Tax Dollars At Work

[PyRo]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050225/ap_on_re_us/golden_gate_suicides

Yup, lets spend millions building a barrier so people cannot kill themselves by jumping off the golden gate bridge anymore. The goal? To force people to find another bridge.

[CrimsonGhost]

sniff sniff* Im so proud to be a Cali person...lol...and to be an SF bay area res. lol.

[Demobilized]

Most of these peole are looking for an immediate escape from the pain. They see the bridge their, easily accesbile, easy to jump off, they figure why not. The plan is to not make it as easy as that. If someone wants to kill themselves they will, but hopefully this barrier will prevent the sucides out of impulse, not meditation.

[fullxcollapse17]

we should also ban all rope and chords of any kind, this way people can't hang themselves....

[Demobilized]

That statment would be applicable if they were tearing down the bridge. This is the equivilant of making a rope that you couldnt hang yourself with.

[xmetal2001]

Here in ATL they are putting fences around all the bridges that go over the highway after a few suicide attempts that shut down major highways for several hourse a while back.

[Archangel Kid]

I really don't see a problem with building the barrier at all.

[RogueFactoryKid]

Well 2 million dollars for a barrier is a lot. If a person is gonna commit suicide they are going to do it. Natural Selection. If you just want to kill yourself you deserve to die.

[nastymag]

so wait are you saying ...some one with treatable depression ..... who hasent been medically treated probably doesnt deserve to live because she trys to commit sucide for a problem that can be solved ?

i had an Ex GF who tried to commit sucide, luckly her sister found her and they got her stomach pumped. she got treatment, and now she is living a normal healthy life. her problems just hadnt been noticed by her family (or I ).

i guess we should start throwing disabled and crippled people over bridges too ... you know natural selection.

[Stix]

Well 2 million dollars for a barrier is a lot. If a person is gonna commit suicide they are going to do it. Natural Selection. If you just want to kill yourself you deserve to die.

2 million dollars for a public works project is a lot? Especially for the bureaucracy that is California, or any other big state for that matter? I think NYC spends more than that on sweeping streets; a catering company I used to work for was paid almost 1/2 that for one party. 2 million is nothing for a state; i'm surprised it was that cheap. Final cost will probably be much higher.

You might disagree with the idea for the barrier, that's fine. However, a lot of citizens have demanded a barrier. You wanna know what answer some of them got? No, because it'll make the bridge look ugly. Can't understand people sometimes... all the hurt and pain people go through when loved ones go nuts because "it'll make the bridge look bad". Natural selection would have been a much better answer imo.

[Steelrat]

so wait are you saying ...some one with treatable depression ..... who hasent been medically treated probably doesnt deserve to live because she trys to commit sucide for a problem that can be solved ?

i had an Ex GF who tried to commit sucide, luckly her sister found her and they got her stomach pumped. she got treatment, and now she is living a normal healthy life. her problems just hadnt been noticed by her family (or I ).

i guess we should start throwing disabled and crippled people over bridges too ... you know natural selection.

I think the point is that, if a person wants to commit suicide, putting a barrier up on ONE bridge will not stop them. In fact, putting a barrier on EVERY bridge really would not stop them if they truly wanted to do it, and if you jump off a bridge, chances are you want to die. Like someone said, you might as well ban the sales of ropes, guns, tylenol, any sleeping pill or painkiller, razor blades, etc etc.

That 2 million, or more likely 10 million after the typical bay area cost overruns, would be better spent on mental health resources in the area.

[PyRo]

That statment would be applicable if they were tearing down the bridge. This is the equivilant of making a rope that you couldnt hang yourself with.

No this is the equivilant of forceing me to buy rope that I cannot hang myself with and chargeing me extra for it. Why should I pay more for rope so someone doesn't hang themself?

[tropical_fishy]

Well 2 million dollars for a barrier is a lot. If a person is gonna commit suicide they are going to do it. Natural Selection. If you just want to kill yourself you deserve to die.

obviously you've never been suicidal. Or known anyone who's committed suicide.

[Aegis]

That 2 million, or more likely 10 million after the typical bay area cost overruns, would be better spent on mental health resources in the area.

I think that is a very good point. Bridges don't kill people, people that want to kill themselves kill...themselves.

If you want to shuffle off the mortal coil, CalTrans is not gonna stop you. The intervention needs to occur when you make that call.

[stondroopy]

i think the 2 million is just to come up with an plan for the barrier,the actual cost hasnt been esatablished.Is there anything from keeping them from running into traffic?