The Final Leap (28 page)

How, indeed?

1
. At one time Christianity, Judaism, and Islam took harsh positions when it came to suicide. The Catholic Church considered suicide the work of the devil and didn't permit memorial services or burial within the church for persons who killed themselves. Among Jews, suicide was a moral wrong, a rebellion against God, and rabbis ruled that no mourning rites would be observed. In Islam, Muhammad proclaimed that suicide victims were denied paradise and spent eternity in hell.
    These attitudes have softened in recent years, partly because of greater understanding about why people die by suicide and partly because the public is more aware of the role played by mental illness. The result is a nuanced acceptance. For Christians, God can have mercy on people who kill themselves because they're not in their right minds, thus suicide isn't a sin. For Jews, people who can't cope with their problems and end up taking their lives now receive all rites of mourning because their actions are considered the result of temporary insanity caused by depression. For people of Islamic faith, the decision of whether a suicide victim goes to heaven or hell is in God's hands, as is everything else (in this regard, suicidal terrorists who believe that their acts will hasten entry to paradise are thought to interpret traditional Islamic teachings in a perverse and self-serving manner).
    Culturally, some forms of suicide may be condoned, or all forms may be denounced. In India, the practice of
suttee
, where a wife throws herself on her husband's funeral pyre to prove her devotion to him, has been common for hundreds of years. The British government banned it in 1829; however, it continues in some areas today. In many Asian countries, the stigma of suicide is so strong that “mental illness” literally translates as “crazy illness.” People readily seek treatment from doctors for physically injuries, but the closest they will come to admitting any kind of mental illness is to complain of headaches.

 

The way to end suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge and every other problem bridge in the world is simple and straightforward: erect a barrier. In every instance in which a barrier has been added to a bridge, tall building, freeway overpass, or train crossing, suicides from that site have been reduced dramatically or ended altogether. Moreover, once a barrier—either a tall railing or a net—has gone up, suicides haven't increased from neighboring sites, nor have most people who fixated on the bridge decided to kill themselves another way. Many members of the public choose to believe otherwise, but their belief is based on intuition rather than facts.

A national study of bridge suicides is the first step in addressing this public health issue. To date, there hasn't been such a study even though suicides have occurred from more than sixty bridges in the United States. In contrast, a study was commissioned quickly after a spate of suicides at railroad crossings on the San Francisco Peninsula, south of the city. The study, to be completed by the American Association of Suicidology and funded by the Federal Railroad Administration, aims to answer why particular sites become hotspots for train suicides, and why people— especially young people—choose that means of death.
¹
In addition, a rail safety campaign called Common Sense was launched to reduce pedestrian deaths from trains, and on the Peninsula security has been beefed up along fifty-two miles of tracks. According to Caltrain spokespersons, the agency spent more than $17 million in 2009 for signs, fencing, and pedestrian gates at street crossings to try and prevent train-pedestrian fatalities. Still, there were eleven Caltrain suicides in 2010, and nine through the first half of 2011.

In California, sixty people per year, on average, are killed by trains. Many of these aren't suicides—joggers, transients, and others are struck unintentionally. It leads one to ask, though, why bridge suicides which occur just as frequently receive less attention. One reason may be because of plans for future high-speed rail service between northern and southern California. Suicides along existing tracks engender negative publicity that could deter development.

No such consideration comes into play with bridge suicides. In fact, one has to go back to the 1950s and 1960s to find anything remotely analogous. That's when it was proposed that the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system be expanded into Marin County by adding train tracks on the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge. A New York engineering firm, hired by the Bridge District, reported that the bridge could support two trains on it at the same time if the trains didn't go faster than thirty miles per hour. A subsequent report by Clifford Paine, one of the bridge's original engineers, said that the added weight of the trains, tracks, and passengers would cause the roadway to sag up to eight feet, potentially jeopardizing the entire structure. Ultimately, the Bridge District board vetoed the idea before any thought was given to the aesthetic impact of tracks and trains on the bridge.

In many cities, concerns for safety are prompting action. Suicide barriers have been added in recent years to bridges in Pasadena and San Pedro, California, as well as bridges in Maine, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC. Outside the United States, barriers have been installed on bridges in Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; in Montreal and Toronto, Canada; and in Bristol, England.

Currently, a Milwaukee sheriff is advocating for a suicide barrier on the Hoan Bridge, the site of sixteen suicides in the past ten years. Barriers also have been approved or are being considered for the Cold Spring Bridge in Santa Barbara, CA, the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, CA, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, FL, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos, NM, and the Tappan Zee Bridge in Nyack, NY. Predictably, opponents in each of these communities are citing reasons that are identical to arguments against a suicide deterrent on the Golden Gate Bridge: (1) suicidal people will kill themselves another way so it doesn't make a difference; (2) the number of people who jump represents a small portion of local suicides; and (3) the barrier will negatively impact bridge aesthetics.

The Aurora Bridge in Seattle, WA, formally referred to as the George Washington Memorial Bridge, has been the number two suicide site in the country after the Golden Gate Bridge. Since the bridge opened in February 1932, about 250 people have died jumping from it, including the first suicide, by a thirty-two-year-old shoe salesman, a month before the bridge was even completed. Through the first eleven months of 2010 there were three suicides from the bridge. The Aurora Bridge is similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in several ways. It's an historic landmark, included in the National Register of Historic Places. Also, it's tall, although at 180 feet the roadway isn't as high as the roadway on the Golden Gate. In addition, there are walkways on both sides of the bridge, which offer easy access for pedestrians. Finally, the bridge's owner and operator, the Washington State Department of Transportation, installed six emergency phones and signage on the bridge in an attempt to reduce suicides, with no effect.

After years of debate regarding the need for a deterrent, work started in August 2010 to end suicides from the Aurora Bridge. A barrier nearly nine feet high, originally estimated to cost $8.1 million but reduced to $4.6 million because steel costs were down and local construction companies bid competitively for the job, was approved by Seattle's landmark preservation board and the state legislature. Completed in February 2011, the barrier consists of steel rods spaced close together on each side of the bridge. In addition to saving lives, the barrier frees emergency workers from having to respond to bridge jumps, according to city officials, as well as spares people who live and work in the area below the bridge—an area that has become increasingly developed—from witnessing a frequent tragedy.

Tim Durkan is one of many people to breathe a sigh of relief. He's the Lake Union District coordinator for the City of Seattle, where the Aurora Bridge is situated, and his office is directly underneath the bridge. In a blog and subsequently in an e-mail conversation with me, he talked about what that has been like.

It gives me shivers and saddens my heart even thinking about it .… One of the last successful attempts was during a discussion with my nineteen-year-old college intern (on her first day) about what to do in case a jump occurred. The words hadn't left my lips when we heard the man's scream and the horrible impact fifteen feet from our front door. Words could never describe.… The tourists walking by, the driver heading to lunch, and the crumpled body of a dying man outside our office on N. 34
^th
—all frozen in a horrible moment. Despite the efforts of myself and two medics who happened to be training across the street by coincidence, there wasn't anything to be done except place a blanket over the body.… I think about him a lot—his scream, the horrible impact, and watching him pass as I knelt over him.”

Unlike the Golden Gate Bridge District, the Washington State transportation department opted for a taller railing after considering a net. Officials felt that a net would obstruct bridge inspections, ensnare birds, collect trash, and present risks to emergency personnel who responded to bridge jumps. Thus, raising the railing made more sense.

Tourists don't flock to the Aurora Bridge for the view, though, the way they do to San Francisco's famous span. Moreover, the Golden Gate Bridge is longer and more heavily trafficked than most other bridges, which adds to the cost of making it safe.

Until things change, the Golden Gate Bridge will remain an anomaly, an icon of beauty and death. Millions of people will continue to come from all over the world to see it, while twenty-five to thirty-five people per year will continue to jump from it. Since the bridge opened, it has simultaneously inspired more dreams and ended more lives than any other structure on the planet.
²

The installation of a net on the Golden Gate Bridge is moving quickly or slowly, depending on whom one talks to. Denis Mulligan, general manager of the Bridge District, says it took “only two-and-a-half years” for the environmental impact report to be completed. “That's one of the fastest EIRs in California,” he told me, “faster than it took San Francisco to complete an EIR for the city's bike plan, which is a much less complicated project.” Mulligan says that Caltrans didn't do as thorough a job in preparing for the Cold Spring Bridge suicide barrier. As a result, it opened the door for a lawsuit that's delaying the process more.

Some barrier proponents aren't so sure that the district is truly committed to ending suicides on the bridge. A 14-to-1 Bridge District board vote in favor of a net seems convincing. It seems to indicate a strong desire to stop bridge suicides. It seems to indicate a willingness to make the bridge safe for the first time. It seems to recognize the pain and suffering that loved ones of bridge jumpers have endured, while demonstrating a sincere commitment to spare others from the same fate. Yet since October 2008, when the net was approved, progress has consisted of an environmental impact study and $5 million in funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to finalize architectural and engineering plans—funding that the Bridge District didn't solicit (state assemblyman and former board member Tom Ammiano requested it). District officials have taken no action to try and raise any of the remaining $45 million needed for construction. They say that that they'll cooperate in every way with efforts to secure federal funding, but suicide prevention advocates have to lead the charge.

At the same time, the district is moving ahead with plans to upgrade the visitor information area in anticipation of events commemorating the bridge's seventy-fifth anniversary in 2012. And that's just the beginning. The long-term goal is to raise enough money from donations and sales of bridge memorabilia to build a museum and visitor center near the toll plaza that showcase stories of the bridge's history. While board members and staff can't find money for the net, they don't mind actively fundraising for the museum. Once again, a project aimed for tourists is taking priority over improvements that will save lives.

Members of the Bridge Rail Foundation are working to secure funding for the net. In November 2010, Bridge Rail convened a meeting of supporters and family members to map out a strategy intended to “make the net real.” First up was to reintroduce in Congress an amendment to the National Transportation Act that allows local authorities to apply for federal transportation funds for construction of suicide deterrents on bridges. It's not forbidden now, but it's not expressly permitted. After that, the strategy was to advocate for the addition of $200 million to the Federal Highway Administration's $41 billion budget in order to pay for a net on the Golden Gate Bridge and deterrents on other bridges that have become suicide sites. Unfortunately, when the new Congress was seated in 2011 the chair of the committee that oversees transportation issues, as well as most of the committee members, many of whom had been contacted by Bridge Rail volunteers, were no longer in office or no longer on the committee. Now the education process and the building of support have to start all over.

While supporters are frustrated, they're also encouraged by the fact that the Golden Gate Bridge is closer to having a barrier than ever before. A deterrent has been approved. A net has been chosen. An environmental impact report has been completed. Final plans have been funded and are being drafted.

Advocates are well aware, however, of the urgency in accomplishing their mission. Every month that there isn't a suicide deterrent on the Golden Gate Bridge, two to three more people die. Five to seven more people attempt to jump and are stopped. Countless others continue to think about jumping, and possibly formulate plans.

Of equal importance, social movements depend on momentum. Past efforts on behalf of a suicide barrier have petered out, and advocates are determined not to let that happen again. The Bridge Rail Foundation's traveling “Who's Shoes?” exhibit in which the footwear of many Golden Gate Bridge jumpers is displayed at strategic locations, is designed to keep pushing the issue. Ongoing meetings with key lawmakers, as well as continuing efforts to inform the general public through print and electronic means, are having an impact, too.