Disrupt emergency exits to boost evacuation rates

Need to evacuate people quickly through a narrow opening? Put something in their way.

Physicists timed a crowd of 50 women as they exited as fast as possible through a door, and then repeated the experiment with a 20-centimetre-wide pillar placed 65 centimetres in front of the exit to the left-hand side.

The obstacle improved the exit rate by an extra seven people per minute – from 2.8 people to 2.92 people per second.

More awesome experiments. Funny how sometimes putting a roadblock in place can actually increase throughput.

Posted via web from InFormalBrain

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Posted 11 months ago
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