Suicide bridge

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 The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with North America and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)
As a suicide prevention initiative, this sign on the Golden Gate Bridge promotes a special telephone that connects to a crisis hotline.
This article is about bridges used to die by suicide.
This article is about bridges from which people commit suicide. For the novel, see Suicide Bridge.

A suicide bridge is a bridge used frequently to die by suicide, most typically by jumping off and into the water below (because a fall from that height into the water is almost invariably fatal).

To reach such locations, those with the intention to die by suicide must often walk long distances to reach the point where they finally decide to jump. For example, some jumpers have travelled over the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by car to reach the Golden Gate Bridge.[1]

Contents

Prevention [edit]

Suicide prevention advocates believe that suicide by bridge is more likely to be impulsive than other means, and that barriers can have a significant effect on reducing the incidence of suicides by bridge.[2] One study showed that installing barriers on the Duke Ellington Bridge in Washington, D.C.—which has a high incidence of suicide[1]—did not cause an increase of suicides at the nearby Taft Bridge.[3] Families affected and groups that help the mentally ill have lobbied governments to erect similar barriers. One such barrier is the Luminous Veil on the Prince Edward Viaduct in Toronto, Ontario, once considered the world's second deadliest bridge, with over 400 jumps on record.[4]

Special telephones with connections to crisis hotlines are sometimes installed on bridges.

Examples [edit]

In the United States [edit]

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has had more suicides than any other in the world,[5] the number currently being over 1,200.[5] In 2004 documentary filmmaker Eric Steel set off controversy by revealing that he had tricked the bridge committee into allowing him to film the Golden Gate for months, and had captured 23 suicides on film for his documentary The Bridge. In March 2005, San Francisco supervisor Tom Ammiano proposed funding a study on erecting a suicide barrier on the bridge.[6]

In Seattle, Washington, more than 230 people have died by suicide from the George Washington Memorial Bridge, making it the second deadliest suicide bridge in the United States.[7][8] In a span of a decade ending in January 2007, nearly 50 people jumped to their deaths, nine in 2006.[9] [1]. At a cost of $5,000,000, a suicide barrier was completed on February 16, 2011.

Suicide hotline on the George Washington Memorial Bridge, Seattle, Washington.

The San Diego-Coronado Bridge is the third-deadliest suicide bridge in the United States, followed by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg, Florida.[10]

The Cold Spring Canyon Bridge in Santa Barbara County has seen 55 jumps by suicide since opening in 1964,[11] including 7 in 2009. A proposal to install a barrier on this bridge has brought intense debate.[12] [13][14]

Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, California, have also seen barriers erected.

In other countries [edit]

Czech Republic [edit]

About 300 people have jumped to their death from the Nusle Bridge, in Prague, Czech Republic.[15] Barriers almost 3 metres high were erected here in 1997 with aim to prevent further jumps.[16] In 2007, the fencing was topped off with a 3-foot-wide strip (0.91 m) of polished metal to make it impossible to climb.[17]

South Africa [edit]

Over 82 people have jumped to their death from the Van Stadens Bridge, near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa.[18]

United Kingdom [edit]

A notable suicide bridge in London is the Hornsey Lane Bridge,[19] which passes over Archway Road and connects the Highgate and Crouch End areas. The bridge provides views of notable landmarks such as St. Paul's Cathedral, The Gherkin and The Shard. It was the venue for the mental illness campaign group Mad Pride's inaugural vigil in 2000,[20] and was the subject of Johnny Burke's 2006 film The Bridge.[21] When, at the end of 2010, three men in three weeks committed suicide by jumping from the bridge, a campaign was set up by local residents for better anti-suicide measures to be put in place.[22]

Australia [edit]

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Australia, are considered suicide bridges.

Canada [edit]

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, Quebec, is considered a suicide bridge.

The Prince Edward Viaduct, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, in Toronto, Ontario, is considered a suicide bridge. With nearly 500 suicides by 2003, the Viaduct ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in the world, after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Jumpers: The Fatal Grandeur of Golden Gate Bridge, The New Yorker, October 13, 2003 p. 48
  2. ^ Draper. 2008. 
  3. ^ Krauss, Clifford (2003-02-18). "Toronto Journal; A Veil of Deterrence for a Bridge With a Dark Side". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  4. ^ Krauss, Clifford (2003-02-16). "A Veil of Deterrence for a Bridge With a Dark Side". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  5. ^ a b "Lethal Beauty", San Francisco Chronicle "The Golden Gate Bridge is the world's No. 1 suicide magnet"
  6. ^ http://goldengatebridge.org/projects/documents/March24BOD_000.doc
  7. ^ Jumpers Take It to the Bridge. The Stranger. April 13, 2000
  8. ^ The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State. HistoryLink.org.
  9. ^ ‘Suicide bridge’ hurts workers’ mental health. msnbc.com.
  10. ^ Tampabay: Bridge phones offer a new lifeline
  11. ^ "Cold Spring Bridge Site of 55th Suicide". Santa Barbara Independent. 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
  12. ^ Caltrans EIR
  13. ^ Friends of the Bridge
  14. ^ Stop the Tragedy
  15. ^ "Pod Nuselským mostem bude pietní socha připomínající sebevraždy". Novinky.cz. 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2010-09-23. 
  16. ^ "Nuselský most je hůře dostupný sebevrahům". Prague. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2010-09-23. 
  17. ^ "New Railing on the 'Suicide Bridge' Can't Be Climbed Over". A/B/C Prague. 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2010-09-23. 
  18. ^ "Another Van Staden's suicide". News24. 2008-08-16. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
  19. ^ Hansard. 1971. 
  20. ^ Rob Dellar (2002). "Archive Volume 13 > Number 4: 'Believing in Bedlam'". AsylumONLINE. Retrieved 29 November 2012. 
  21. ^ "Special Screenings". Rio Cinema. April 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-14. "THE BRIDGE UK MiniDV 8mins 8 Director/Producer/Screenplay Johnny Burke There is a 100 year old woman, a serial killer, in North London. Her name is "Suicide Bridge". High above the Archway Road, throwing a heavy shadow over the passing traffic, she assists the tragic people who come for her help." 
  22. ^ "Hornsey Lane Bridge Anti-Suicide Campaign". Hornsey Lane Bridge Anti-Suicide Campaign. 2011-09. Retrieved 9 October 2011. 

External links [edit]

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