My neighbor and I were chatting at our shared fence the other day. She was not her normal cheerful self. In our conversation, she told me she was being sued. She had helped the woman after she fell in a parking lot. The woman was trying very hard to get up on her own, but my neighbor insisted she wait for more help. It was raining and my neighbor and a few others covered her with umbrellas and coats. Police and paramedics arrived and she was taken to the hospital with a broken hip and wrist.
The family of this woman says my neighbor and the others, including the first police officer to arrive contributed to her contracting pneumonia because they refused to help her move inside. She died a months after falling in the parking lot.
I think the appearance of a lack of empathy and walking by someone or not helping is because of our need for self preservation and protection. The risk of being blamed for harm is too great even when the intention is preventing more harm.