Jan 17 2009
Golden Gate Bridge Suicides - Warning: Graphic Video
The county sheriff’s office just reported that in 2008 thirty four people committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. That total is one less than 2007 and ten less than the average of 24 per year. There have been an estimated thirteen hundred suicides since the bridge opened to the public in 1937. Eighty five percent of all the jumpers were residents of the bay area. In October 2008 the bridge district approved the building of a net below the bridge to prevent suicides. Four things come to mind with this decision.
1. Accidents on the bridge itself are much more frequent. Therefore rather than spending millions to build a net that money should be spent for a barrier across the North and Southbound lanes.
2. How in the world is a net going to help? Can’t you just visualize these people who are going to jump falling into a net and hanging there for hours until someone notices? Seriously.
3. People who want to commit suicide will find another way. The proposed net will not help in preventing suicides.
4. It will ruin the aesthetic beauty of the bridge. I know this sounds shallow but a net will permanently disfigure one of the most beautiful bridges in the world.
The above video was taken of a jumper in 2004. It is graphic so be warned. One thing I want you pay close attention to are the people to the right of him. They are right there watching him stand up on the railing yet do nothing. There are other people walking and riding across the bridge and yet again do nothing. It is disgusting and shocking to watch. There should be more police patrolling especially at night. I have been there late at night and there is basically no security at all. More cameras should be installed to make it easier for authorities to spot unusual behavior.
Most people on the bridge are there for two reasons. Either for exercise purposes or they are tourists. It seems to me that if someone is trying to climb over the wall or is sitting on the wall that is a clue they are about to jump. There are actual photos of people engaged in this behavior right before they jump yet no one does anything until after the fact. There should be security hired specifically for this purpose and paid for by the bridge district.
The bottom line is that a net will not prevent suicides. People will find other ways.
I remember watching a documentary that essentially documented a whole bunch of suicides off of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was disturbing. I’m not watching the YouTube vids you have up, I suspect they are from that same documentary, or close enough.
How would they be able to have a net that juts out beyond the width of the bridge? That’ the only way I can see how an effective net could be installed - and yeah that would probably spoil the looks of the bridge. … the bottom line, though, is while the number of successful suicides off of the bridge might get reduced, the overall number might stay the same, because, as you rightly point out, those who want to end their lives will find a way - if not off the bridge then elsewhere.
I wonder if people are attracted to the bridge like Lemmings? It’s kind of a local ‘death area’ that goths are all saying “I want to die there someday”.
Sitehopped
I’m sorry to say that such a tragic post was also somewhat fascinating. It’s a problem I had never really been aware of before. Thank you.
hindleyite - I think that’s exactly right. It’s almost like they want to go out in a blaze of glory.
jenniferlprice - I almost did not post it because of the nature of the topic but it is a part of SF so I went ahead with it. Thank you for reading and commenting.
AVC - Yeah, the net to me is a waste of time. Watching the video was horrible enough I can’t even imagine seeing the jump in person.
Really horrible video, I was involved in a tragic car accident that killed two of my best friends instantly and I was the lone survivor last Oct. I use to have a mentality, “live life like there is no tomorrow”. I don’t now after that tragic accident, I live life for a tomorrow. It is so horrible for one’s life to be taken either by accident or by suicide.
I live in Las Vegas and our suicide rate here in high to do the 24 hrs lifestyle (gambling and drinking).
It is horrible and I imagine Vegas is worse. Thanks for commenting.
Yesterday, friday the 13th, me and my school took a feild trip, we were walikng over the golden gate bridge and we saw a dead body in the rocks. One man said he saw him jump, does anyone know what really happened?
Never heard anything about that.
Quick mention of your typo - I know you meant “more” not “less” when comparing the total of 2008 to other stats.
There are actually less accidents than suicide-involved actions with so many attempts; they simply are not reported in the monthly statistics that the district keeps.
There have not been any deaths from head-on accidents in 9 years compared to the suicide totals of 20-24 per year. But tragedy needs to be avoided and the process for the median barrier started 10 years ago and is on track to be constructed in 4-5 more years.
A net would stop suicides, 24+ per year, the design allows for the net to collapse into itself. And falling 30 feet onto steel cabling the person will hurt and have some injuries. Higher railings would prevent that and all the drama that will go along with it.
There are simply too many studies that show people who are set to commit suicide focus on one method at a time. If it is not available when they seek it out, they have to backtrack to consider another method and that gives them time to get the help they need.
It is shocking how callous society has become, to stand there and watch someone take their life. But maybe it is that they don’t know what to do. Suicide is not openly discussed and often when it is, the myths abound. People don’t want to accept the reality of prevention and intervention and the fact that suicide is double that of homicide.
I find it surprising that you have been on the bridge late at night when the gates are supposed to be closed after sunset and open only for bicycles. That’s why there aren’t police patrols. Not to mention the minimal staff the bridge patrol already has - how could they afford to pay for more staff when they are $80 million in the red?
It is stated that there should be cameras for prevention and there are cameras on the bridge but what good are they when they point to watch the traffic? The district received $100,000 from Homeland Security to update their camera system to digital only last year - 7 years after 9/11. You will find only few capture the walkways, but in the background.
People may find other ways to commit suicide, but those are usually less lethal - most people survive drug/alcohol combinations because they slowly realize what is happening, change their minds and make a call. Guns are different, rather lethal also and that brings up accessibility and impulse - quite a lengthy subject also.
As for the question about the jumper found on the rocks.
What do you want to know?
That he suffered from a disorder that affected his ability to think clearly; that he was despondant and desperate to stop the pain he was suffering from both emotionally and physically?
The answer is simple: it was preventable if a barrier was in place.
As long as people think otherwise and continue to do nothing, people will keep dying at that site. Pray it is no one you know.
Coastwalker - Thank you for your comment and to clarify, no, I did not mean more I meant less. I still think the barrier is a waste though and I don’t think it would prevent any suicides at all. People would find other ways.