Okay, the new year is already going fast. JAYSUS!I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge at night back in the Fall of 2005 and witnessed one of the most beautiful picture postcard sights ever. It was a clear night, the moon was nice and full hitting the water in the bay below, and the illuminated bridge with the city of San Francisco in the background is one of those views I will never forget for as long as I live. If you've never seen the Golden Gate Bridge, you owe yourself a visit to this magnificent structure, which was completed and opened in 1937, meaning this year marks its 70th anniversary! Seems like the damn thing's been there forever.
Of course, me having such a strong morbid side and all, I thought I'd share this tidbit about the popularity of ending one's life by leaping off the bridge:
The Golden Gate Bridge is notorious as a site for suicide . The official suicide count ended in 1995 when the number approached 1,000. In the eight years preceding 2003, there was an average of one suicide jump every two weeks, which brought the unofficial total to over 1,300 suicides. Until the official count was discontinued, suicide locations were officially documented according to which of the bridge's 128 lamp posts the jumper was nearest to when he or she jumped. Currently, it is said that a person jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge every 15 days.
The 220-foot (67 m) fall from the Golden Gate takes four seconds and jumpers hit the water at 75 miles per hour (120 km/h). As of 2006, only 26 people are known to have survived the jump. Those who do survive always strike the water feet first and most suffer multiple internal injuries and broken bones. One young man, John Kevin Hines, survived a jump off the bridge in 2000, though the impact broke his back and shattered multiple vertebrae. As a suicide prevention initiative, there are signs promoting a special telephone available on the bridge that connects to a crisis hotline. A young woman from Piedmont, California, Sarah Rutledge Birnbaum, may be the only person to have jumped from the bridge twice. She survived the first jump in early 1988 but died in her second attempt later that year.
Okay! Sounds great! Yeah, if ya visit the bridge, please don't jump off it. It'll take away from the enjoyment!
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
8 comments:
There's a documentary that's supposed to be interesting about the suicide spot called "the Bridge." As a regular NPR whore I've heard a few programs about it and it soounds interesting. The end credits evidently show people jumpping off- all real shots. They evidently stopped many people, but these are the ones the bridge authority didn't get to first. See the link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/04/29/MNBRIDGE29.TMP
WAT- check you myspace
At the base of the Bridge at FORT POINT is a set of handprints with the simple title underneath "HOPPERS HANDS"
These are the handprints of a steelworker who talks potential jumpers out of offing themselves. Runners in the precedio are seen doing laps and pausing to touch hoppers hands during their workouts. (there is a set of hoppers paws below HOPPERS HANDS to witch I cannot explain)
Oh and thank you for the MAP of most desired places to jump from.
http://walkingonscorpions.blogspot.com/2005/02/my-mind-has-no-firewall.html
my favorite line from "The Hours" is: San Francisco is a city that you are told to like.
Oh damn... that sux. I'm aware of the bridge's majesty and all, but I had no clue that so many people jumped to their death...
The Golden Gate Bridge sorta reminds me of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge here in NYC, only our bridge is blue in contrast. I also heard that during the construction of the Verrazano, a worker plunged into a cement pit used for the base of the bridge and until this day remains burried solid beneath it...
Hey... if ever I'm feeling down and want to off myself, I'll think of taking the trip out west and do it properly... LOL.
Sounds kinda painful, at least if you survive the jump. Still, very fascinating, I didn't realize that many people would choose to end their life like that, seems like other methods might be a bit better.
Morbid indeed! Geeze. Yeah, I won't be jumping cuz I hate sharks. Ever been to Alcatraz?
Thanks WAT you inspired me to post about the bridge.
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