We're spending $200 million on a suicide net at the Golden Gate bridge

Why can't we just ban bridges?

John Utah wrote:

I like the idea but not the cost. It could be done for 20% of that figure.

Nope. The wall has to go across a Yuge number of US homes that abut the Rio Grande. The wall cannot be built at water's edge. An buying the properties will be a Bigly cost.

Poitr poitr pumpkin eater wrote:

2). No. studies have shown suicides are impulsive acts. If you help pause the act. You can prevent it entirely.

It really must be impulsive because the person still could jump on the netting below and then go over.

Really high bridges freak me out just walking near the rail because I realize that all it takes to die is just to go over. Someone with impulsive suicidal thoughts must have that thought and then jump over, so the netting does put one more step in their way.

The cost is ridiculous. If they did it for $100 million less and put that extra $100 million to suicide prevention that might save more lives.

I had no idea about the Cornell nets.

The Borg will not lose a perfectly good tax payer.

How far does that netting stick out? I'm pretty sure I could just broad jump beyond that and still kill myself if I wanted to.

Since it's also well documented that women often suffer from guilt and regret following an abortion, will San Francisco become pro life?

On the local news here the prediction is the fall to the net (net=misnomer), more like metallic sidewalk with drain-holes occurs, our life ambivalent will suffer many breaks/fractures and should be well incapacitated.

The next leap will require something of a terminator style drag/crawl to finally get over

More than 95% don't regret them, according to a recent study.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11738638/Abortion-The-harsh-truth-about-how-women-feel-afterwards.html

Wealthy home owner wrote:

Since it's also well documented that women often suffer from guilt and regret following an abortion, will San Francisco become pro life?

Middle aged hobby jogger wrote:

On the local news here the prediction is the fall to the net (net=misnomer), more like metallic sidewalk with drain-holes occurs, our life ambivalent will suffer many breaks/fractures and should be well incapacitated.

The next leap will require something of a terminator style drag/crawl to finally get over

This is what I was thinking. I'd think people jump off of high structures to kill themselves because they want it to be instantaneous and painless. The net might require you to maim yourself first.

The Wall of Trump wrote:

John Utah wrote:

I like the idea but not the cost. It could be done for 20% of that figure.

Nope. The wall has to go across a Yuge number of US homes that abut the Rio Grande. The wall cannot be built at water's edge. An buying the properties will be a Bigly cost.

Who cares about the cost of the wall. Mex is footing the bill.

I was talking about the cost of the netting on the bridge.

Middle aged hobby jogger wrote:

The next leap will require something of a terminator style drag/crawl to finally get over

Doable if you're about to face Sandusky like charges and want to end things before facing prison time and the guilt and shame thrust upon you and your family members.

wejo wrote:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Construction-to-Start-on-Golden-Gate-Bridge-Suicide-Prevention-Net-419371784.html

Curious what your thoughts are.

1) I can't believe it costs so much. The Texas Rangers built a 48,114 seat stadium with an office building and a 12 acre lake for $191 million in 1991. That's $314 million in today's dollars.

If I gave $10 million to some kids at Cal Tech what could they build? Or if in the contract for the bridge it was added on, "you have to have a suicide prevention feature" how much would it cost?

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?

The 90's called they want there website back.

Pelosi and Feinstein should demonstrate its effectiveness.

A test suicide,.

This is a clip of people jumping off the Golden Gate

https://youtu.be/xoLgk9BnG4M

Bridge workers get $72.60 an hour to build the thing. Where do I sign up? What's everyone's guess as to how much it will cost to maintain the netting? The 75 year average is about 21 people a year jump from there. Assuming 5% on the bond, then you are talking about $10 million a year in interest on the bonds plus conservatively $20 million a year to maintain the netting (using a 10 year life expectancy which is probably pretty generous considering the marine environment). Then you are talking about $30 million to theoretically save 21 lives. Which pencils out to $1.43 million per life saved (that is assuming 100% of those people would not find another way to kill themselves). Surely there is a more effective way to spend that money to prevent suicide than this. If this doesn't qualify as a pork project, then I don't know what does.

wejo wrote:

It really must be impulsive because the person still could jump on the netting below and then go over.

I don't understand why LRer find it to be inconceivable that a net could be designed in a way that would preclude escape once the person had jumped into the thing.

If the material is super elastic, it would be basically impossible to move at all once you'd jumped in. When you tried to push against it, you'd just deform the net and your body wouldn't move at all.

You could also just make the walls too steep and slick to climb. If you make the thing so that people would have to scale 10 feet of vertical sheet metal to climb out, no one is escaping the net.

I'm sure someone could also figure out a way to make netting that would basically have a spiderweb action that would entrap anyone who jumped in.

I'm sure the professionals have better ideas than me, but the point is, it is far from impossible to build a net that a person would not be able to just climb out of.

as a bay area resident since the 90s, I'm ok with the Golden Gate Bridge no longer being a prime suicide destination spot.

Please use the Caltrain tracks at peak commuter hour in Palo Alto like all the other born-on-3rd base school kids there that didn't get into Stanford.

Instead of jumping and only killing themselves, now some of these people will get guns, kill whoever they are mad with, along with themselves. Special-needs children may die in the process. Thank you, net.