“In the past ten years three people have died (on the Golden Gate Bridge) from head-on collisions, and in one month four people have died from jumping off the bridge,” Holmes said.
The aesthetic appeal of the Golden Gate Bridge has also been a concern in the debates. Some believe that installing a barrier would curtail tourism and damage the international image of the monument.
“Tourism wouldn’t be as good because it wouldn’t look nice,” said Bobby Marquez, a 23-year-old senior and marketing major at SF State. “Maybe just have more safety procedures like a guy on suicide watch because I don’t think that’d be nice to look at.”
Bateson argues that in the case of the Bloor Street Viaduct bridge in Toronto the aesthetics were voted by popular opinion to have been improved by the suicide barrier.
The effectiveness of a barrier has also been questioned. Many believe that people deterred by a barrier would commit suicide regardless.
“Most people have preferred means of death,” Bateson said. “And when deterred will not attempt to kill themselves another way.”
In 1978 a study was conducted by Richard Seiden of University of California Berkeley on the 515 people who were stopped from jumping, in various ways, off the Golden Gate Bridge since 1937. Over 94 percent were still alive and many that were not had died of natural causes.
“If it’s to prevent more people from committing suicide then yeah it’s a good idea,” said Jeff Birnbaum, a 2o-year-old junior and BECA major. “I think that it’ll work.”
Despite the fact that actions must be taken to prevent suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge, the complicated and unusual political situation has been the biggest obstacle in securing funding to make a suicide barrier a reality.
“There are no checks and balances anymore, just roadblocks, barriers, hurdles,” Holmes said.
Renae Wilber • Sep 26, 2011 at 11:49 am
It seems that one of the greatest problems is that society at large is misguided as to the profound reality of depression, hence there is a lack of empathy. As long as there is a lack of education and empathy to this serious illness, people will continue to deny the need for measures to prevent suicide.
Since the recent suicide of a 15 year old girl who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge, which could have been prevented, I no longer see the bridge as an attraction to visit, but as a reminder of very real suffering, and a Bridge District that seems unwilling to look at the statistics or make human life a priority. If the tourists really knew what kind of landmark they were really visiting, they too might have second thoughts about the wonders of this Bridge.
Thank you for a very factual and informed article.
Renae Wilber