Galvanise pedestrian safety and put a tighter leash on children
- By Gabrielle Pickard
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China.org.cn, October 20, 2011
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Two-year-old Wang Yue -- affectionately known as Yueyue -- was declared "brain dead" by the hospital on Sunday afternoon. The most optimistic estimate is that the girl will remain in a vegetative state on life support. |
Reports of a two-year-old being crushed twice by hit and run drivers in the south China city of Foshan and lay badly injured as a total of 18 people walked past, has been met with worldwide disbelief and condemnation.
A 'selfish society' is the almost consensual view after a surveillance video of the accident rapidly circulated the web, with the Chinese Government condemning the "coldblooded pedestrians" for bringing "shame on China."
Whilst I was horrified and repulsed that people could just 'turn a blind eye' to a bleeding child, unlike the widespread reports and views in circulation, which suggest that the incident is proof that China, in its rush to riches, has produced a selfish society, I do not believe that the incident is necessarily a reflection of China and its focus on money. Instead of taking the 'moral high ground', I believe the focus of the story should be concerned with advocating pedestrian safety and greater parental responsibility.
Surely the statements of those who have been branded as being "cold-hearted pedestrians who are like animals" need to be listened to. Several people out of the 18 who walked past the child without helping have claimed to Chinese media that they did not see the child. These claims are certainly viable as the incident happened in a busy market street in a city with a population of 5.4 million, where failing to catch sight of a two-year-old girl wounded on the road, could be an unfortunate yet possible scenario in a busy, modern city anywhere in the world.
Instead of China's prominent rise to riches, which boasts an economy that is the envy of a world fighting off recession, being the main focus of this terrible incident, the case should be instead be dedicated on galvanising pedestrian safety, so that similar accidents are less likely to occur.
In the U.S, since January 2010, there has been an on-going collection of unsolved hit and run incidents, which have involved cars hitting pedestrians. Florida has one of the highest numbers of hit and run accidents anywhere in the world. Earlier this year a survey carried out by Transportation for America, ranked four Florida metropolitan areas, as being one of the most dangerous places to walk in the country. From 2000 – 2009, this 'car-obsessed' state has seen 550 pedestrians killed by cars, with children and the elderly being particularly susceptible for their inability to realise the potential dangers and difficulty in judging distances in speed.
