What is the good samaritan law?

Answer 1

It is a law that exists in most states and most countries that says .... if someone (an average citizen or a medical professional) tries to help a person who is having an emergency, the helper cannot be sued if something goes wrong accidentally.

It's a civil protection shield against negligence actions by the person who was in trouble, to protect the person who offered help.

It is not, as many people seem to think, a law that requires someone to help.

Answer 2

A good samaritan law can be either a shield (protection) law or a statute that requires people to render aid in certain types of medical emergency situations.

Good samaritan laws are based upon a legal principle that prevents a rescuer—who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress—from being successfully sued for 'wrongdoing.' Its purpose is to keep people from being so reluctant to help a stranger in need for fear of legal repercussions if they made some mistake in treatment. Therefore, this doctrine was primarily developed for first aid encounters.

Worldwide, cities and regions have different versions of this law. For example, some states in the United States have laws that require a person to render assistance to a car accident victim—where necessary. Failure to do so can result in fines and/or criminal prosecution.

Usually, the law makes a major distinction between a lay person and a professional performing first aid. 'Exempting a person from the ordinary standard of care', this excludes professionals from being protected by good samaritan laws in wrongdoing. It is specific, again, to a lay person.

Note that these such laws usually do not shield "rescuers" who are extremely negligent in the performance of such operations. For example, would you expect to have someone pull a car crash victim out of a car, and drag him/her like a rag doll, even though circumstances were such that—much better care could have taken?

Answer 3

It is used to keep the bystander from getting sued if he/she helps someone in a wreck and they die or are further harmed. This keeps people from just standing there not helping someone in an accident, afraid they will get sued if they do something wrong.

Answer 4

u must stop and render aid