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What's the law's stance on the trolley problem? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Would pulling the switch be a felony? Would not pulling the switch be one? Would a preservation-of-life defense hold any water?

Are there any notable cases about this?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Okay, as someone who wants to live in Europe at some point in the future, I feel like I should get this straight.

If I drive by a car accident and there is clearly help on the scene, such as an ambulance, do I need to take any action?

If I drive by a car accident and there are a bunch of people already stopped, do I need to just ask one of them if help has been called?

If I drive by a car accident and no one is there, do I just need to call for help?

I know some first aid so I might stop regardless if there isn't an ambulance there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am not a lawyer of any kind. The wiki does say:

"Many civil law systems, which are common in Continental Europe, Latin America and much of Africa, impose a far more extensive duty to rescue.[3] The duty is usually limited to doing what is "reasonable". In particular, a helper does not have to substantially endanger themselves.[23]

This can mean that anyone who finds someone in need of medical help must take all reasonable steps to seek medical care and render best-effort first aid. Commonly, the situation arises on an event of a traffic accident: other drivers and passers-by must take an action to help the injured without regard to possible personal reasons not to help (e.g. having no time, being in a hurry) or ascertain that help has been requested from officials."

To apply this to your question, my interpretation is that if you come across a car accident and nobody is there, and you have some first aid training, you should first call emergency services, and then render as much aid as you reasonably can without endangering yourself. If the car is teetering on a cliff about to fall over, I sure as heck wouldn't jump in. If the driver was ejected from the car and they are bleeding to death right in front of you then you should probably do your best to stop the bleeding if you can I guess. If the driver looks like they sustained heavy injuries and the car isn't about to explode or fall of a cliff, then I would just hang out until an ambulance gets there because I wouldn't want to break their neck moving them. Idk though, not a lawyer or a doctor so who knows.