; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Bay Area officials voted this morning on a $76-million dollar refurbishment to the Golden Gate Bridge, including funding for suicide prevention nets on either side. An estimated 1,600 people have committed suicide jumping from the bridge since 1937, including a record-high 46 people in 2013.
Proponents of the prevention net say that potential jumpers may be deterred or even saved -- critics of the funding say that this won’t stop people from dying on the bridge or in other ways, and that the net is a costly and aesthetically displeasing solution. In the past, officials have voted against raising the bridge’s railings.
Could 20-foot nets on both sides of the bridge have a significant impact on suicide prevention? Does this project warrant the costs and traffic delays? What are the best ways for San Francisco to address the problem of suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge, aside from netting?
Guests:
Senator Darrell Steinberg, California Senate President pro Tem, leader of the majority party in the California State Senate, representing the capital city of Sacramento in the California Legislature since 1998
Carol Pogash, regular New York Times contributor