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posted by martyb on Wednesday November 09 2016, @05:44AM   Printer-friendly
from the every-man-before-he-die-should-strive-to-learn-what-he-is-running-to-and-from-and-why dept.

Many media outlets referred to what happened as a "mass panic" or a "stampede." But such terms are not appropriate to the situation, according to John Drury, a social psychologist at the University of Sussex.

"People follow others when they perceive these others as relevant, so it is not mindless," Drury says. "The problems come when the others don't take the danger seriously enough. People more often die in emergencies through not evacuating quickly rather than through haste."

Stampeding is a primitive, instinctive behavior of herd animals, and panic implies a rashness or irrationality in response to a real or perceived danger, Drury writes on his academic blog. But crowds shouldn't be compared to unintentional, mindless mobs. Instead Drury refers to these events as progressive crowd collapses.

Shared identity in the crowd (eg. "Cubs fans"), exit design, crowd traffic control, and sight lines are all factors in stampedes. The researchers are modeling different mitigation strategies like precise position monitoring via GPS event bracelets.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10 2016, @01:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10 2016, @01:45AM (#424948)

    Something similar I have done before - car is broken down and causing a blockage on a highway. I have waited in the queue, got to the break down and then driven straight past. I should stop and push the car to the shoulder but I never do. Why not?

    1. I am worried that the person in the car will be grumpy and have a go
    2. I am worried that other people around me will be grumpy and have a go
    3. I dont feel confident enough to safely stop, blocking the traffic, and attempt to move the car (what if I am not strong enough? people will think I am an idiot etc)
    4. I get no benefit from moving the stranded car (beyond a warm fuzzy feeling if it all works out okay).

    So I leave the car broken down blocking a lane and drive on, like the other thousands of cars on the highway.