1061

I don't know why we don't use this number. We have it splashed across on newspapers and signboards and have even handouts given asking people to call this number after an accident. And I believe that it is a free service!. From the Hindu dated Nov 07, 2007 you might have read about another unknown person being hit by a vehicle on the roads. I was actually at the site of the accident 2 minutes after it happened. People all mill around the accident site and what I first saw was the 2-wheeler crushed under a college bus. Since I saw no one took any action , I thought the rider of the bike must have died. Going close, I saw that he was lying on his back, bloody, gasping for breath and bleeding from the back of his head. No one wanted to touch him or help. I tried asking a call center cab guy for help and he said no way and pushed off. I asked some people to help and no one came forward. I called the cops and gave them the location and then called 080-5061. Promptly picked up, they asked for the location and said they would dispatch an ambulance at once. I got another call in 5 minutes saying that the ambulance was on its way. But some of the college kids thought it better to carry the person to the hospital. I told one of them not to move the guy and that an ambulance was on it's way. They still carried him, holding his already bleeding head and arms and lifted him off. Good Samaritans, true! But wouldn't it be better not to move the person? Me and Sanjeeb saw another accident happen a few days back in pretty much the same way, with no one helping and not calling or waiting for an ambulance. Wanted to know what happened to the guy and checked the papers the next day - "A private company employee, Paramesh (25) of Devasandra, died after a private school bus hit his motorcycle on 1st Cross, Kasturinagar, around 8.30 a.m. The K.R. Puram traffic police have registered a case."

I still can't help but think that we could have saved a life!