Bystander Effect

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Bystander effect/apathy is a social psychological phenomenon when an individual doesn't offer assistance to someone when other people are present. I vaguely recall a story/example from class when I was in uni about a woman that was raped and murdered in NYC who screamed bloody murder, but nobody arrived to her aid.  The following day, people in the neighborhood were interviewed about the previous night's incident and when they were asked if they summoned for help, a common response was "no" because they thought someone else would/had done it, when in fact the police didn't hear about the incident until the following morning.

Since learning about this, I made the conscious decision to offer my assistance when my own safety would not be compromised. I would not want to be in a position where nobody would come to my aid when I needed it most.

Yesterday, I was off to an early start. After breakfast, Mochi and I made it to the cemetery to bring flowers to my dad, then decided to run other errands.

Upon taking the exit for Davis Street, I noticed a lot of changes to the exit due to the expansion and construction on 880. There was a car ahead of me who was also making a left turn and the driver sped down the street even after the traffic light turned red. In those few seconds, I realized they ran the red light; I stopped behind the white line, and hoped they wouldn't hit or get hit by another car. The first car turning onto the same street managed to avoid the person who ran the light; unfortunately, another driver hit their car on the right rear fender. I was still stopped at the light as I watched the car slide all the way to the left, spin three times before the right barrier brought the car to a halt and they were facing oncoming traffic (me).

The driver of the car who hit the one that spun around pulled over to the right (temporary) shoulder. When my light turned green, I drove forward and also pulled over to make sure everyone involved in the accident was OK.

The driver who ran the light was an elderly Chinese woman and the driver of the car that hit her was an African American man.  They were both shaken up, but uninjured. Thank goodness! Neither one of them were composed - they couldn't figure out what they needed to do. I suggested they exchange information, but the woman didn't know what to give/get from the guy. The guy was too upset to also do the same. I offered to call the police and he accepted.

In the meanwhile, while waiting for the police to arrive, the lady asked if I would phone her husband. He spoke to her and asked me to assist her with finding her insurance paperwork and also jotting down the information of the other driver so they could file an insurance claim.

After several minutes, the paramedics arrived, then the firefighters, but they said the police would be delayed because of another incident elsewhere.

Since the people involved in the accident managed to exchange information, the firefighter said they didn't need to wait for the police. The woman, whose car was still facing oncoming traffic, was too shaken up to turn her car around. The firefighters offered to direct traffic and I drove the car for the woman so she could be on her way.

While all this was happening, the firefighter asked if I knew the woman, but he realized I didn't speak a lick of Chinese. Then he said, "Oh! You just stopped to be a good samaritan? Thank you."