324
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/til@lemmy.ca

From Wikipedia

Stampede events that involve humans are extremely rare and are unlikely to be fatal.[5] According to Keith Still, professor of crowd science at Manchester Metropolitan University, "If you look at the analysis, I've not seen any instances of the cause of mass fatalities being a stampede. People don't die because they panic. They panic because they are dying".[5] 

Paul Torrens, a professor at the Center for Geospatial Information Science at the University of Maryland, remarks that "the idea of the hysterical mass is a myth".[5] Incidents involving crowds are often reported by media as the results of panic.[16][17] However, the scientific literature has explained how panic is a myth which is used to mislead the attention of the public from the real causes of crowd incidents, such as a crowd crush.[18][19][20] […] [M]ost major crowd disasters can be prevented by simple crowd management strategies.[22] Crushes can be prevented by organization and traffic control, such as barriers. […] Such incidents are invariably the product of organisational failures.[4]

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] aramis87@fedia.io 66 points 1 month ago

FTA: There is risk of a crush when crowd density exceeds about five people per square meter.[a] For a person in a crowd a signal of danger, and a warning to get out of the crowd if possible, is the sensation of being touched on all four sides. A later, more serious, warning is when one feels shock waves travelling through the crowd, due to people at the back pushing forward against people at the front with nowhere to go.

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 43 points 1 month ago

For those wondering, FTA doesn't mean "Free Trade Agreement" or "Fuck The Asshole", but "Forgot To Add".

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 50 points 1 month ago

I think in this instance it might be “from the article”

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 month ago

Lmao, you're right. I really tried to find the answer myself rather than asking! Ahaha

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 month ago

I’ve felt the latter at a huge, extremely crowded parade and it was the scariest shit I’ve ever felt. Waves is the right word, because it was like being in a wave pool made of people. Fortunately nothing serious happened, but I have never noped the fuck out of anywhere that fast as soon as we were able to.

Unfortunately at that point if you try to move you can risk a crowd collapse which can be just as deadly. So you should be real careful about knocking people off their balance if you try to move around.

[-] jami@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

The Women's March in 2017 felt like a dangerous situation crowd-wise. Luckily cops are nice to white ladies and the Proud Boys hadn't started violently attacking everyone they hate, so it was fine.

I'm hoping we don't all have to mobilize again post-election, but if we do, I'll listen to my bad feeling and get out of crowds that are touching on all sides.

this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
324 points (94.5% liked)

Today I Learned (TIL)

6546 readers
1 users here now

You learn something new every day; what did you learn today?

/c/til is a community for any true knowledge that you would like to share, regardless of topic or of source.

Share your knowledge and experience!

Rules

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS