The steel-mesh suicide barrier installed on the Golden Gate Bridge two years ago has proved to be effective.
Four people died after jumping from the span last year, an 87% decline from the annual average of 30 fatal falls before the barrier, according to bridge officials.
“It’s almost zero — that’s phenomenal,” said Dayna Whitmer, whose 20-year-old son Matthew jumped from the bridge in 2007.
Whitmer said searchers never recovered her son’s body, robbing the family of whatever closure that could have provided. The Whitmers turned to the Bridge Rail Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocated for the barrier.
“I wish it had been done so long ago so I didn’t lose my son,” Whitmer said. “But it’s done now. I’m grateful for that.”
The Golden Gate Bridge is known as one of the deadliest suicide sites in the world, recording around 2,000 deaths since its completion in 1937. The true number of suicides is unclear because not all were witnessed and not all bodies were found.
The debate over a barrier ebbed and flowed for decades. Discussion began in the 1950s, but the first intensive look at a solution took place in the early 1970s, when 18 design concepts were evaluated, then shelved.
Between 1997 and 1999, a district committee requested another review of the 18 designs.
The issue got national attention when filmmaker Eric Steel revealed he spent all of 2004 filming people leaping from the span for a documentary titled “The Bridge.”
After emotional testimony before the bridge board in 2005, several agencies contributed funding for the suicide barrier study.
Though work began in 2018, the installation of the marine-grade steel net across the 1.7-mile span didn’t start until 2022 because of repeated delays. The district completed the barrier in 2024 at a cost of $224 million.
As completion of the barrier neared in 2023, there were 14 recorded suicides, signaling the start of a decline. The first full year that the barrier was installed, eight suicides were confirmed, a 73% drop from the annual average before the net.
Last year, no suicides occurred between June and December. One suicide occurred this month, officials said.
The barrier is meant to both deter people from jumping and catch anyone who does, though they will likely be badly injured if they do, officials said. The barrier is 20 feet below the railing and stretches 20 feet out.
Since the installation, it appears fewer people are going to the bridge to hurt themselves, said Denis Mulligan, general manager of the bridge district.
Bridge patrol officers intervened to prevent 94 people from jumping last year, Mulligan said. By comparison, a peak of 245 interventions were recorded in 2017, he said.
Mulligan said the barrier was never intended to be 100% effective because there is no way to guarantee that.
“We had four deaths, and we wish it was zero,” he said. “But if we had done nothing, if we had not built this barrier, there would have been 30 deaths last year too. We’re thrilled that the barrier is acting as intended.”
Advocates for the barrier agree.
Dr. John Maa, the former chief of general and acute care surgery at MarinHealth Medical Center, said the hospital became the sole recipient of bridge jump survivors around 2010.
“Every time there was a trauma activation and the report of a patient coming in from a suicide attempt on the bridge, there was always a sense of dread,” said Maa, who is still part of the hospital’s trauma division. “The fact that there were no suicides for seven months last year, I just think it’s amazing. I think it’s a testament to humanity, society, you know, that you can have a difficult vexing problem and there’s actually a solution. It gives hope. I think it’s an inspiration.”
Dr. Mel Blaustein, a Mill Valley resident and a psychiatrist, was an early advocate.
“It was the families of the survivors who really did it,” Blaustein said. “The community of families, I remember they went to all the board meetings to share their stories, holding banners showing their kids — you couldn’t help but be touched.”
“The message here is that we’ve really done something meaningful to show that we care, the community cares,” Blaustein said. “That’s what the barrier is about.”
The 24/7 suicide prevention and crisis hotline is 988, or text “MARIN” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.
Leave a Reply