Charles Langston:Golden Gate Bridge has safety nets to prevent jumping deaths after 87 years

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The installment of a suicide prevention net at the Golden Gate Bridge is finally complete.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the stainless-steel nets are now secured on both sides of the 1.7-mile iconic San Francisco bridge.

"The net is already working as intended to save lives and deter people from coming to the Bridge to harm themselves," the bridge's Highway and Transportation District spokesperson Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz said in a statement to USA TODAY. "The net is a proven design that deters people from jumping, serves as a symbol of care and hope to despondent individuals, and offers people a second chance."

After spending 23 years in suicide prevention and long advocating for the net's installment, Kevin Hines said he is thrilled to know far fewer people will be able to jump off the bridge to their deaths. He said those who find themselves in the net will be rendered motionless, injured and soon rescued by operators.

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Kevin Hines survived jump from Golden Gate Bridge

The installation means so much to Hines, who in 2000 miraculously survived his suicide attempt from the bridge when he 19 years old and struggling with bipolar disorder, becoming one of about 40 people to have ever survived the fall.

He said he is immensely proud of advocates' efforts to demand a bridge net, especially his father Patrick who served as the first president of Bridge Rail Foundation.

"Without his dedication and drive to get the message out there on social media, and make a big to-do about it, I think it would have been more difficult for everyone else to follow suit," Hines told USA TODAY on Thursday. "And everybody else involved. It warms my heart to know that they all never gave up."

How many people have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge

Since its competition in 1937, around 2,000 people are known to have jumped from the bridge to their deaths.

Over the past 20 years, an average of 30 suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge were confirmed each year. While the net was under construction in 2023, there were 14 confirmed suicides, less than half the average number.

Bridge officials began discussions on installing suicide barrier nets in 2008. Highway and Transportation District officials approved the project in 2014 for $76 million.

"For a long time, society did not discuss suicide or mental health like we do today, and early efforts to have a barrier approved were unsuccessful. The conversation around a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge began to change in the mid-2000s thanks to the efforts of advocates and family members," Cosulich-Schwartz said. "By sharing personal stories and speaking directly to our board over many years, advocates for the barrier were able to convince policymakers to move forward with the life-saving net that is installed today."

Documentary investigates delay in bridges safety net

The efforts to prevent suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge began not long after the bridge opened, with the formation of a 'bridge patrol' following the first suicide death, Hines said.

"While I do greatly appreciate the bridge district authority's efforts, energy hard work and time to build this net and the funds that they provided, they fought against us at every turn and and that can't be forgotten," Hines added.

Hine said he has been investigating the "harrowing issue that's lasted nearly 90 years" in a documentary that dives into "why it took this long to do the right thing from the start."

"The Net" is projected to be released either in late 2024 or early 2025.