{"id":2214,"date":"2013-10-22T16:34:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T20:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2024-06-11T09:16:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T13:16:44","slug":"bridge-suicides-prompt-lifesaving-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com/blog\/bridge-suicides-prompt-lifesaving-barriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge suicides prompt lifesaving barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"

For people in the throes of mental disturbance or difficult life situations, bridge suicides often look like accessible, fatal solutions. Advocates say that bridge suicides often occur as a result of impulse and accessibility — one of which can be prevented with deterrents, such as bridge barriers. Take San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Bridge, where over 1,600 have jumped to their deaths since 1937. More people have committed suicide there than anywhere else in the world — with ten people jumping this past August, making for an unfortunate record.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/a>

The Golden Gate bridge is the second most common site of suicide in the world, just behind the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. From Rafael Castillo<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Simple fixes to bridges — adding a suicide barrier to replace the existing four-foot barrier, in the Golden Gate\u2019s case — could potentially save hundreds of lives by making it difficult for people to access a jumping-off point. A new law<\/a> in California would address the impulse and accessibility factors in bridge suicides by requiring that the state \u201cconsider\u201d barriers when building or rebuilding bridges — barriers which are, incidentally, cheaper to provide for when included in a bridge\u2019s original plans.<\/p>\n

The Bridge Rail Foundation is a key advocate of the law, while opposition came from\u00a0 groups representative of local city and county governments, which worried that bridge owners might become liable for suicides. Because of opposition, the bill was amended from necessitating barriers to requiring \u201cconsideration\u201d of building barriers. The updated law \u201cwould be satisfied by including a document in project study reports that show a suicide barrier was considered <\/i>during the construction of a new bridge or replacement of one with a history of suicides.\u201d (Emphasis blogger\u2019s own).<\/p>\n

“We want the state to at least consider the chances someone would jump and how you can incorporate that in the design,” says<\/a> Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who wrote the legislation. At the Golden Gate, a suicide barrier hasn\u2019t been approved; a stainless steel net was approved in 2008 but the $45 million to fund it hasn\u2019t been allocated. Yet it requires more than funds and construction work. The fix would require a revised understanding of suicide prevention.<\/p>\n

According to Paula Clayton, professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and former medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, proof that barriers are effective in preventing bridge suicides is \u201coverwhelming.\u201d The majority of people die from their first suicide attempt, she says<\/a>, and the easiest way to prevent them is to restrict access to \u201cmethods with a high risk of death.\u201d (Only two percent of Golden Gate jumpers survive the 200-foot fall.)<\/p>\n

Preventing jumpers will save lives, advocates say. The rare few who have jumped from the Golden Gate and survived have said that, mid-jump, they immediately regretted their decision. As the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention states, \u201cBarriers to suicide give suicidal individuals and those who care for them something they desperately need: time. This includes time to change their minds, time for someone to intervene, and time to seek help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado<\/a>

The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, CA. From Bill Selak<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

A 1978 study following 515 people who were prevented from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge from 1937-1971, found that only 6 percent went on to commit suicide after their failed attempt. And a 2013 analysis on suicide deterrents at popular \u201csuicide hot spots\u201d found that interventions reduced suicides by 85%. Despite a rise in jumping at nearby sites in certain locations, \u201cthe dramatic drop in jumping at the hot spots led to reduced overall rates of suicide by jumping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suicide rates were highest in America\u2019s West in 2010 — with California rates at 10.5 per 100,000 (17.9 in Oregon; 20.4 in Nevada; 18.5 in Idaho) according<\/a> to the AFSP. While bridge-specific suicide statistics aren\u2019t available, annual suicide numbers at the Golden Gate have been relatively steady for the last few years: 33 in 2012; 37 in 2011; 32 in 2010; 31 in 2009; 34 in 2008. This August alone saw 10 suicides<\/a> at the site. The tenth victim was a 17-year-old girl.<\/p>\n

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