

I don't think they're bad people, i just think they're cowards.

I dont know what i would have done, as ive never been in that situation, but i think i would have done SOMETHING at least.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

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!

What's up? Long time no talk.

OT: I wouldn't call this the bystander effect that a lot of people seem to be jumping on the bandwagon about. Now, depending on where they were, traffic, time of day, etc etc, they very well may just have not noticed her. It's a shame, but I have to admit that while I'm walking down the street, I don't check the roads for signs of human suffering or death. I also don't look up on the off chance I might see someone getting ready to jump.

In all honesty, they might not have even heard the collision, I can't imagine the sound of a 2 year old being hit by a van who might not have seen her given the fact that vans tend to not have the greatest view of what's directly in front of them if it's close enough, would be much more than the sound of a van hitting a small dog.

To be fair though, for those people that did notice and didn't act should be punished for willful neglegence or something. Of course, depending on the amount of damage done and the time period between the first and second collision, they might not have been able to tell that it was a child.

If it was me though, and I noticed, I'd first call the cops/ambulance and try to keep traffic away from the child until help arrived. I don't have any medical knowledge beyond basic anatomy, but I'd at least have the sense to keep her from being hit again. I wouldn't want to move her though. Potential spinal injuries and whatnot.

On a slightly amusing note, my Captcha is; rtstze seriously?"

 

[JoJo]

Bystander effect, And I patronizingly chuckle at everyone here who is saying "I dont care what universal human psychology says I WOULD BE DIFFERENT"

Yes, of course you would be. You're neo and you have the power to change the matrix at will.

I've seen experiments carried out in England and America showing every day people sitting in a room while smoke billows under the door and nobody getting up to leave...because they don't want to be the first person to react to it. I've seen experiments where more than half of the people involved (65%+) will torture a person to death if told to do so by someone in authority.

But "oh no, thats China for you", "Oh look what communism does to people", "I would spring into action and these people don't have any excuse for their inaction"

Its universal, it's universal, its universal and so is stupidity but it seems only the minority of people here escape that psychological net too.

And I "patronizingly chuckle" at you for making assumptions about people you've never met. Seriously though, I can't speak for anyone-else but I would never ever consider leaving an injured child alone without medical attention in a million years. Ever. And I would expect no different of anyone who calls themselves a true man or woman.

What's up? Long time no talk.

Haven't been posting much on the main forums really recently, been hanging around the Role-playing Forum more. Apparently some of the passers-by did look at the girl, though since the BBC cut out the worst parts of the video and blur out the child after she's hit, it's difficult to see what's going on. Still, I'm feeling a little better now though still angry, I guess I have to accept that many people don't have the same morals as myself :-(

 

[GoAwayVifs]

Blah, blah blah crowds.

Crowded areas? Over several minutes, only eighteen passers by. This is solely down to the sheer callousness of the individuals.

Would you honestly do the same? You say 'crowd psychology', but everyone in a crowd is an individual, not a hive mind.

Okay, fine I was mistaken when I described it as crowded. But the effect of a group of people on one's decision making process is profound. You even hear of lynch mobs? Or how about mass hysteria? The actions of crowds greatly effect our own actions within that crowd, as much as we'd like to think otherwise.

 

[random_bars]

Just handwaving it by saying 'BYSTANDER EFFECT' does not excuse you. The bystander effect is just that - an effect - it's not some sort of rule that you have to follow.

And by knowing what it is you can recognize and overcome it. You can acknowledge that your human nature tells you to ignore the situation and carry on, but realize that this is not a good thing and choose to stand up to that instinct, fight against it, and go and help anyway. Are you a man, or a slave?

 

[Hexenwolf]

Bystander effect, And I patronizingly chuckle at everyone here who is saying "I dont care what universal human psychology says I WOULD BE DIFFERENT"

Yes, of course you would be. You're neo and you have the power to change the matrix at will.

I've seen experiments carried out in England and America showing every day people sitting in a room while smoke billows under the door and nobody getting up to leave...because they don't want to be the first person to react to it. I've seen experiments where more than half of the people involved (65%+) will torture a person to death if told to do so by someone in authority.

But "oh no, thats China for you", "Oh look what communism does to people", "I would spring into action and these people don't have any excuse for their inaction"

Its universal, it's universal, its universal and so is stupidity but it seems only the minority of people here escape that psychological net too.

Universal huh?

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

For example, that torture experiment, the 35% that refused is not an insignificant number. It's more than a third. does that mean that people are predisposed to act a certain way? Yes. Does that mean that EVERYONE will act that way, (the definition of universal). No, not at all.

For example, this fellow:

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

After watching the video, I have to disagree. The bystander effect doesn't usually make people walk on nonchalantly. People still recognise something has happened, they usually just don't react in a helpful manner.

The driver actually drove off, and the second driver drove over her again. Then people walked right past her, barely even noticing. If you watch footage of the bystander effect in action, it's usually most noticable in larger crowds of people and they are all aware that something is happening. And usually have normal reactions to it, i.e. showing shock or disgust via their facial expression. Even if they don't do anything to help.

I've actually been in part of a situation with the bystander effect. It was when I was a lot younger, but I still remember it really clearly.

We were coming back from a martial arts ceremony, I must have been about 12, maybe slightly younger. We were at the traffic lights and an old man fell to the floor on the pavement. He was clearly struggling and couldn't get up. Everyone just froze in their seats and didn't so much as a speak. It must have been about 5 minutes before someone got out of their car to help. And I remember her shouting at other people for not helping.

But that was just it, it took her 5 minutes to react. No one did anything because it's just expected that someone will do something. People are still effected by the incident, there's just some expectation that we don't have to do anything ourselves because someone else will.

The reason I didn't do anything is because my parents weren't doing anything. At that point in my life, I looked to them to model my behaviour in situations I was unfamiliar with.

Now, I know I'd get involved. Because I've gotten out of a car to help someone who was having an epileptic fit. Similar situation again, I was in a car that pulled up to some lights and I saw someone fall down and begin seizing. Only this time I got straight out of the car and put my hoody under their head to cushion it and called an ambulance. And I know the reason I got out so quickly was because as a child I saw a similar situation where no one reacted for a large amount of time because they expected someone else to do it and those 5 minutes have always stuck with me.

What I saw in that video doesn't look at all like the bystander effect. It's almost as if they hadn't registered that something had happened. Which is really weird.

 

[Natasha_LB]

I've been a victim of something similar myself. I was left unconscious and bleeding for almost 30 minutes before someone called an ambulance. The man who called the ambulance for me, was the 12th person to walk past (I've seen the CCTV). But in my situation I can almost understand it, assuming people didn't look to closely, and managed to miss the blood (And severe facial injuries), I could easily have been passed out due to drinking, or some other self inflicted cause. But in this instance, with a 2 year old girl. WTF? I've read about the bystander effect before, but I never though it would lead people to be this heartless. WTF world? WTF?

 

[Private Custard]

inb4 lost faith in humanity.

Lost it a long time ago. Users can post the 'people are awesome' YouTube video as much as they like, a few sporty people jumping higher than others doesn't change anything............for the most part, people are cunts!

 

[someonehairy-ish]

I can almost understand the walking past bit because... no wait, no I can't.

WTF people? Also both van drivers should go to jail.

 

[JoJo]

I patronisingly chuckle at you for ignoring proven psychology.

The guy wasn't making an assumption about people he doesn't know. He was pointing out provable trends. And until you're faced with a similar situation you have 0 weight in a discussion about what you'd do. Like it or not, people react differently under high pressure situations than they normally would. Rationality and morality doesn't even tiptoe it's way into it.

Thankfully due to sheer statistics, there is usually atleast one person who manages to do something helpful around when there's something like an accident. But until you're faced with a high stress situation like that, you have no idea how you'd react. Even people who're trained for it don't always do what they've been taught.

And I'll say this again because people seem to be collectively ignoring it. This is not the bystander effect. The bystander effect is usually only found in big crowds and the person that causes the accident/incident seldom leaves because of it. And to have another van drive over her.

The only time the bystander effect has any real influence when there isn't a large crowd is when no one saw the initial incident. People will walk by a dead body if they think someone else has taken care of it. They'll seldom walk away from seeing a person knocked over and not even give them a second glance. I don't know what social phenomenon this was, but it wasn't a classic case of the bystander effect. It was almost as if the incident hadn't registered with most of the people there.

The bolded part is the bit that I can't agree with. If it was an adult lying there on the ground then I hope I would help, it might depend on the situation, but I KNOW that I wouldn't leave a child injured alone without medical attention. Anyone that's even somewhat acquainted with me knows that I have a soft-spot for children, partly down to having a much younger sister and partly just because I'm programmed that way. I know myself and I know wouldn't have done what most of those people did.

 

[Caeltyr]

The thing is, we weren't there, and it's impossible to say what we would do. A number of factors could have played into the choices made at that time by the people involved. It wasn't their fault that it happened, it was an accident.

What's important is that we take this disturbing scene to heart, and take a good long time to think about what we will do if we see a similar incident in our lives, as many have chosen to share (bravely, I might add). If we want to make a difference, we can, but it takes much more than words and emotions.

 

[SpaceBat]

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

This is called the BYSTANDER EFFECT.

[Bystander effect

Not exactly. For it to be the bystander effect, there have to be multiple bystanders or the bystanders need to believe that there is at least one other person that is aware of the situation. Only then can they shove any responsibility to the other team. In this case however, nearly all of the people who witnessed it are alone, know that they're alone and act as if they're entirely unaware of the bleeding toddler in front of them as they nonchalantly walk past her. In case of the bystander effect, the witnesses are completely aware of what's happening and know the appropriate response, but they don't do it, because "(I don't know what happened,) one of these people probably will act on it, so I don't have to do anything".

So no, it's NOT the Bystander effect as far as I remember it.
Could mention a couple of other possible reasons, but nothing credible and backed up by science (at the moment, at least).