golden gate bridge

the suicide barrier debate.

suicide barrier plans. 1½ minutes.

10.10.08, Golden Gate Bridge Gets Suicide Net Approval (psychcentral.com)
After decades worth of engineering studies and heated debate, Golden Gate Bridge officials have voted to erect a suicide barrier on the bridge. The winning design is a stainless steel net that will be hung beneath the iconic bridge span.
The net will not obstruct the existing views from the bridge. It works by catching any would-be individuals who are feeling suicidal that try to jump.
The Golden Gate Transportation District’s board of directors voted 14-1 for the net option today. They considered several methods to stop people from jumping off the world-famous bridge, including fences. The board settled on the prevention net, which has an estimated cost between $40 to $50 million.
The net still requires additional permits, including an environmental review, before installation will begin. It is estimated that it will still be another 2 to 3 years before the net is installed.
Bridge official estimate that, on average, 20 people jump from the span every year. Thirty eight jumped last year and 19 have jumped so far this year. Once installed, it is expected that the net will prevent virtually all suicide attempts from the world-famous bridge. (thanks to bill for sending this.) now, try the whine:
10.10.08, Golden Gate Bridge To Get a Suicide Net, by John M. Grohol (psychcentral.com)
The Bridge’s board of directors has been under increasing pressure in recent years to do something more to prevent the numerous suicides that take place on the iconic span. Thirty eight people plummeted to their death last year from the bridge.
We’ve previously documented how a film was made capturing some of the suicides that take place on the Golden Gate Bridge. We expressed our frustration in July with the slow progress being made in erecting the barrier. We didn’t make any fans of some San Franciscans when we first blogged about this issue over two years ago in an entry entitled, What do San Franciscans Value? The View or Human Life?. With the use of the net, the hope is that the existing view can be maintained, while still saving lives.
But it’s still got a ways to go. The district has no money to pay for the net (apparently no one thought to begin looking at ways to fund the barrier two years ago when it was first considered). It will likely be at least two more years before the barrier is in place, assuming funds are found, environmental permits are received, and engineering studies are completed.
It’s taken two years and over 60 deaths to get to an approved suicide barrier plan for the bridge. Sadly, it’ll probably cost another 60 or so more human lives before the net actually is approved and constructed.
(this barrier net has an "estimated cost between $40 to $50 million" and like most every other government construction job, will no doubt be much closer to $100 million in delays, cost over runs, and corruption. tag on many thousands a year in maintenance the net will demand. the net will stop many suicides from the bridge, but it will never stop everyone that wants to end their life by jumping from the golden gate bridge. a net may catch the jumpers, but they will finger out a way around a net. then there is the very likelihood that anyone caught in the net and injured in any way, will sue and win large sums of money for having created a structure that injures people that jump into it. anyone caught in the net will also need to be rescued from it. the rescuers will also likely get injured doing their job and that too will result in lawsuits and disability issues. sorry, john, but your cute little net will not save everyone. those that are stopped may well find another way to check themselves out. you will never stop suicide and you should stop worrying so much about it. people have the right to die by their own hand and you need to let them make up their own minds. your bridge has about 20 suicides a year. it would take 50 years of bridge jumpers to equal the suicide rate of one single day of cigarette smokers. in this country alone, one thousand people a day extinguish their lives through all fault of their own with cigarettes. perhaps you should order up a barrier around a pack of smokes.) mr. grohol replies:
10.12.08, John M. Grohol, @phil - Nobody’s looking to stop suicides completely as that’s an unreasonable goal. Just to make it less easy to do so for people who make the decision “in the moment,” as many bridge jumpers have been shown to do in research on this phenomenon. Fences and barriers of this nature simply work and the research proves it.
As for gov’t corruption, I guess we shouldn’t do any program that enhances social good for that very same reason. Heck, let’s stop building roads too, since those are the biggest death traps in the U.S., killing 40,000+ Americans each and every year.
There are many causes of preventable deaths in the U.S., including 100,000+ from medical mistakes in hospitals. But every neighborhood and community has to look at what makes sense for them. And for the Golden Gate Bridge, this is a no-brainer, easy way to prevent the vast majority of deaths each from the bridge. (we contend that it's not feasible to expend such a large sum for so few. there are many causes of preventable deaths in the u.s. and of course we should take all logical and concerted efforts to prevent them, but not so many millions for the so few that want to end their lives anyway, regardless if it's on impulse or not. the real no-brainer is to use the 'net' money for the greater good. you have an agenda and we applaud your effort, we just think it's misguided. here's an idea, use the 'net' money to buy nicotine gum for those that wish to quit smoking. the 'lives saved' return would be better then bridge jumpers saved. see, we too have an agenda and feel ours will save more for the dollar then yours will. you can reply if you wish, but we have made our points and will not bother you any more. good luck with your net.)

more about the suicide bridge net:
10.13.08: how does a bridge suicide net work?
10.11.08: a forum discussion.
10.11.08: latimes.com
07.29.08: steel net preferred for halting bridge jumpers.
2005: golden gate bridge barrier debate. parts: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7