Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Net Approved

I can see this becoming an extreme sport if the net is too low.

I don't think it will work. If someone is going to kill themselves, they'll just find another tall structure to jump off. Or, you know, other methods I won't mention. I suppose it will stop a few, but this seems more like an attempt to stop the people complaining (or suing). The money would be better spent on other prevention and outreach programs, counselling, hotlines, etc.
At least they're trying, I guess.
Maybe now they can attempt to clean up the societal messes that cause people to want to commit suicide in the first place.

If they wanna jump let them jump. Sharks gotta eat....

a reply to: southtower

it will work, yet it will not work at the same time.

they put a "suicide net" on the Bloor viaduct in Toronto years ago for 6 million dollars. now looks like it has worked as suicides at that spot don't happen now. but really what has happened is not that it has stopped people committing suicide, it has just moved the location of where they commit suicide. now in this case it really is not a huge waste of money because that particular bridge has a busy highway running under it. yet for the golden gate bridge without a highway under it, all it is is a waste of money.

A state-of-the-art suicide barrier built to prevent people from jumping to their deaths on the second most deadly suicide bridge in North America has been 100-per-cent successful in its mission.

In some ways, it has also been a failure, according to a new study.

The Bloor Viaduct suicide barrier, a $6-million feat of engineering that managed to marry heritage preservation and life preservation, has eliminated suicides from a bridge that became notorious for them.

But it hasn't stopped people from jumping to their death: They're just using other locations.

A study to be published in the British Medical Journal Wednesday found that although the barrier stopped people from jumping from the Bloor Viaduct, it didn't lower rates of suicide overall, and it didn't lower the number of suicides by jumping.

"This is the first study to show that when a barrier was put on one bridge, there was an increase in suicides on other bridges in the city," said Mark Sinyor, a resident psychiatrist at Sunnybrook health centre and one of the study's two authors.

The bottom line, he said, is that it's not enough to set up physical barriers in single spots that prove popular for people trying to end their lives: There's a need for comprehensive programs that address mental health and suicidal ideation in the first place.

www.theglobeandmail.com...

that 76 million dollars would be much better spent on actual things to prevent suicides, like help for those that need it. that is far too much money to throw away on something that in reality will have no effect at all in stopping suicides.

I don't understand the reason people try to stop suicide. I remember a person I knew overdosed on tylenol intentionally. She immediately told her parents and was rushed to the hospital. Tylenol may seem harmless but it can destroy the liver. Back to my point, she only did this for attention and continued to do it many more times over the years. Another person I knew, just recently killed himself - no drama, no fanfare - he just went to his room and hung himself. If a person wants to kill themselves, they will, most of the time, do it in private with no real warning. People who do stuff like this on a bridge make me think that they only want attention.

If a person wants to die, why should we stop them - it is their life.

Sorry if anyone is offended, I really just don't understand the need in people to seek attention like this or the need to stop people from doing what they want with their lives. Everyone knows there is psychological help out there - I have used it during times of extreme depression and at a point where I was considering eating a bullet but I knew it was an issue with my thinker and sought help. If a person wants to commit suicide, they will and they are none of your concern, let them die. If someone is telling you or showing you they want to commit suicide then they really just want you to talk them out of it and help them.

Just my opinion - no offense intended to anyone.

The suicide barrier should be above the sidewalk, with small enough mesh that it cannot be climbed, much like the mesh around prisons, yes its ugly, so is a body that has just smashed into water, that from that hight, is as solid as concrete.
When your doctor, spouse, and priest all say yes, then you get a ticket to your local suicide booth. ( by which time you think, ' well, just to spite them, I wont')

Wouldn't it be cheaper putting up a electric fence. I'm not talking 250,000 volts here. Just enough to blow you on yer arse.

I watched the whole video a few years ago. The Guy with the Long Hair visited that Bridge for months. Maybe even a year before he jumped and when he did he did it with style. 9.5 for me.

originally posted by: pikestaff
The suicide barrier should be above the sidewalk, with small enough mesh that it cannot be climbed, much like the mesh around prisons, yes its ugly, so is a body that has just smashed into water, that from that hight, is as solid as concrete.
When your doctor, spouse, and priest all say yes, then you get a ticket to your local suicide booth. ( by which time you think, ' well, just to spite them, I wont')

Your last line made me lol. I can actually see people not going through with it just because their spouse has signed off on it. "Well I'll show her she can't tell me what to do, I'm my OWN boss!" lol

If it saves a life then it was worth it, It's better then doing nothing at all.

a reply to: Blinkydoo

If a person wants to die, why should we stop them - it is their life.

I knew a young man who had decided he wanted to end it all. His mind was made up, he just wanted advice on the easiest way to go. After much conversation and time, I helped him change his mind. He is now re-married and has a beautiful little daughter. He is a member here and has thanked me many times. I always smile when I think of him and his new family and happiness.

This person didn't have a terminal illness or anything. He was young and there were possibilities to turn his life around. As difficult as it was, he did indeed turn his life around from that deep dark hole and back into the light.

a reply to: Blinkydoo

Its human nature to want to stop someone from killing themselves. Nobody likes to sit around and watch someone die. I know that I don't.

But yeah, I'd probably say that 9 out of 10 people on Suicide Watch are only doing it for attention. Its their way of crying out for help. Anyone who contemplates Suicide is very weak minded and they don't understand how to ask for help without creating some kind of extravagant side show "Ohh, look at me, I'm about to jump and kill myself, you better save me!"

a reply to: Blinkydoo
I agree with you. Like hte perosn above me, I agree it's a cry for help. They're not looking for attention. There're better ways.

But ya ther're people you can't stop.