Golden Gate Bridge To Get Suicide Net

On Friday October 10th Officials in charge of The Golden Gate Bridge In San Francisco voted overwhelmingly in a vote 14-1 to build a net on the bridge that will prevent people from jumping off to their deaths. The Golden Gate Bridge was opened in 1937. It was built in the middle of the Great Depression and ever since it was opened to the public it has attracted some people who have used the bridge as a suicide machine. In the 70 years that the bridge has existed there have been over 1200 people who have jumped from the span to their deaths. So far in 2008 there have been 19. In all of 2007 a total of 38 have died this way. The estimated cost of the project will be somewhere between 40-50 million dollars. Officials considered several plans including doing nothing but settled on a net that will be placed about 20 feet below the walkway where most of the jumpers usually jump from. A similar net idea was considered both in the 1970's and then again in the 1990's but in the end both times nothing was done.