A 50 Million Dollar Deterrent

Thirty-two people jumped to their deaths from the Golden Gate Bridge in 2010, about the same number as in the previous two years, according to the Marin County coroner's office.

Thirty-one people committed suicide from the span in 2009, as did 34 in 2008.

The latest deaths occurred while the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District attempts to raise $50 million for construction of a suicide barrier that district board members approved in 2008.

"This report means the tragedies continue and the urgency of getting this resolved increases," said Paul Muller, co-founding member of the Bridge Rail Foundation, a consortium of advocates who support the barrier. "This has been going on for too long. We know it can be stopped."
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No offense but this is probably the dumbest idea I’ve heard in the past 10 years. Who is this guy kidding? I don’t mean to sound insensitive but, you’re talking about spending 50 million dollars to stop what?

"We know it can be stopped?"

Who knew?

Who knew the cure for depression wasn’t loading people up on prescription drugs or even telling them to, “pick themselves up by the boot strings.” Oh no, come to find out the cure for depression was/is a 50 million dollar suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh yeah, that’ll fix everything.

Shit, I feel better already.

I mean, people like Paul Muller need to start realizing that some of us out here aren't nearly as dumb as we look. This guy doesn't care. This isn't about saving lives. Mr. Muller is simply trying to preserve the integrity of this pristine tourist attraction by spending 50 million dollars to wash the stain off the side of the bridge. This is about paying a 50 million dollar price tag to remove a stereotype.

If this was about saving lives, we'd be dumping 50 million dollars into out reach programs where, amongst other things, we'd come to find out that if you put real people who truly care in a position to listen, you'd make a far greater impact in the war against depression than you would a fuckin' barrier. A barrier that certainly isn’t gonna stop anyone from killing themselves.

Let me tell you something, depression doesn’t just magically disappear once Debbie Downer realizes she can no longer Peter Pan off the side of the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s bullshit. If you prevent someone from killing themselves on Tuesday, it doesn't make the prospects of Wednesday look any better.

32 people committed suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2010. Had a barrier been put in place on January 1st, 2011, I’m guessing 0 people will be killing themselves on the bridge in 2011. That's great, however, lets keep it real. Train fatalities, drug overdoses, hangings and gun shots blasts to the head will significantly increase. As will the number of deaths by law enforcement officers.

Why is it that every time somebody gets hit by a train in the bay area, immediately afterward some simple minded idiot will ponder whether it was a suicide (because you know those trains are real sneaky), then he'll suggest, "Hey, lets waste millions of dollars to build a fence around the tracks."

What is it with people? What is it with this desire to come up with the easiest possible solution and then play dumb when it never works? If this is about cleaning up the Golden Gate Bridge then say it's about cleaning up the Golden Gate Bridge, just don't tell me it's about saving lives because it isn't.