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unicorn

Money down the drain?

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When I heard that they were building (now have built) a suicide barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge, I assumed it would be like other ones I've seen, such as this bridge in Toronto:

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Or on top of the Empire State building:

Empire-State-Barrier

I was shocked when I recently saw what was recently installed:

GGB-nets

This new "barrier" seems to be completely ineffective, since whoever jumped into the nets could easily jump again from those nets. When I googled as to whether anyone had actually been saved by that barrier, I didn't find that anyone had, but did come across this article by a psychiatric RN:

https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/10/golden-gate-bridge-anti-suicide-net-cost/

"...Spending $400 million to save 30 people a year is a misuse of funds. The current population of the Bay Area is about 3.3 million. While money certainly can’t buy happiness, at $120 per resident, $400 million can buy an awful lot of therapeutic help and crisis intervention for those who need it — particularly given that 85% of those who choose to jump from the Golden Gate live within an hour’s drive of the bridge...".

Delving into the subject further, I found that even effective barriers, such as that on that Toronto bridge, don't lead to an overall drop in suicides.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897976/

"...Although the barrier prevented suicides at Bloor Street Viaduct, the rate of suicide by jumping in Toronto remained unchanged. This lack of change might have been due to a reciprocal increase in suicides from other bridges and buildings. This finding suggests that Bloor Street Viaduct may not have been a uniquely attractive location for suicide and that barriers on bridges may not alter absolute rates of suicide by jumping when comparable bridges are nearby...". 

It seems to me like a sad mis-use of funds--big $$ which could have helped people simply wasted away. 

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In Sydney they have these walkways across the highways built the same method ,NOT to stop suicides,but to stop morons to throwing big rocks on cars & trucks going underneath !!!

Yes people usually teenagers think it's funny to heaven a large rock over at cars going past underneath 

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