LA County Creates Rave Safety Task Force
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to convene a task force to study problems with public safety at raves. The vote comes after the death of a fifteen year old girl last month during the two-day Electric Daisy Festival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Authorities believe the death of Sasha Rodriguez, who collapsed at the festival, was drug related, but are still waiting on toxicology reports.
There were more than 200 injuries reported at the Electric Daisy event and 114 people were sent to the hospital. According to Southern California Public Radio, many injuries were due to drug or alcohol overdoses, but some were hurt when crowds rushed the barriers, trying to avoid the $75 entrance fee.
The Associated Press reports the Board of Supervisors has directed the Department of Public Health to put together a team to study what can be done to make raves safer and to better inform the public about some of the dangers. "This is a public health issue more than anything else and the best way to deal with public health issues is to inform and educate," said Zev Yaroslavsky, one of the motion's sponsors.
The team studying the issue will be comprised of city officials, police representatives, hospital staff and representatives from the music event industry. The team will develop recommendations for making raves safer and publicizing their dangers. According to the AP, after the vote, Simon Rust Lamb, a spokesman for the event's promoter, Insomniac Inc., praised the Board of Supervisors for including representatives from the music event industry on the team.
"Industry representatives can work with the task force to better understand the realities of the electronic music event industry and help the task force with outreach to the industry as a whole," he said.
It will certainly be in the industry's best interest to help find a solution for the safety problems like those at the Electric Daisy Festival. At this time, a moratorium has been placed on booking raves at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Recently, other deaths have been reported at raves. In May, a 23 year-old man died after attending the Pop 2010: The Dream at the Cow Palace in Daly City, just outside San Francisco.
Related Resources:
- LA County officials create rave safety task force (AP)
- LA County supervisors vote to create task force to examine raves (Southern Cal. Public Radio)
- Drug Possession (FindLaw)
- Premises Liability Info Center (provided by Lane & Lane, LLC)
- Personal Injury Overview (provided by Magnuson Lowell, P.S.)
