Wang Yue, a two-year-old toddler in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, was run over by two vans and left for dead last Thursday after wandering onto the road near her mother's shop. After the accident, she lay unconscious, bleeding on the road for almost ten minutes as 18 people passed, ignoring and in some cases even walking around her limp body.

She was later saved by an elderly trash collector, who dragged her out of the street and called for help. In the media frenzy that followed, commentators have upbraided the 18 "cold people" who ignored the child's plight. What were they thinking? How should society deal with their apathy? And how can such a tragedy be prevented from happening again?

When are people willing to help others? In 1973, an American psychologist designed the "good Samaritan" test. The test was carried among seminary students. The participants were asked to preach a sermon at a certain location. And they were hinted that the success of the sermon will have a major impact for their future.

The researcher then had someone lay somewhere on the way and wait for rescue. The results showed that when time pressed, 90 percents of the students chose to pretend not to see the person, or even deliberately went around them, even if the content of their sermon was about "helping others." When enough time was given, most students would stop and save the person lying on the road. This test tells us that whether a person will lend a helping hand or not depends not only on moral doctrine but also on the circumstances.

Back to the hit-and-run case in Foshan. The media followed up with some of the passersby who ignored Yueyue. Some insisted they didn't notice the toddler. One female shop owner said she had gone to kindergarten to pick her daughter. When she came back, she was scared at the sight of blood. She asked a nearby shop employee what had happened. Without getting any answer, she left with her daughter.

When the police and social scientists look into the case and conduct research on why the 18 people left the toddler in the lurch, adverse conditions such as the chaotic environment along the street, poor social security in the region and the heavy rain and dim lights should also be taken into consideration. Authorities should take measures to improve the area.

From a more general perspective, in addition to moral criticism, we should also think about how to create a suitable social environment for doing good and persuade people from behaving indifferently. A warm and practical social environment with clear expectations works better than empty moral education.

Not all the passersby are devoid of conscience. Some of them were devoured by guilt and lost sleep over the incident. They may be good spouses and good neighbors. The female shop owner who left the scene with her daughter later said: "If there were someone who could reach out to the baby, I would also lend a hand."

After the incident, some people visited Yueyue and made donations to cover her medical care. From this we can see society still has a lot of good Samaritans. In fact, each of us can be one of these passersby. What we need is a pair of big hands to promote good deeds.

Sometimes conscience will fail, because social experiences will make people judge the risks of helping "by instinct." There have been many cases where people have been treated unjustly after doing good things. In these cases, can our society provide a comprehensive system for those who lend a hand? Can the government share or even assume full responsibility for them?

The current "brave act for a just cause" rewards system has encouraged a lot of good deeds. But it has fallen short of people's expectations to address the risks that if they help they might incur costs or be blamed for the accident. If do-gooders can be granted exemption from legal prosecution, and get timely legal services provided by social organizations, they won't have to worry about the potential and unpredictable risks. Things will then be back to normal and more people will reach out to those in need.

We cannot expect everyone to behave like an angel, but we can work hard to foster an environment encouraging people to do good. Once people dare to save others without hesitation, they won't have to suffer for their sanity. By then, the good souls will no longer feel alone.

The author is an Oriental Morning Post commentator.

(This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Li Huiru.)

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.