Why wouldn't anyone stop to help

[JaydeParrot]

Hi, this is completly unrelated to parrots so if anyone wants me to take it off I will, I just wanted other's opinions on what happened in the streets ealier today.

I was taking my amp to the shops when I saw what I thought was a person lying in the middle of the road. There were people walking up and down the pavements and not taking any notice so I figured I must be mistaking some haphazardly dumped rubbish for a person, I carried on walking figuring it was either rubbish or someone looking under a car, but as I continued to get closer it began to look more and more like someone who wasn't moving, lying on the road. I yelled over to a guy who was closer to the 'person' and asked him if there was someone lying on the road he shrugged and carried on walking. Convinced it wasn't rubbish, I ran over and found an elderly woman lying across the road with her eyes closed. I called out to her asking if she was alright and if she wanted me to phone an ambulance, she claimed she was alright and refused the ambulance, I kept talking to her, diverting passing cars around her. Thankfully a care home nurse was walking out on her break and came over to help me get the woman up, the woman thanked us, repeated that she was fine and slowly walked away.

I just can't believe that people in the street were just walking by and ignoring her, even if it was a six foot drunk adult man I don't think I could just leave him to lie in the middle of the road to get crushed by on coming cars. This ignorance really bothers me, I wonder if it were a relative, a friend or even me who had collapsed on the road, how long it would be before or even if somebody would help.

Does anyone here think they wouldn't have helped? If so why not? I won't give any negative comments I just want to know why anyone would ignore someone lying in the middle of a road for cars.

[Michael]

Well look at it this way, even you were perplexed by the situation. There are a few things going on:

1) People are so focused in their own life, they just don't notice others
2) People who assume someone else is already on it
3) People who don't believe somebody isn't helping already

So, I don't think people are necessarily mal intended. I think some don't notice while others think too much and between those two, nothing gets done except from those who don't think but rather do. Good lesson for parrot training too.

[Wolf]

I have seen this very think happen all over the country and it is mostly in the cities but when I finally settled in one place it was starting to happen in some of the smaller towns that I have visited.
I honestly have no idea why no one will stop to help unless they are afraid of getting involved. I could not walk by someone like this without trying to help.

[shiraartain]

It's the bystander effect- google it and you'll find tons of links detailing it. (I'd explain it myself, but I really should be studying right now ) It's an awful phenomenon, and props to you for helping out!

[Pajarita]

It's just another symptom of the moral degeneration that society is going through. And the richer the area or higher the society echelon, the more it happens because they have a more acute degree of the 'us versus them' mentality. There was a time not too long ago when people felt it was their responsibility and duty to get involved and help because they felt a connection to a fellow human being and to the community but this doesn't happen any longer. People have lost their empathy and compassion for others...

[Wolf]

I looked up this bystander effect and this was the best explaination of it that I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect
See what you think about it.

[Pajarita]

Yep, lack of empathy, disassociation, diffusion of responsibility, etc. Call it by whatever name you prefer or classify it into several different categories but the problem itself is the same and, although I am not 100% sure of this (no data), going by my personal experience and what one reads and hears about, I think it has gotten much worse lately.

[Wolf]

I am certain that it has gotten worse if for no other reason than the overpopulation of the planet by humans, a situation that I really don't expect to see any improvements in as people refuse to control their own breeding habits.

[marie83]

I was once driving home about 11PM so it was really dark, I was alone and there was nobody about, added to that it was snowing and deep enough to cover a person who was laid down. I saw a man fall over and he didn't get up again (I suspect he was drunk by the way he fell but could quite easily have been diabetic or something).

Hate to say but I didn't go to him, I did however phone the police and an ambulance and waited in my locked car with my hazards on until they came. I've had bad experiences in the past from trying to help people. I may have been braver to go and see if I could help had the ambulance taken ages to get there buy they were pretty quick given the conditions. If it had been an old lady then perhaps I may have gone over straight away but I can't swear I would it would depend on the circumstances. I didn't have anything with me to help anyway.

Usually when I've seen accidents or similar there's been loads of people about and usually there's too many people trying to help, standing over the casualty and not giving the most able people space to help them. The worst are the crowds that form from the plain old nosy gossips who don't do anything except invade the casualty's privacy and get in the way. Even ambulance crews and paramedics tend to carry privacy screens with them now and have to put them up for even the slightest thing If I know I cant help and there are other people helping then the best thing to do is to just move on and get on with your own life.

Sorry but things like this wind me up, it seems to be one extreme or the other

[Wolf]

You may not have gotten out to help and for your own safety you did right and you did act in a manner to provide help.