Golden Gate Bridge gets a Suicide net....

hollydolly

hollydolly

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A suicide prevention net at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has finally been completed, officials say.
Around 2,000 people are known to have jumped to their deaths from the bridge since it opened in 1937 in the US city.
For decades, families who lost loved ones to suicide at the bridge have called for a solution.

The suicide deterrent system, also known as the net, has been installed around approximately 95% of the 1.7-mile (2.7 km) bridge.
"The purpose of the net is to reduce the number of deaths associated with individuals jumping off the Bridge," the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District said in a statement.

"The net is a proven design that deters people from jumping, serves as a symbol of care and hope to despondent individuals, and, if necessary, offers people a second chance."

The stainless steel net was approved in 2014 but work did not start on it until four years later. There had also been pushback from those who claimed it affected the view or was too costly.

Kevin Hines is one of only around 40 people known to have survived after jumping off the bridge. He has since become a suicide prevention advocate.
Mr Hines was one of those who campaigned for the net.

"Had the net been there, I would have been stopped by the police and gotten the help I needed immediately and never broken my back, never shattered three vertebrae, and never been on this path I was on," Mr Hines told Associated Press.
"I'm so grateful that a small group of like-minded people never gave up on something so important."
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I thought it had already been installed. Thanks for the information. I have heard of people recounting hearing the screams of people who jumped. Such a pretty and scenic area with so much heartbreak.

I have driven over the bridge, 2 or possibly 3 times and in the 80's took the boat bay tour.
 
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the netting is two stories below the sidewalk. Those who jump may get hurt but will not die.
 
birdy said:
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the netting is two stories below the sidewalk. Those who jump may get hurt but will not die.
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TBF... who cares if they get hurt, but at least they're not putting emergency services lives at risk trying to save them or find their bodies......
 
The majority of both residents of the city of San Francisco and SF Bay Area, including this person, have strongly been against building those nets. Not because they block the view or is costly but rather there are myriad other buildings, other bridges, and locations in San Francisco where a human could jump off of (and many do), so netting the GGB is merely symbolic nonsense advocates have made a mountain out of a mole hill from.

It is true over decades someone that jumps off the GGB is far more likely to get their name in a newspaper or today on a news website versus if they purposely OD on depressant drugs or jump off myriad other high places and splat into eternity. Thus all this nonsense could have been avoided by merely having news media NOT making such public or publishing advocates that constantly blabber about it.
 
hollydolly said:
TBF... who cares if they get hurt, but at least they're not putting emergency services lives at risk trying to save them or find their bodies......
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I am not sure that search and rescue by the US Coast Guard is an operation that puts them in any real danger. I haven't read anything about that aspect of dealing with jumpers from the GGB.
 
birdy said:
I am not sure that search and rescue by the US Coast Guard is an operation that puts them in any real danger. I haven't read anything about that aspect of dealing with jumpers from the GGB.
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rescue is not just in the water tho'.. many jumpers are grabbed by police officers as they attempt to jump, putting both their lives at risk
 
Jace said:
How 'bout any of London's bridges?
Any?
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You have a point there @Jace

United Kingdom[edit]​

  • The Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1864. Since then, it has gained a reputation as a suicide bridge, with over 500 deaths from jumping. It has plaques that advertise the telephone number of Samaritans. In 1998, the bridge was fitted with suicide barriers, which halved the suicide rate in the years following.[32] CCTV is also installed on the bridge.
  • A notable suicide bridge in London is the Hornsey Lane Bridge,[33] which passes over Archway Road and connects the Highgate and Crouch End areas. The bridge provides views of notable landmarks such as St. Paul's Cathedral, The Gherkin and The Shard. It was the venue for mental illness campaign group Mad Pride's inaugural vigil in 2000[34] and was the subject of Johnny Burke's 2006 film The Bridge.[35] When, at the end of 2010, three men in three weeks died by suicide from jumping from the bridge, a campaign was set up by local residents for better anti-suicide measures to be put in place.[36] In October 2015 Islington Council and Haringey Council approved Transport for London's plans for the construction of a safety fence.[37] In summer 2019, Haringey Council installed additional measures to prevent suicide from the bridge in the form of a 3m high fence.[38]
  • At the Humber Bridge in Hull, more than 200 incidents of people jumping or falling from the bridge have taken place since its opening in 1981. Between 1990 and February 2001 the Humber Rescue Team was called 64 times to deal with people falling or jumping off the bridge.
  • Overtoun Bridge near Dumbarton in West Dunbartonshire has been publicised due to reports of dogs jumping or falling from the bridge.[39]

​

 
. overall in all the London bridges there's 20 or so suicides per year...there's no nets on them as far as I know

More suicides where bridges are concerned are from Motorway bridges...
 
"The 1978 Seiden study at the Golden Gate Bridge showed that 90 percent of those stopped from jumping did not later die by suicide or other violent means. A Harvard School of Public Health article reviewing numerous studies showed more broadly that “Nine out of ten people who attempt suicide and survive will not go on to die by suicide at a later date.”

"The Net will be placed 20 feet below the sidewalk, extending 20 feet out from the Bridge. This design was chosen through a public process which solicited input from the community. The selected design allows open, scenic vistas to remain intact, while preventing anyone from easily jumping to the water below."

"Jumping into the Net will result in significant bruises, sprains and possibly broken bones."
 
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