The Curious Case of Peng Yu from Nanjing (南京彭宇案) and China Society - Alvinology

The Curious Case of Peng Yu from Nanjing (南京彭宇案) and China Society

2-Year-Old Girl Ran Over by Two Vans and Ignored by 18 Bystanders
2-Year-Old Girl Ran Over by Two Vans and Ignored by 18 Bystanders

The world seethes with rage over the recent incident in China whereby a two-year-old girl was ran over by two vans and ignored by 18 bystanders.

The horrific ordeal was captured on camera. I won’t be posting the video on my blog because of its gruesome nature, but you can watch it on Chinasmack.com or read the summary below:

October 13th afternoon around 5:30, a car accident occurred at the Guangfo Hardware Market in Huangqi of Foshan. A van hit a 2-year-old little girl and then fled. No passersby reached out to help and then another car ran over her. Over the span of 7 minutes, a total of 17 people passing by failed to extend a hand or call the police, up until the 19th person, a garbage scavenger ayi [older woman], who lifted her up after discovering her but the little girl in her arms was like a noodle, immediately collapsing back onto the ground. The trash scavenger ayi called for help, and the little girl’s mother, who was in the vicinity, immediately rushed over and rushed her to the hospital.

Why did the mainland Chinese behave this way?

This is not the first case of a Chinese driver deliberately killing an accident victim after hitting the person with a vehicle.

It all steams from peculiar accident laws in China. If you knock into someone and did not kill the person, the state will make you responsible for the person’s health care costs for the rest of his or her life. If you kill the person upon impact, you actually pay a flat fee that might be substantially less. Casting moral values aside, the pragmatic decision is to make sure you kill a victim if you are involved in a traffic accident.

Also, there’s the curious 2006 case of Peng Yu from Nanjing (南京彭宇案). Peng Yu helped a woman to the hospital after she had fallen, only to have the old woman accuse him of knocking her down. A Nanjing judge ultimately ruled that common sense dictated only the person who hit the victim would take her to the hospital, setting a precedent that continues to further discourages and reinforces many Chinese people’s wariness to help others in similar situations.

With a warped legal system like this and peculiar accident compensation laws, who would dare to stand out and help others?

This unfortunate incident of two-year-old Yue Yue has brought shame to China on the global arena. The news has been reported through many international media channels. Hopefully, Yue Yue’s sacrifice will not be in vain, but will propel the Chinese authorities to seriously reconsider their traffic laws.

22 comments

  1. I think the question “Why did the mainland Chinese behave this way?” is just the wrong question to ask, and almost answers itself by the segregation of this incident as the problem of mainland china.

    In my opinion, the question should be – How can a human behave this way? do this to another human being? a small child at that?

    I gotta say, the world would be a better place if all those people who passed her by were out of it…

  2. I hope that the van driver dies soon and all the people that walked by have bad luck all there lifes, does this show us what the chinese people are like really? hard hearted and very cold!

  3. 18 is a sample path in life. By the law of large numbers, most mainland Chinese are like that.

    This is why the Hong Kong and Singapore society are screwed when they let in tons of mainland Chinese because they are callous and haughty people who will butcher their own kind and boast around their 5000 years history.

    The video really displays their full 5000 years nature. Maybe it’s time to let the Japs come in to teach them a lesson or two.

  4. Can’t help noticing “17 passed by […] and 19th helped”.

    The environment in China is pretty sick, esp after reading 贱男春浪贱’s comments on Chinasmack. That he so matter-of-factly (and proudly…) declare that he would be one of the 18 because it’s ‘normal’ to protect yourself even if it meant letting someone die..

  5. it really heart sink or dishearted upon seeing this video. i have seened many video on people kill the small animals like dog, rabbit, cat,etc in china. now is a human of our same kind yet they choose to walk away. i worked in shipyard and i see people injuried and died. everyone risk their live to save them, if not call the rescuer for help. perhaps the govt sohuld review their traffic policy- “common sense, they the person who bring the injury is the person who cause the accident”. they need to study human behavior and change slowly and promotion moral. understand there will be case who people tend to take advantage of people kindness. in this world, everything need evidence and witness to be convicted.
    there is a shipyard in China, project manager [who is a mainland chinese] saying safety cost more money than lose a few lifes in workplace. this really disrespect him and i tell him if the person who die is oyur family members. you know what is his reply? my family members will not work here as workers to face the risk. i walked away and never turn back to him.

  6. Do a search for “calabash monk in nanjing” in google, you’ll see an article that provides some insightful details about that case. En you realize that its not about an incompetent judge, but a dirty system that resulted in the judgement against Peng Yu.

  7. I am amazed that several commenters have read this article and chose to ignore the social, political and legal explanations for the moral degradation that is happening in modern China and jumped straight to racism and judgement…….
    And i think it is very naive to simply condemn those 18 who walked by…..yes its terrible what they did, but in their heads they also had to consider the very real possibility that they may face criminal prosecution and bankrupcy for their families if they stopped to help because of the incompetent chinese legal system and governmental corruption. Try and really understnad the situation in China and consider why, despite being the holders of American debt, they are still considered a 3rd world country. We

  8. Quinn it is the Chinese fault for not reforming their government and laws, THEY THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER. Yet they chose to let other humans die rather than take action.

  9. Adoph, you obviously don’t know anything. China is NOT a democracy. THey are an oligarchy and the leaders rule with an IRON FIST, supported by the world’ largest land army. The Chinese people do not have power to change the laws…only the rich and powerful Chinese do.

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