【Preface】
The elderly fell on the side of the road, do you help or not?
I believe that most people have encountered this situation, the elderly with reduced mobility because they did not pay attention to their feet, tripped by stones on the side of the road, and fell on the side of the road.
Watching the old man struggle several times and fail to stand up, what will you choose to do in the face of the helpless gaze of the old man?
【Case Summary】
If this matter had been placed more than ten years ago, most people would have chosen to step forward to help the elderly without hesitation and ask if the elderly needed to go to the hospital for treatment.
But in the past few years, I am afraid that many people will consider the pros and cons of lifting up the elderly, and conservatives who hope that the elderly will be helped choose to call the police for help after staying away from the elderly. Those who are worried that the elderly are in urgent need of treatment choose to step forward to help the elderly, and will take a photo of the old man falling to the ground before acting.
Why has people's choices changed so much in the past ten years? I am afraid that all this will start with the Peng Yu case in 2006.
On the morning of November 20, 2006, Xu Shoulan, a 64-year-old retired worker, rushed to a bus with fewer passengers at the bus stop in Nanjing's Shuiximen Square. Since the bus was about to start and leave, Xu Shoulan hurriedly carried her satchel and walked quickly towards the bus.
According to the people who witnessed this scene at the time, the weather was gloomy that day, not long ago it had just finished a small rain, there was still a lot of water on the road, and the road surface was relatively slippery, and people did not dare to walk quickly, for fear that one of them would accidentally fall to the ground.
The old man Xu Shoulan, perhaps because he was in a hurry to catch the nearest bus, ignored the safety of the slippery road, and accidentally fell at the bus stop.
Because Xu Shoulan is an elderly person, the problem of osteoporosis caused the huge impact to break her into a fracture, and the satchel also left Xu Shoulan's side and flew to the side of the road.
"Ouch, it hurts me!" The old man sat on the side of the road, supporting his body with one hand on the ground, covering his thigh with the other, and moaning in pain.
At this time, Peng Yu, a young man who had just got off the bus, saw this scene and immediately stepped forward to help the old man Xu Shoulan. At the same time that the young man Peng Yu stepped forward to help the old man Xu Shoulan, there happened to be an old man walking leisurely nearby, and seeing the painful and eager expression on the face of the old man Xu Shoulan, he hurriedly walked to help.
At the suggestion of the old man, Peng Yu contacted the son of the old man Xu Shoulan. Xu Shoulan's son rushed to the scene and sent the old man to the ambulance with the help of the young man Peng Yu and went to the hospital for examination and treatment.
With the cooperation of the two, the old man Xu Shoulan arrived at the hospital smoothly. After the old man Xu Shoulan was sent to the hospital, the doctor urgently examined her. The results of the doctor's examination are heart-wrenching.
The old man Xu Shoulan's injuries are extremely serious, with multiple fractures all over his body, and after the doctor's professional evaluation, he has reached the eighth level of disability, which requires tens of thousands of yuan in medical expenses.
You know, tens of thousands of yuan was not a small amount at that time, not to mention the old man Xu Shoulan's family was not rich.
The young man Peng Yu did not leave after sending the old man Xu Shoulan to the hospital, but helped pay part of the medical expenses in advance, and also helped to run before and after, and left the hospital after the old man Xu Shoulan's injuries were basically identified.
From the perspective of others, the young man Peng Yu is a helpful and enthusiastic young man, and even overzealous. But the subsequent developments were eye-popping.
"I didn't slip and fall on my own, you got out of the car and hit me!" The old man Xu Shoulan said that he was not a slippery road on a rainy day, and he fell in order to catch a car, and it was the young man Peng Yu who knocked him down! Xu Shoulan identified the person who hit the person to the police as Peng Yu, a young man who had just got out of the car, and Peng Yu denied this.
Could this be a modern version of the farmer and the snake story?
In the end, the two went to the police station, and the police listened to the explanations of both sides, but because the surveillance was not widespread, they could not judge what happened at that time.
The old man Xu Shoulan insisted that the person who hit the person was the young man Peng Yu, and the young man Peng Yu never admitted that he had hit someone, only saying that he just happened to meet the old man fall and stepped forward to help.
The old man Xu Shoulan also only had a mouthful of testimony, and could not produce any substantial evidence.
Just when the two were entangled over this matter, the old man Xu Shoulan took the young man Peng Yu to court with a complaint, hoping that the judge would sentence the young man Peng Yu to bear her medical expenses, on the grounds that Peng Yu knocked her down.
The young man Peng Yu's response is to always deny that he bumped into the old man Xu Shoulan when he got out of the car: "She obviously fell by herself, I just went to help her." I am acting bravely, and her actions are obviously blackmail! I ask the court to handle the case carefully! ”
But something strange happened, when the old man Xu Shoulan applied for access to the investigation record of the day, the police said that the record was lost! Remember, losing transcripts is no small problem. Out of helplessness, the police had to make a new record.
Since this transcript was made later, Peng Yu has always been skeptical.
"Who knows if this transcript is someone who obstructed it and deliberately tampered with the content. Besides, her son is also a police officer, so it's too easy to use some small tricks in secret. I, a commoner, help a person and spread this pile of rags! This is Peng Yu's idea.
Not only that, Peng Yu, a young man with a flexible mind, also thought of a good way to use the media to speak for himself. He took the initiative to call an online forum blogger, saying that he had been framed and blackmailed for doing good deeds, hoping to get help from the masses.
As a result, the matter quickly fermented, occupying a large part of the online media at that time, and when the case was heard publicly, many media assigned reporters to observe.
At that time, people actually encountered many old people "touching porcelain" on the street, and they had long been extremely angry about such incidents, coupled with the gentle and honest appearance of the young man Peng Yu, many people preconceived that the young man Peng Yu was the victim of "touching porcelain".
All the media also basically agree on this matter, if it is just a simple collision incident, then the articles they published will not be hot, but if it is "touching porcelain", then the media can attract a large wave of attention, so they subconsciously put the guy Peng Yu in the position of the victim.
The balance turned irrevocably to the side of the young man Peng Yu, and almost no one thought that the old man Xu Shoulan was a victim.
But the court's judgment is about real evidence, without evidence, no amount of heat will help. The court of first instance held that neither party was at fault in the accident, and according to the principle of fairness, the young man Peng Yu should give appropriate compensation for the loss of the old man Xu Shoulan. Therefore, Peng Yu was sentenced to pay 40% of the victim's loss, a total of 45,876.6 yuan.
As soon as this verdict was rendered, the masses who were concerned about this incident throughout the country expressed great indignation, why should they be fined money if they were "touched porcelain"? The young man Peng Yu also filed a request for appeal.
Major media reported the case, and for a while, the topic of "touching porcelain" became a hot topic in the country at that time.
The beautiful character of helping others inherited by the Chinese nation since ancient times seems to have disappeared on the road, and when encountering the old people who fell on the road, people dare not step forward to help pick them up, for fear of getting into big trouble, for fear that they will be the next Peng Yu.
The spirit of righteousness and courage has also been doubted by the public: I don't help people for good, but the people I help want my benefit, strange!
During the second trial of Peng Yu's case, Peng Yu met Judge Wang Hao. During the trial, when the plaintiff and the defendant were arguing fiercely, Wang Hao suddenly asked Peng Yu a shocking sentence: "If the person is not hit by you, why should you help the person?" ”
As soon as these words came out, the audience was in an uproar. Such immoral words came out of the mouth of the judge in this case. For a while, the wind direction of online public opinion changed again, and everyone condemned Judge Wang Hao, saying that his words were extremely irresponsible.
Wang Hao was eventually pressured by public opinion and resigned from his job as a judge. It is said that shortly after his resignation, he went to work as a lawyer in a small county.
The case was eventually closed by a settlement between the parties. The young man Peng Yu still compensated the old man Xu Shoulan for a sum of money, and netizens were upset for Peng Yu, saying that he did not need to pay this money. The young man Peng Yu and the old man Xu Shoulan did not respond.
Although the case is closed, the matter is not over. Perhaps condemned by his conscience, Peng Yu finally admitted that he had hit Xu Shoulan.
However, the old man was rumored to have suffered from major depression and had died at this time, and she did not even wait for the truth to come out before she died.
After the Peng Yu case, the old man's family was deeply tormented by public opinion on the Internet, did not dare to go online easily, and even moved many times in order not to be harassed by people.
Not only that, the old man Xu Shoulan's son's police career has also suffered a serious blow, you know, being slandered and bending the law for personal gain is not a simple crime.
Most of the medical expenses and maintenance costs of the elderly are ultimately borne by themselves, and Peng Yu's compensation only accounts for a small part of it.
As soon as the truth came out, the netizens who criticized the old people were silent for a while. It turns out that the old man is the real victim.
Later, Peng Yu said that he really hit the old man when he got out of the car, but because of his timid personality, his economic situation is not good and he is not a local, he is afraid of being bullied.
He said that he did not want to be known by his parents in his hometown, his parents were old, and the money in his family was probably not enough to make up for the loss of the old man Xu Shoulan. Therefore, Peng Yu chose to hide the truth and confronted the old man in court with his conscience.
The development and influence of public opinion on the Peng Yu incident cannot be separated from the media reporting and guidance. The media's reporting methods, stances and guidance will have an important impact on public opinion.
The Peng Yu case has triggered the agitation of public emotions and changes in social dynamics, and through the Peng Yu case, the analysis and evaluation of public opinion, and the expression of public emotions and the evolution of social dynamics are more clearly displayed in front of people's eyes.
Sometimes, the wicked are not evil, and the good are not necessarily the good. In today's mixed cyberspace, we should always keep a clear and cautious mind, uphold good intentions, and protect a pure land in our hearts.
【Interpretation of the law by case】
It was a well-intentioned act of rescue, but it was so rewarded that people had to sigh: "Good people have no good rewards!" ”
But the law does not chill good people, and the mainland civil code already stipulates the division of responsibilities for emergency rescuers.
Article 183 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
[Measures for Bearing Liability and Compensation When Damaged by Protecting the Civil Rights and Interests of Others] Where oneself is harmed due to the protection of the civil rights and interests of others, the infringer shall bear civil liability, and the beneficiary may give appropriate compensation. Where there is no infringer, the infringer escapes or is unable to bear civil liability, and the victim requests compensation, the beneficiary shall give appropriate compensation.
Article 184 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
[Emergency rescuers do not bear civil liability] Where the voluntary implementation of emergency rescue acts causes damage to the aided person, the rescuer does not bear civil liability.
In this case, the court's trial is also worth pondering. 、
Article 64 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: "The parties shall have the responsibility to provide evidence for their own claims. Where the parties and their agents ad litem cannot collect evidence on their own due to objective reasons, or evidence that the people's court deems necessary for hearing the case, the people's court shall investigate and collect it. People's courts shall, in accordance with legally-prescribed procedures, comprehensively and objectively review and verify evidence. ”
If the plaintiff cannot fully demonstrate his claim and is not supported by factual evidence, the court generally does not support it. Therefore, if the claim that Peng Yu hurt himself, the old man is just empty talk and cannot win the case at all.
【Conclusion】
In this case, the reason why Peng Yu will reverse black and white by himself in the end is largely caused by the pressure of the media. The diversified development of information in the Internet era has also greatly weakened everyone's ability to distinguish right from wrong.
Therefore, we must hold the attitude of "not knowing the whole picture, not evaluating", cautiously make judgments, and do not be washed away by traffic!