The internet is abuzz with outrage after a security video caught a two year old girl, Yue yue, being run over by a van. About 18 people then walked past her as her body twitched, turned and lay in a pool of blood, not a single person offering a helping hand.

To make matters worse, she is run over by a second vehicle.

No one stops to help until a janitor walks by and pulls her off the road.

The video can be seen here: (warning, it will be disturbing to most viewers)

The incident raised a big question about China’s morality. Why did so many people leave an injured child unattended on the street?

One article in the Toronto Star noted a comment on popular Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo that said “Now people ignore everything other than money. This society is lacking people with a conscience badly.”

Is it all about money? One strictly about an unconscientious society where videos of dogs, cats and rabbits are mutilated and executed for pleasure?

On the China Smack site, one commenter brought up a slightly different story. One of a broken judicial system.

lgaxy [??????????]:

It isn’t ignoring, it’s not daring. If one were to encounter a Nanjing judge, one would be screwed.
[Note: "Nanjing judge" refers to the infamous 2006 case of a man named Peng Yu who helped a woman to the hospital after she had fallen only to have the old woman accuse him of knocking her down. The Nanjing judge in that case ultimately ruled that common sense dictated that only the person who hit her would take her to the hospital, setting a precedent that continues only further discourages and reinforces many Chinese people's wariness to help others in similar situations.]

~ commenter on China Smack

I found a reference to the case involving Peng Yu.

Another friend mentioned that although North America is a litigious society where lawsuits abound, that we might never see this happen here.

A signed article in the China Youth Daily wrote that fears of liability are not an adequate excuse for not helping, and that this case exposes a decline of humanity in Chinese society.

~ Asia Times

According to this Toronto Star article, Ontario (province) and several other countries have Good Samaritan Laws that “protects from liability those who aren’t health care professionals who perform first aid on a victim at the scene of an accident.” If implemented in China, this would go a long way towards removing people from the fear of liability. It’s a simple act to pass and a very useful one.

That aside, the article also mentioned something that really angered me. This seems to show that the driver knew he hit the girl and left her to die for a lesser liability.

“If she is dead, I may pay only about 20,000 yuan ($3,180),” the van driver told the China Daily before he surrendered to police. “But if she is injured, it may cost me hundreds of thousands of yuan.”

~ Toronto Star

Incidentally, moving the child would not be the most intelligent thing to do. In these cases, unless you’re a certified first aid provider, do not touch the victim. Instead, create a protection zone around them (so they don’t get run over again) and call for help.

Aside from a possible lawsuit, moving the victim could generate more damage depending on the injury.

I was appalled that the bystanders did not at least call for help.

Last I heard, the child was brain-dead but under life support in a deep coma.