The Good Samaritan

Recently in the news there have been increasing reports of rescue efforts and road accidents where members of the public have been praised for assisting the victims until emergency services personnel arrived. For some people, leaping to action in those circumstances is an instinctual response to seeing a fellow man or woman in need. But what happens if in doing so that person makes the matter worse?

Consider the situation where you witness a car traffic accident. You find that one of the cars involved leaking liquid everywhere and you and several other passers-by are concerned about the car blowing up. You decide to take action and help the driver of vehicle (who is clearly very hurt) out of the vehicle. You do so before the emergency services arrive. What if then you discovered that the driver of the vehicle was about to have his leg amputated. The driver blames you. The Fire Service advised him that they could have cut him out of the car safely without causing the damage to his leg prompting the amputation.

People who step up to help in emergency situations such as these are sometimes referred to as Good Samaritans. This blog post will explore how Good Samaritans are protected, if at all, under Bermuda law and what members of the public should be aware of when thinking to help their fellow man in an emergency.

In Bermuda, the only Good Samaritan legislation in place is the Good Samaritan (Food Donations) Act 2015, which is limited to donation of food. There is no other specific legislation regarding Good Samaritans or the protections otherwise available to members of the public who help in emergency situations.

An article published by the Modern Law Review (the Review) dissects the notion of social responsibility and legislating to effect what are already common law principles. Highlighted in the Review is the concept that attempting to "enshrine common law principles in legislation" must be done correctly.

In 2015, the UK enacted the Social Action Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015 (the "UK Act") which was meant to protect the 'Good Samaritan' from liability. However, the UK Act was roundly criticized. Lord Pannick, being quoted during the House of Lords' debate on the Act whilst still in Bill form, said "I cannot remember a more pointless, indeed fatuous, piece of legislation than Clause 2 of this Bill, with the possible exception of Clauses 3 and 4 of this Bill'.

The primary criticism of the UK Act is that the Common Law already...