emergency exits

  I was in a lecture today and looking around me, I saw an awful lot of students slowly making their way towards the exit. Now, assume for a moment that the building were on fire, or that there were some similar catastrophe, and the room had to be evacuated quickly. There would in all likelihood be a stampede, or at least a rush. That many people simply could not fit through the main entrance as quickly as necessary. Now the emergency doors are strategically placed near the front, where most students would quite likely head. Not only that, but assume that someone was crushed against the emergency door itself: The door not only opens outwards, but simply crashing into the door will push the bar in, opening the door. This is quite a well thought out system. People can't get crushed, and it's more likely that everyone will get out safely. I'll feel safer when I'm next in a burning building...