Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 4 Episode 20

Ron Carver: If you see a bleeding man, it is your responsibility to help; you can't look away and do nothing. It is not your responsibility to grease the skids of his demise. Doing that is criminal.

Actually, only half of this statement is true. A bystander cannot "grease the skids" of an injured person's demise when the bystander finds the injured person – and the bystander can and would be prosecuted for such an action. However, in most states (including New York), the bystander has NO responsibility to help ANY injured person that the bystander finds. The only person who has any obligation to assist an injured person is the one who caused the injury. There are eight states with a "duty to rescue" for the general public, meaning a bystander cannot see an injured person without offering assistance – unless they would endanger themselves by doing so – similar to what ADA Carver is suggesting. They are Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. However, these laws are not routinely enforced.