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FEATURE l CROWD CONTROL
ing in front of a business, for example, could lead to a broken window or sig- nage. An insurance claim would follow but the insurer may then look to the city to recoup those costs if they can show overcrowding was a factor.
Hirst says he didn’t see any portable toilets or shaded areas for people who were waiting for the team to arrive at Na- than Phillips Square; for him, this raises additional concerns around health and safety.
At outdoor events, people may find their way into private businesses in the area looking for relief from the sun. Pol- lard recalls the outdoor Mass with Pope John Paul II in Toronto’s Downsview Park in 2002. He says the lack of wash- room facilities at the time sent people into nearby stores; the sewage system in the area was overwhelmed when people “flushed everything,” causing backed- up and burst pipes. “The city ended up
‘You know exactly what the risk is when you run beside a bus. That’s why no one runs beside a bus.’
At other types of parades, like Toron- to’s Santa Claus Parade – which draws more than half a million people – a safe perimeter is generally kept, says Peel. But that was not the case here. People were able to run alongside buses, creat- ing further risk: what if someone got hit while crossing between buses?
In this type of hypothetical scenario, “I think there could be multiple parties involved,” says Peel. “The bus driver would be one. The company that runs the bus is another. And the city [could be found liable] as well for the planning and not keeping people away from the streets. Each person would probably be assigned a portion of the blame if there was a suit brought against them if an ac- cident did occur”
Pollard wonders if the blame could shift elsewhere. “On the flip side, if I’m defending that, I’m going to say, ‘You know exactly what the risk is when you run beside a bus. That’s why no one runs beside a bus.’”
Hirst doesn’t believe blame would fall to the injured party. “The way the law is put together here in Ontario, if you were running alongside the bus and tripped over and fell under the wheels, it doesn’t really seem to be your fault for tripping over,” he observes. “You really shouldn’t be running alongside a bus, because ob- viously you’re on a public road and you shouldn’t be walking along that. Com- mon sense would suggest that it’s actu- ally your fault.”
Pollard would like to see things han- dled differently in the future. “Should we re-think the parade route? Why are we going down streets where we can’t corral people? Why not have it complete- ly on [the Canadian National Exhibition] grounds, where there’s gated access and where we could control the [size] of the crowds that come in?” Pollard said.
Peel feels the same. A shorter parade route would mitigate some of the risks, but barricades would play a big role in helping as well. “If they were more prepared and put up proper barriers straight through the whole parade route ... at least it’s a little bit safer so that no one’s going to be hit by a bus or anything like that.”
to that sort of scenario.”
A shooting at the parade reported-
ly led to a mad scramble a few blocks away from where players, city and team officials were giving an outdoor presen- tation. Whether anyone was injured in the race to flee the shooting area is un- known.
Slip-and-falls are also a risk hazard at any crowd event. What if someone tripped on the sidewalk and suffered an injury during the parade? The injured party would need to show that over- crowding and a lack of control by the city was the cause.
“Certainly there will be some circum- stances where you could point to crowd swelling, etc.,” Pollard says. “But I think that would be on the person who was in- jured to prove that the crowd in that ar- eas was so out of control, that it somehow led to them tripping over this hazard.”
Overcrowding at events can also af- fect businesses. A parade crowd swell-
having significant exposure to repair,” Pollard says of the Pope’s outdoor Mass in 2002.
Commenting more generally about commercial risks related to crowds, Pollard adds: “If there’s been damage to the business – pipes, broken windows, graffiti – I think people could look to the city and organizers ultimately for those type of things. They’ll go through their own insurance and then I bet you we see some subrogated claims against the city come in from insurers who have paid out on these claims that we can directly trace back to crowd control issues.”
The Raptors parade went along Lake- shore Boulevard and University Ave- nue, which are wide streets that have at least six lanes of traffic and a size- able median at different stretches. That amount of space made it possible for a large viewing audience. However, it was clear organizers underestimated how many people would show up, Peel says.
34 September 2019 | Canadian Underwriter