The City of San Francisco has completed the installation of suicide prevention netting around the Golden Gate Bridge, a $224 million project.
The installation, which began in 2018, includes stainless steel netting wrapped around the 2.7-mile-long bridge.
“The amount of netting we're installing is equivalent to seven football fields,” said Paolo Kozulich-Schwartz of the Golden Gate Bridge Expressway and Transportation District.
While lives may be saved, jumpers can still be injured even after falling 6 feet onto stainless steel, Kozlich-Schwartz said. ABC 7 News.
“People who come to the bridge to self-harm are in tremendous pain. They want to escape the pain. If you fall into the net, it will hurt. The net is stainless steel, and from a height of 6 feet “You fall. It's incredibly painful and you can injure yourself,” the spokesperson added.
A representative reportedly said the net may not stop all jumps.
According to the paper, about 30 successful suicide attempts occur on this bridge every year, but in 2022 the number was less than half that, at 14.
according to CNNThere have been more than 1,800 confirmed jumps from the Golden Gate Bridge since its construction in 1937, with one incident occurring the same year it opened.
Another report said 39 people jumped and survived. One of those people is Kevin Hines, a man who was traumatized by a suicide attempt. After Hines survived the fall into the water, he required three vertebrae replacements and titanium metal plates and pins. It took him four and a half weeks to recover.
Hines has since shared her story and praised the online installation.
“I would have hesitated. I think there was plenty of time for the patrol officer to wonder why that kid was standing there, leaning against the fence, crying his eyes out,” Hines said. “19 [survivors] “All of them came forward saying they felt the exact same moment of regret as I did,” he added.
Dr. John Kruse, a psychiatric expert with more than 30 years of experience, questions local data on suicide rates from similar prevention projects.
“I've seen compelling evidence that we are actually going to save that many lives, and that the hundreds of millions of dollars invested this way is the best way to save the most lives.” That's never happened,” Kruse said.
“It seems illogical at first glance to say that someone who was determined to die did so because the Golden Gate Bridge has such a suction power,” the doctor added.
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