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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]

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[-] 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.

[-] jami@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day 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.

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this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
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