wejo wrote:
2) Are a lot of suicides a thing of convenience? Ie if they can't suddenly jump the bridge will they will not use some other method to end their lives?
I asked the same question when they built the suicide nets on the bridges at Cornell. My immediate thought was that kids who want to kill themselves will just find another way to do it.
When I looked into it, though, it seems like there's some good evidence that people who wouldn't have otherwise killed themselves will jump off of bridges. If you're feeling suicidal and you have time to think about what you're doing, you'll probably change your mind. If you happen to be walking across a bridge when you feel the compulsion to commit suicide, you might just hop the rail before you've had time to think about it.
That said, I don't know if the same logic really applies to the Golden Gate Bridge. It is more of a suicide destination that people come to with the intent of jumping, so those suicides are probably less spur of the moment.
Might just be a matter of the cost. If someone jumps off the bridge, presumably there is a lot of search and rescue/body recover work that has to be done. It might just be that $200m nets are cheaper than constantly fishing out bodies.