Quote :

"SAN FRANCISCO — Golden Gate Bridge officials voted overwhelmingly Friday to hang stainless steel nets from the sides of the world-famous span in an effort to stop people from jumping to their deaths. After decades of discussion about a suicide barrier, the Golden Gate Transportation District's board of directors voted 14-1 in favor of the net system. They rejected several other options to prevent suicide jumps, including extending the existing four-foot railings and leaving the iconic span unchanged. The vote, which marked a shift in the board's attitude about a barrier, was a victory for mental health experts and victims' family members, who have long argued the barrier would prevent impulsive suicides. "I believe most people, knowing that a quick, easy, momentary thing is not available, ... will find solutions," Ken Holmes, Marin County's coroner and a supporter of the barrier, said in interview. "You'll take your medication, talk to the person who broke your heart ... tell your mom you didn't mean to wreck the car." The graceful, rust-colored bridge — a California icon with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay — has long lured people looking to end their lives. More than 1,200 have plunged to their deaths from the span since it opened in 1937. Thirty-eight people leaped last year and 19 have jumped so far this year, according to bridge officials. John Brooks, 52, said his daughter Casey's jump from the bridge in January was a "complete shock," because she was doing well in school and on her way to college. "There is a good chance that had a barrier been there, she'd still be here," said Brooks, who lives in nearby Tiburon. But opponents say a barrier on the bridge will not prevent people from killing themselves. Suicidal people, they say, will find other ways to take their lives and would be better served by additional funding for mental health treatment. None of the options before the board would have seriously marred the appearance of the landmark, according to a draft environmental impact report in July. But the report said proposals for higher railings would have a greater impact on views from the bridge than the net. About half of the roughly 4,000 people recently surveyed by the bridge district said they favored leaving the bridge unaltered. Mill Valley resident Clark Hinderleider said the bridge authority should not be responsible for the mental health of people using the bridge. "We should be able to help these people long before they get to the bridge," Hinderleider, 62, said after the meeting Friday. Board members said the steel nets, which would hang 20 feet below the bridge and extend about 20 feet from each side, would prevent suicides without harming the bridge's appearance. "This is a vote ... to save lives," said board member Lynne Segal. The bridge district debated whether to install suicide barriers in the 1970s and 1990s but did not approve any of them until now. "There has been a major shift in the attitude (on the board)," board member Tom Ammiano said in a recent interview. Ammiano and other advocates of a barrier say emotional accounts from family members of the dead helped sway the board. And so did the 2006 film, "The Bridge," which captured people jumping from the span, said Paul Muller, a board member of The Bridge Rail Foundation. "That film puts the horror on a world stage," said Muller, who called the movie "embarrassing" for bridge officials. The net system, expected to cost $40 million to $50 million, still requires a final environmental review. Board member Joanne Sanders proposed a pedestrian toll to cover the expense. But Ammiano said he has been seeking federal and state funding. Board member James Eddie, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he was worried about the project would be funded. "I want to ensure if we build it, we're not indebting our children," he said. "

On average only 17 people a year commit suicide off this bridge and they want to spend $50 million dollars ($50,000,000.00) on a net for it? Whats to say they will not just crawl off the edge of the net?

10/11/2008 12:56:04 PM

they will just find another way to kill themselves

10/11/2008 1:15:44 PM

Quote :

"On average only 17 people a year commit suicide off this bridge and they want to spend $50 million dollars ($50,000,000.00) on a net for it? Whats to say they will not just crawl off the edge of the net?"

Fucking liberals. Maybe if they ban guns in San Francisco; evil people will not kill people anymore. Gun murders will magically disappear!

10/11/2008 1:17:18 PM

EARMARKS OMG

10/11/2008 1:21:30 PM

I am not as much frustrated by the fact that they are trying to save lives, but moreso the fact they want federal funding for this project. I mean what are the odds anyone I know is going to jump of that bridge? I can tell you without a doubt I am not going to.

Maybe the people of San Fransisco need to decide if they want to pay for this project themselves since it is benefiting their community. No reason it should be paid for out of the pot of money the other 49 states have sent up.

It seems like the name of the game is for everyone to work like hell to send tax money to Washington, and then elect people to fight like hell to get it spent in their state (otherwise they get nothing back). No wonder we have a problem with pork barrel spending.

10/11/2008 1:30:20 PM

Quote :

"Thirty-eight people leaped last year and 19 have jumped so far this year, according to bridge officials."

Ya I got a feeling that number is gonna go up even more in 2009.

10/11/2008 1:30:43 PM

California is on the verge of bankruptcy. If the Federal Gov't gives them money for this shit knowing full well we will be paying to keep them solvent for the next 100 years then fuck. I don't know what to do anymore. How did this country get so screwed up. Is anything safe anymore?

10/11/2008 1:44:24 PM

Let's say an average of 20 people jump off the bridge per year. For fifty million dollars, they could offer the first 20 jumpers annually $20,000 each not to jump. The money could fund this program for 100 years. With the ten million that's left over, they could install some badass spikes, crocodiles, piranhas, sharks, bees, dogs, and dogs with bees in their mouth so when they bark they shoot bees at you, thus leading to the remaining jumpers having some seriously badass suicides.

10/11/2008 1:47:48 PM

^

If that were to pass I would be the first in line to "jump"

10/11/2008 2:23:35 PM

For $50,000,000, you could create some reasonably well paying jobs to just stand there and watch for jumpers.

Just taser them before they jump.

10/11/2008 2:51:27 PM

Quote :

"For $50,000,000, you could create some reasonably well paying jobs to just stand there and watch for jumpers. Just taser them before they jump. "

Gov't please protect me from myself!!!!!

Fuck them let em jump. I do not want to foot the nickel to pay for this when the same people can just as easily OD on OTC drugs

10/11/2008 3:18:27 PM

how much would it cost to get big white helmets for everyone in California?

10/11/2008 3:29:27 PM

Fuck looking out for the rest of humanity.

For that matter, why the fuck do we have mental health and drug rehab? FUCK SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS FUCK EM LET EVERYONE ELSE ROT

Quote :

"GOT MINE"

Quote :

"GOT MINE"

Quote :

"GOT MINE"

Quote :

"GOT MINE"

Quote :

"GOT MINE"

Quote :

"GOT MINE"

10/11/2008 3:58:52 PM

why should we deny them the right to end their lives?

10/11/2008 4:20:11 PM

Quote :

"Fuck looking out for the rest of humanity. For that matter, why the fuck do we have mental health and drug rehab? FUCK SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS FUCK EM LET EVERYONE ELSE ROT"

Do you realize how far $50 million would go if it were actually used for something that would actually do good for mental health? This is fucking stupid.

10/11/2008 4:46:47 PM

I understand that the price is large, but people's objections in this thread seem to be based solely on the principle of the matter. That is, they don't see a problem with just letting people kill themselves.

As someone who has lost two close friends to suicide, I have to say that I disagree with just letting people kill themselves.

If people are using this bridge to do it, then there has to be a way to stop them. An early warning system, a way to prevent people from going over the edge, something. It seems like this net was the best compromise they could come up with.

$50,000,000 is not that much in a state or federal budget, and they said they were going to impose a toll to pay for it.

Would you want to go up to someone's family, after their father jumped to their death, and say "Lol, sorry. I just couldn't deal with paying the extra $1 each time I cross the bridge. Best of luck!"

10/11/2008 6:15:18 PM

can't say i agree with this net idea.

people will find a way to kill themselves, this net is just delaying the inevitable, and is doing so at a cost to people who are generally non-suicidal.

10/11/2008 6:45:58 PM

^

10/11/2008 6:48:47 PM

Quote :

"I understand that the price is large, but people's objections in this thread seem to be based solely on the principle of the matter. That is, they don't see a problem with just letting people kill themselves. "

as spookyjon pointed out a 50 million dollar net is a piss poor way to spend the money. It could be better spent on tons of other things to help reduce suicides.

10/11/2008 6:51:11 PM

big

white

helmets

10/11/2008 6:51:21 PM

I'm sure once they find that the net is in place, they'll just throw their body into oncoming traffic.

10/11/2008 7:21:59 PM

A stainless steel net sounds like it would kill you anyways.

Also, iirc, the bridge is surrounded by federal park land and the USPP would assist in a death investigation so seeking federal funds would make sense.

[Edited on October 11, 2008 at 8:08 PM. Reason : ffdsf]

10/11/2008 7:51:57 PM

I guess we can wait and see if suicides drop as a result.

10/11/2008 8:17:11 PM

Wouldn't have saved Stiletto

10/11/2008 8:20:51 PM

I would just have the people who are likely to use the net pay for the net.

Set up a roadblock at the ends of the bridge. Ask each driver how they feel. If they seem bummed out..charge them the dollar.

10/11/2008 8:26:34 PM

Suicide is hilarious.

10/11/2008 8:28:28 PM

50 million dollars would cover tens of thousands of people's medical/mental health insurance, I think that would be a better investment. 15-30 people a year kill themselves by jumping off, isn't worth 50 million, especially considering what that money could be use for. Of course, most officials in government don't see money as a finite resource that is limited, especially some socialist/progressives that I am sure were on that board of directors.

10/11/2008 9:00:21 PM

Through early morningSan Franciscan fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see, that

Suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

Try to find a way to make
All our little joys relate
Without that ever-present hate
But now I know that it's too late

And suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
So this is all I have to say

That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
And to another give my seat
For that's the only painless feat

'Cause suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

The sword of time will pierce our skin
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger, watch it grin

For suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

A brave man once requested me
To answer questions that are key
Is it to be or not to be
And I replied, oh, why ask me

'Cause suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

And you can do the same thing
If you please

[Edited on October 11, 2008 at 9:26 PM. Reason : ]

10/11/2008 9:21:21 PM

Your friends were pussies god.

If I want to die, a 50 million dollar bridge net will not keep me from it. Rent a gun, buy a bullet and peace the fuck out.

I hope this pork barrel bullshit gets shot to hell by the environmental hippies in Cali. Maybe if this fucks with some bird species that primarily nests under the Golden Gate Bridge, then it'll get shot down. Hell we know those nutjobs care more about 2 fucking birds than they do a human life. Some of them would be happy if we had the Futurama suicide booths in the street.

Ironic how you care about people who don't give a shit about themselves, but say fuck the unborn who never even had a chance. Fucking liberals.

10/11/2008 10:54:20 PM

liberals are funny about the lives they want to protect and the ones they have no problem killing

10/11/2008 11:00:13 PM

Quote :

"Ironic how you care about people who don't give a shit about themselves, but say fuck the unborn who never even had a chance."

I think suicides typically cause more grief than miscarriages.

10/11/2008 11:02:16 PM

^^^ You are grossly ignorant of mental health issues, and environmentalism. You are the reason people think conservatives are idiots.

[Edited on October 11, 2008 at 11:03 PM. Reason : ]

10/11/2008 11:02:48 PM

well, the libbies in Mass. didn't want windfarms because they would hurt birds... I'd say that's a pretty fair comparison to what NH said...

and, if you think blowing 50mil to save 17 lives a year is "being ignorant on mental health issues," then, well, you are once again fitting your moniker perfectly

^^ what about the grief people suffer that might have been aided by those who were murdered by abortion? but, nah, it's so important to save the life of a selfish fucking person who is only thinking about himself when he goes and kills himself. yeah, that's really someone we need to worry. especially 17 of those people. for 50-fucking-million-dollar-bucks.

[Edited on October 11, 2008 at 11:07 PM. Reason : ]

10/11/2008 11:05:30 PM

^ yet again you have failed in your reading comprehension. Just a few posts up I noted this was a dumb idea, but that doesn't make Nighthawk any less an idiot for posting what he posted.

10/11/2008 11:08:08 PM

care to qualify that assertion with any evidence or anything? probably not. you'll just continue to make fun of him for having a different viewpoint than you. good work on your liberal "tolerance."

10/11/2008 11:09:55 PM

Quote :

"what about the grief people suffer that might have been aided by those who were murdered by abortion?"

I don't understand this sentence. Could you try again?

10/11/2008 11:10:06 PM

^^ it only takes a modicum of intelligence to figure out that people who are suicidal aren't lost causes. Generally they would be very receptive to help they just don't know how to get it or ask for it.

Do you really need me to post links to that? Because I think even someone of your intelligence could find that info pretty easily on Google.

10/11/2008 11:13:11 PM

more of a "hey, what about the relationships that might have been formed, had a person not been aborted" kind of thing. Namely, I was countering your hypothetical with another, equally unprovable hypothetical.

'twas a bit obtuse, I know

^ trust me, I know a thing or two about suicide and its mindset. I also understand it is an insanely selfish thing to do.

[Edited on October 11, 2008 at 11:14 PM. Reason : ]

10/11/2008 11:13:16 PM

There's no way to know how any aborted person would turn out. But that can become similar to a debate about population growth. We all could be producing more children than we are. (I hope.)

Either way, I maintain that folks will naturally be more attached to fully formed humans than fetuses and embryos.

10/11/2008 11:18:01 PM

Quote :

"Would you want to go up to someone's family, after their father jumped to their death, and say "Lol, sorry. I just couldn't deal with paying the extra $1 each time I cross the bridge. Best of luck!" "

Yes. Their need shouldn't mean they have a claim to anything I earn.

10/11/2008 11:46:55 PM

suicide sucks and all, but 50 million to prevent one possible method of the infinite varities is fucking retarded. Are they going to put these things on every bridge they have? Are they going to start putting them on buildings? Why stop with jumpers? Lets make all ropes tear under more than 100 pounds of force that way no one hangs themselves.

Either the people who voted it are really fucking stupid or they're just in it for the votes.

10/11/2008 11:58:21 PM

I want you to be morally honest.

If you feel that stealing and looting from others is justified to give you what you regard as your "needs" I want you say it.

If you feel that people should be forced to live at your expense, I want you to say it.

If you feel that society's thinkers, inventors, creators, healers, should be dragged to your sacrificial alter for the "common good", I want you to say it."

10/12/2008 12:13:00 AM

10/12/2008 12:15:42 AM

Quote :

"As someone who has lost two close friends to suicide, I have to say that I disagree with just letting people kill themselves."

Sure, there's nothing wrong with helping people if they're depressed.

Quote :

"$50,000,000 is not that much in a state or federal budget, and they said they were going to impose a toll to pay for it."

No, it's not a large fraction of a state budget, but it's still a lot of money and it's being completely wasted. As many people have pointed out, jumping off the Golden Gate bridge is not the only way to kill yourself, and if someone really wants to end their own life then this net will not stop them.

Quote :

"Would you want to go up to someone's family, after their father jumped to their death, and say "Lol, sorry. I just couldn't deal with paying the extra $1 each time I cross the bridge. Best of luck!""

I wouldn't want to because it would be mean and uncalled for, but if pressed I would say "Yes I didn't want to pay for a net to catch your dad because he would have jumped out of a building instead or shot himself or whatever, and then you'd have no dad and I would have paid for a net that didn't accomplish anything."

10/12/2008 12:52:30 AM

With that mentality, we shouldn't have waiting periods on handguns. Because after all, if someone wants to blow their brains out they're going to find some way to do it!

10/12/2008 1:54:55 AM

^^ truth

^ That's not the main reason they have waiting periods on hand guns.

[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 2:04 AM. Reason : .]

10/12/2008 2:03:43 AM

Quote :

"As someone who has lost two close friends to suicide, I have to say that I disagree with just letting people kill themselves."

clearly you hang out with shitty people.

if someone wants to off themselves, that's their prerogative.

taking money from taxpayers at gunpoint doesn't solve that problem. It just forces the fuckers to use a different vehicle for suicide.

10/12/2008 8:54:14 AM

while I think it is worth while to try to prevent suicide, I agree that this is an ineffective idea, there are billions of ways to kill yourself. We could save a lot more than 15 lives a year with $50M, especially when this can't be expected to save any lives.

10/12/2008 12:19:43 PM

Quote :

"taking money from taxpayers at gunpoint doesn't solve that problem."

ROBBERY AT GUNPOINT

This is a tired-ass libertarian exaggeration

10/12/2008 7:14:55 PM

Quote :

"clearly you hang out with shitty people."

I was thinking that maybe he was the problem, lawls

10/12/2008 8:56:30 PM