Good Samaritans could get some much needed protection if State Senator John Benoit’s SB39 passes.
The legislation would protect members of the public who aid victims of car crash or other emergency situation from lawsuits.
According to a Benoit press release, Benoit’s bill comes at a critical time, just weeks after the Court, in a 4-3 ruling, uncovered a significant shortfall in legal protections for Good Samaritans.
A civil suit was filed in the aftermath of a 2004 Chatsworth traffic crash, in which a Good Samaritan, fearing that a crashed car would explode, pulled her coworker out of the vehicle. The co-worker filed the suit, claiming that her rescuer pulled her “like a rag doll,” causing her paralysis. The Court decided that State law, written in 1980, only shielded Good Samaritans from liability incurred in giving medical care in an emergency.
Benoit who is a former volunteer fire captain has a good idea here. I think people are good and want to be helpful. But if they fear that no good deed goes unpunished then they won’t help their neighbors, people in a crisis situation.