A legal duty to call 911

From the Ann Arbor News:

When Christopher Stamper died of a prescription drug overdose in 2005, his grandfather asked local authorities to charge the people who were with Stamper that night for failing to call for help.

But there is no law in Michigan to hold people accountable for not calling 911. So, John Mercer has spent the past 20 months lobbying state legislators to adopt such a law in memory of his grandson, who was 27 years old when he died.

"He was my boy,'' Mercer said recently at his home in Ypsilanti Township. "I raised him since he was 6 months old.''

Mercer's efforts could pay off this summer.

State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township, plans to introduce a "duty to assist'' bill in the Legislature this month that would require people to call 911 in case of an emergency. Violation of the law would be a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail or a $500 fine. The idea is to encourage people to provide reasonable help, Smith said. The law would protect them from liabilities, she said.

[hat tip: Matt]