Extract from the BBC News website

Hit-and-run 'tale of inhumanity'

Mr Flanagan, who died in June 2004, had five brothers and sisters.

A man who ran out of taxi fare after a stag night was hit by four different vehicles as he walked along a dual carriageway, an inquest has heard.

No-one involved stopped to help in what the deputy coroner of Merthyr Tydfil called a "tale of inhumanity".

One motorist pulled over to remove clothing from the front of his car before driving off.

Mark Flanagan, 31, of Rhymney Valley, was killed on the A465 last June. An accidental death verdict was recorded....

continued ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4537001.stm

And so the drivers who did drive off SHOULD be disgusted with themselves...what a awful tale of irresponsibility amongst car drivers..!!

I'm gonna sound like my Grandma now, bout this time I agree with her, the large majority of people have no time for their fellow man, they are only in a rush to get from A to B no matter what be in the way.

God I wish I still retained the naivety of youth, Im only 16 and I already have a bleak view of life!!!!

And what about the people who let him get into that state? The car drivers can't take all the blame on this one.

no but surely if you know you have hit something gut instinct is to turn back or at least report it. :|

good point, I think some bar staff are too quick to serve (not a general statement in case i offend, just SOME) and his friends of course.

Originally posted by Bloomdido
And what about the people who let him get into that state? The car drivers can't take all the blame on this one.

They can't take all the blame? They drove over someone and then just carried on and left him there? What sort of a person does something like that. As Shiesh posted, it's hard to believe that no-one helped this man at all. Just drove on and left him lying there in the road...

Does anyone really think that the outcome would have been different if he'd been sober? On a dark country road at night with drivers just wanting to get home? If he was walking along when the first car hit him, why didn't the driver see him in the headlights? Maybe the truth of the matter is that everyone had had a drink? Maybe that's the real reason no-one stopped to help or even reported it at the time. Too afraid of the consequences of drink driving and anxious to save their own skins?

good point also, god why cant I disagree with anyone?

One thingI find most sickening is the motorist that decided to pull over to pull clothing off his car, why didn't "Where has this clothing come from, oh **** I must have hit someone" go through his mind?

The thing I find most shocking is the 19 year old girl. If you consider that you think you've just killed someone (as the others probably did) it is possible to relate to a reaction of blind panic, even though I'd like to think if I was in that position I'd stop and contact the authorities immediately. However it's a bit hard to accept such a reaction when the girl proceeded to go to a party for the night.

Originally posted by t020
[B]If you consider that you think you've just killed someone (as the others probably did) it is possible to relate to a reaction of blind panicB]

Do you think the current where-there's-blame-there's-a-claim climate could have contributed to all those people driving off?

For instance, if each driver who hit the body assumed it was they who had killed the guy, and all they'd get for being a good Samaritan would be a bloody great compo bill and their loss of the driving licence and / or liberty?

Good point t020. Sheer panic could make you flee a scene but surely when you come to your senses, you'd do something about it. To go on to a party seems rather a callous thing to do.

Originally posted by Abdul
For instance, if each driver who hit the body assumed it was they who had killed the guy, and all they'd get for being a good Samaritan would be a bloody great compo bill and their loss of the driving licence and / or liberty?

I don't understand what you're saying there Abdul. If you run over someone, it's hardly being a Good Samaritan to stop and get some help. It's your responsibility. And if through careless driving, you've killed or injured someone, I think you'd expect to get some punishment, surely.

As I understand the parable, the Good Samaritan stopped to help someone who had already fallen amongst thieves .. ie, it was nothing to do with him but he stopped to help anyway. The person who eventually stopped and got some help for this poor man was the Good Samaritan, not any of the drivers we read about.

Apologies, rubydazzler. I'm not as hot on my Bible stories as you :blush:

What I meant was that perhaps each driver who hit the pedestrian then stopped to check before driving off had assumed they had killed the pedestrian.

So to prevent any possible compensation claim against them, or to prevent themslves from losing their licence or going to jail, they drove off without reporting the accident?

Originally posted by Abdul
Do you think the current where-there's-blame-there's-a-claim climate could have contributed to all those people driving off?

For instance, if each driver who hit the body assumed it was they who had killed the guy, and all they'd get for being a good Samaritan would be a bloody great compo bill and their loss of the driving licence and / or liberty?

Possibly to a degree, but even so one would expect to be so shaken up and disgusted about the incident that to go on to a party afterwards just seems unbelievable.

lol Abdul ... I went to a convent school ... we had to be good at religion just to get through the day ;)

If you'd said that each person assumed that someone else had hit the pedestrian first and killed him and therefore they didn't want to get involved as they weren't responsible - welllll maybe :confused: But it's not something that the average person would do, I'm sure. Run over someone and then drive off, without checking and leave them to die? Could anyone here do it? And killing someone even with a motor vehicle is going to lead to far worse than just losing your licence, surely?

Or maybe it's a generational thing, perhaps us oldies are just more likely to take responsibility for our actions than younger people? Just floating that as the second and third drivers quoted appeared to be young people?