Aman

Amdavadis

Zahid Qureshi

Mashla

Ambli-Bopal

Jignesh Vora

CAUTIOUS, BUT HELPFUL

Dipak Mashla

Vipul Bhatt

Bhatt

Vijay Crossroad

Vijay

ALWAYS READY TO HELP

Parth Narania

Trishila

Parth

Vivek Trivedi

Nandan Dixit

Riyas Shaikh

HOME GUARDS TO RESCUE

GUJARAT

Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum

Joshi

Parmar

NO HELP HERE

‘IT IS OUR DUTY’

Bharat Desai

Badal Shah

Rushil Barot

Mohit Aswani

‘WHY TAKE A RISK’

knocked down by a tempo lay bleeding on a Delhi road for 90 minutes. Several commuters in cars and scooters passed by but none stopped to help. A Mirror test drive in Ahmedabad paints a different picture: howare good Samaritans with their hearts in the right place. And how they don’t hesitate to stop even at a late hour to help an accident victim.During the test drive, Mirror correspondentsand Dipakwent to six spots in the city on Friday, between 12 midnight and 4.30 am, and posed as accident victims. While at a couple of places, motorists hesitated/ failed to come to the aid of our correspondents posing as accident victims, at others passersby stopped and came to their rescue. On theRoad, a couple stopped despite the late hour, to help the correspondent. While the drama unfolded, Mirror photographertook pictures from a distance.SPOT: MUKTI DHAM, THALTEJ CROSSROADMirror correspondentlay passed out next to the divider, his bike lying next to him. Seven commuters passed him by but did not stop. A little later, a biker stopped to investigate. He saw Mashla on the ground and immediately rushed to his aid. The biker,, tried to revive Mashla, who was pretending to be unconscious. When that failed,took the correspondent’s phone and tried dialling the last number, which is when another correspondent approached him to tell him that this was a test which he had passed it with flying colours. Bhatt, who owns a refreshment shop near, said, “When I saw the person on the roadside, I was scared he might be dead or grievously injured. I believe in helping accident victims. In the past, I have chased a truck that had knocked down a two-wheeler driver nearcrossroads in 2015.” While Bhatt did not hesitate in offering help, he was cautious enough to put his belongings in the storage compartment of his vehicle and check his surroundings before approaching to help.When I saw the person on the roadside, I was scared he might be dead or grievously injured. I believe in helping accident victimsVIPUL BHATT, BusinessmanSPOT: AMBLI –BOPAL ROADMirror Correspondent Zahid Qureshi stopped at the Ambli-Bopal road after midnight and pretended to be injured. As he lay “unconscious”,and his fiancéeon a bike saw him lying on the road and immediately stopped by.said, “I stopped as it was late and I thought that the person might be injured. I thought there might be a family out there waiting to hear from him.” As Parth inquired if he was alright, the correspondent got up and told the couple that this was part of a test drive. Trishila said, “For a moment I thought we were being ambushed. But it is good to make people aware of their public duty. Not to offer help to someone who is injured is insensitive. I would never do that.”At the same location, two bikers and an auto driver also came to the correspondent’s aid. Bikersandsaid that it was their duty to help a person in need. Meanwhile, auto driversaid, “I mostly work at night and have seen several accidents as people drive recklessly when traffic is sparse. I always stop to help the victims. Who knows some day I might need the same help.”I mostly work at night and have seen several accidents as people drive recklessly when traffic is sparse. I always stop to help the victims. Who knows some day I might need the same help.”RIYAS SHAIKH, Auto driverSPOT:UNIVERSITYAt Gujarat University, the correspondent lay near. A few motorists passed by but none stopped to help. A man on a two-wheeler slowed down on seeing a man lying on the road but did not stop. Instead, he went ahead and reported about the injured man to the home guards posted near the passport office. The home guards rushed to the correspondent’s help. They carried him to a nearby bench and gave him water. They inquired whether he was injured and how the accident took place.When they were told that this was a test drive being conducted by Mirror, they were taken aback but appreciated the efforts to sensitise the public. Home guards K M Ravat, R A Nai, K J Parmar, K A Chauhan and R Pwere on duty.said, “We have been posted near the passport office for past three years. A scooterist informed us that an injured man was lying on the road which is why we rushed to help. This is part of our duty.”We have been posted near the passport office for past three years. A scooterist informed us that an injured man was lying on the road which is why we rushed to help. This is part of our duty.KJ PARMAR, Home Guard posted near Passport officeSPOT: HEBATPUR ROAD Zahid Qureshi lay on the road for more than an hour, his white scooter lying next to him but no one came to his aid. As many as 10 vehicles passed by him but none stopped. A scooterist saw him and slowed down, but did not stop or offer help.SPOT: THALTEJ UNDERPASSThe kilometre-long Thaltej underpass is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. As the correspondent lay by the curb, he could feel the vehicles zooming by at speeds of more than 80 kmph. A youth,, zipped by on a scooter, but made a U-turn when he saw a biker lying on the road. At the same time, a few youths spotted Mashla from top of the underpass. A couple of them even climbed down the wall of the underpass to come to the victim’s aid. One of the youths was about to call an ambulance when Dipak Mashla got up from the ground, much to the shock of the youths.Mashla disclosed to them that it was a test drive by Mirror to check how Amdavadis respond to accident victims. One of the youths,, was impressed by Mirror’s initiative. He said, “This is a good initiative to encourage people to come to the aid of accident victims. When I heard about the Delhi accident victim, I was appalled at the insensitivity of Delhiites.”and, who also stopped by to help, said, “We were on our way home when we saw this person. No matter how much in a hurry we are, we would always stop to help an injured person. It is the least we can do.”SPOT: S G HIGHWAY-SOLA CROSSROADMirror correspondent Dipak Mashla lay on the road for more than 30 minutes. In this time, more than 28 vehicles passed by him but none stopped to help. None of them even slowed down to check why a man was lying on the road. When Mirror correspondent spoke to a few people, they said that no motorist dared stop on this stretch of road for the fear of being robbed by gangs who pretend to be in need of help and then attack their rescuers. “They don’t want to take the risk of being attacked,” they said.