Golden Gate Bridge Suicides: Horrible Deaths that are Preventable
by Kevin Caruso
February 22, 2007
“Everyone is better off without this fat, disgusting, boring girl.”
Marissa Imrie was just 14 when she wrote those words as part of her suicide note.
Later that day, Marissa jumped to her death from the Golden Gate Bridge.
She is one of some 1,250 known individuals who have died by suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. We lose one person about every other week to the waters below, as the bridge somehow holds an allure to people who are suicidal.
Unfortunately, it is exceedingly easy to jump from the bridge. The rail is a mere 4-feet high, and thus virtually anyone can step over it in a second.
But why is the rail so low?
Answer: Because Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer of the bridge, was five feet tall and he wanted to be able to see over the rail, and thus changed the original planned height of the rail from 5½ feet to 4 feet.
But regardless of the original height of the rail, why hasn’t a suicide barrier been built? That is, why haven’t they built a high fence that is very difficult, or next to impossible, to climb?
Answer: There have been seven previous attempts at a suicide barrier, but the bridge bureaucracy precluded any of the plans from actually being implemented. An eighth attempt is currently underway.
It is appalling that the barrier was not put in place long ago, but arguments about aesthetics, bridge structure, and money have caused an endless morass to the blindingly obvious problem, which is this: The bridge is the equivalent of an easily-accessible, loaded handgun for countless suicidal individuals, and someone needs to take the damn gun away…and that is done by building a suicide barrier.
The situation has ALWAYS been urgent.
Back in 1937, when the construction on the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, no one envisioned that it would become one of the major suicide sites in the world.
But the suicides began almost immediately. In August of 1937, Harold Wobber, a veteran of World War I, strolled along the pedestrian walkway on the Golden Gate Bridge, paused, looked at a stranger and said, “This is as far as I go.” He then jumped to his death.
And to the mentally ill individuals who go to the bridge, a jump to the water below seems like a peaceful way to end to their pain.
[Please click the link below to read the rest of the stroy]
Golden Gate Bridge Suicides: Horrible Deaths that are Preventable
The article above is copyrighted by Kevin Caruso and Suicide.org
by Kevin Caruso
February 22, 2007
“Everyone is better off without this fat, disgusting, boring girl.”
Marissa Imrie was just 14 when she wrote those words as part of her suicide note.
Later that day, Marissa jumped to her death from the Golden Gate Bridge.
She is one of some 1,250 known individuals who have died by suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. We lose one person about every other week to the waters below, as the bridge somehow holds an allure to people who are suicidal.
Unfortunately, it is exceedingly easy to jump from the bridge. The rail is a mere 4-feet high, and thus virtually anyone can step over it in a second.
But why is the rail so low?
Answer: Because Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer of the bridge, was five feet tall and he wanted to be able to see over the rail, and thus changed the original planned height of the rail from 5½ feet to 4 feet.
But regardless of the original height of the rail, why hasn’t a suicide barrier been built? That is, why haven’t they built a high fence that is very difficult, or next to impossible, to climb?
Answer: There have been seven previous attempts at a suicide barrier, but the bridge bureaucracy precluded any of the plans from actually being implemented. An eighth attempt is currently underway.
It is appalling that the barrier was not put in place long ago, but arguments about aesthetics, bridge structure, and money have caused an endless morass to the blindingly obvious problem, which is this: The bridge is the equivalent of an easily-accessible, loaded handgun for countless suicidal individuals, and someone needs to take the damn gun away…and that is done by building a suicide barrier.
The situation has ALWAYS been urgent.
Back in 1937, when the construction on the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, no one envisioned that it would become one of the major suicide sites in the world.
But the suicides began almost immediately. In August of 1937, Harold Wobber, a veteran of World War I, strolled along the pedestrian walkway on the Golden Gate Bridge, paused, looked at a stranger and said, “This is as far as I go.” He then jumped to his death.
And to the mentally ill individuals who go to the bridge, a jump to the water below seems like a peaceful way to end to their pain.
[Please click the link below to read the rest of the stroy]
Golden Gate Bridge Suicides: Horrible Deaths that are Preventable
The article above is copyrighted by Kevin Caruso and Suicide.org
