Why Do Crowd Surges at Concerts Happen?

Crowd surges occur when large groups of people, typically in a confined space, move in the same direction. With such a mass of people moving at once, many can be injured or lose their lives in crushing accidents. Crowd surges have resulted in serious injury and death at concerts, sports venues, and other such environments.

Understanding crowd surges can help both attendees and organizers prevent dangerous situations. If you’re injured in a crowd surge, you may be entitled to compensation from those responsible. Contact Munley Law for a free consultation about your case.

The Science Behind Deadly Crowd Surges

A crowd surge usually requires two factors:

• A dense crowd, particularly if it’s packed into such a small space that crowd surging could make it difficult for members to move safely or even breathe
• A catalyst which can turn a dense but otherwise safe crowd into a hazard that results in death

An example of a catalyst is shouting “Fire” in a crowded room, like a movie theater. This could set off a crowd surge that may cause significant harm.

Dangerous Crowd Density and Warning Signs

What are the thresholds for dangerous crowd density? There is no one answer to this question. Factors like whether a crowd is gathering in an open or confined space, what types of activities members of the crowd will be participating in, and other such conditions can determine when crowd density has reached unsafe levels. Event organizers are responsible for accounting for these risks and limiting crowd density accordingly.

Unfortunately, significant crowd density can result in serious injuries like compression asphyxia during crowd surges. Compression asphyxia occurs when an external force pushes against someone’s torso in such a way as to prevent them from breathing. In large crowds, the crowd pushing forward can cause some individuals to experience compression asphyxia as a result of being pushed up against other people or fixtures.

Avoiding crowd surges is easier when you know to be on the lookout for warning signs of dangerous crowd situations, like the following:

• Being pushed up against others or the wall is likely a sign of poor crowd management
• Feeling like you’re surrounded on all four sides to such a degree that you’re touching others or you can’t move without touching others
• Lack of crowd spotters, who are essentially security officers or emergency personnel who monitor large crowds for signs of developing problems

Understanding how crowd surges happen doesn’t guarantee you’ll never be hurt in one. If you’ve been injured in a crowd surge, contact the premises liability lawyers at Munley Law immediately for a free case evaluation.

Legal Responsibility for Concert Safety

Various parties may share degrees of legal responsibility when it comes to the safety of audience members at a concert, music festival, or other such event. Consider the following:

• Venue operator duties: Venue operators have a general responsibility to ensure a safe environment. This can involve making sure a crowd surge doesn’t result from packing too many people into a small space.
• Event organizer obligations: Event organizers also have legal duties, even if they don’t technically own and operate the venues where they host their events. For example, perhaps an organizer is hosting a music festival at a property not usually designed for this type of event, like a ski mountain during the off-season. In this case, the organizer may need to take additional steps to ensure this unconventional venue option doesn’t put attendees at risk.
• Security company responsibilities: It’s not uncommon for event organizers and venue operators to contract security work with outside security companies. These companies may have responsibilities as well, such as ensuring their security officers are qualified to prevent crowd surges and respond to them when they do occur.
• Performer liability considerations: There are instances when a performer may be considered liable for a crowd surge. For instance, a performer might make an inflammatory or false statement on stage that results in a crowd surge. Or, rather than using their position to perform informal crowd control by telling audience members to calm down, they may urge the crowd on. In some cases, like the Astroworld Festival 2021 crowd crush event that ultimately resulted in 10 deaths, a performer may be held liable if they’re also one of the event’s promoters or organizers. This is among the reasons rapper Travis Scott has faced lawsuits over the tragedy.

Many parties could have a legal duty to protect attendees at an event. You may have a case if you were injured because someone neglected these duties. Let our experienced premises liability attorneys explain your legal rights.

Common Factors That Trigger Crowd Surges

Certain types of factors can make it more likely that a crowd surge will occur. They include:

• Poor venue design: A venue that doesn’t allow members of a crowd to disperse safely could become a very unsafe environment during crowd surges. If every member of a crowd heads in the same direction to escape a hazard because that’s their only option, or if they have little room to navigate when trying to escape a dangerous situation, injuries are likely to occur.
• Inadequate crowd management: Lack of proper crowd control may allow a potentially minor crowd surge to become  much more deadly.
• Insufficient emergency exits: Crowd crush injuries are more likely in emergency situations when venues lack sufficient emergency exits.
• Oversold venues: Packing more people into a venue than said venue can accommodate is an easy recipe for disaster.
• Delayed event responses: Emergency personnel failing to respond to crowd surges promptly is another reason they can become dangerous.

Types of Injuries in Crowd Surge Incidents

Compression asphyxia is perhaps the most common injury that someone might sustain in a crowd crush situation. Other types of injuries include:

• Traumatic crush injuries, such as crushed internal organs
• Orthopedic injuries resulting from crowd crushes can range from basic sprains and strains to major fractures
• Psychological trauma, as being involved in crowd surges, can be very traumatic for victims

This isn’t necessarily an exhaustive list. Our attorneys can help you pursue compensation for all types of crowd surge injuries. Prevention Strategies and Industry Standards

Various strategies and means have been employed to guard against crowd surges when large crowds gather. Unfortunately, while certain industry standards can help prevent these types of tragedies at large events, legal regulation in this area is very limited.

Best Practices for Crowd Management

Implementing comprehensive crowd management strategies and understanding crowd dynamics are essential for preventing dangerous crowd crush incidents that can lead to severe injuries or loss of life. Practices that may guard against crowd surges include:

• Not issuing tickets to more attendees than an event can support
• Using physical barriers to separate crowds in the event of surges
• Hiring adequate security
• Ensuring venues are well-lit
• Monitoring for and mitigating any hazards that could otherwise serve as catalysts for crowd surges

New technologies may also help prevent crowd surges. For example, AI programs could monitor crowd behavior and identify warning signs before surges get out of control. While leveraging these types of innovative solutions is important, it’s also critical to practice the basics, like following effective emergency response protocols.

Unfortunately, crowd surges can happen, resulting in serious harm when they do. If venue negligence led to your injuries, contact us for a free consultation.