“Not one more soul, not one more soul will be lost to that bridge.”
Officials on Friday approved a $76 million funding package to create a suicide barrier on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
This undated artist rendering provided by the Golden Gate Bridge authorities shows the proposed netting suicide barrier that is to be installed under the iconic bridge in San Francisco.
AP Photo/Golden Gate Bridge handout
"The tragedy of today is that we can't go back in time, we can't save ... the people who jumped off the bridge. But the good thing, with this vote today, we can vote in their memory," a bridge district board member, Janet Reilly, told the AP, after the funding package received a unanimous vote of approval from the board of directors.
The bulk will come from federal funds along with $20 million in bridge toll revenue and $7 million pledged by the state.
The Golden Gate Bridge is the top suicide spot in the U.S. and one of the most popular suicide sites in the world. An estimated 1,600 people have committed suicide by jumping off the bridge since it opened in 1937.
A warning sign is posted above a crisis counseling call box on the Golden Gate Bridge.
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
Last year, a 46 people committed suicide by jumping off the bridge and another 118 were stopped by bridge workers, amounting to a suicide or an attempt almost every other day.
Those who jump drop 220 feet to their death after suffering massive internal injuries, internal bleeding, skull fractures. Others die by drowning.
The proposal for a suicide barrier was discussed for decades before the board voted in 2008 to install a stainless steel net which would stretch 20 feet wide on each side of the span. The obstacle of funding was overcome when President Obama signed into law a bill that made safety barriers and nets eligible for federal funds in 2012.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1jsXppZ
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