According to AFSP-funded research and additional studies worldwide, prevention barriers on bridges have been effective at reducing suicide. Since suicide by jumping tends to be more impulsive than other methods, bridge barriers provide suicidal individuals the time needed to change their minds and receive treatment. Positive steps are being taken by state and local officials across the country to see that such barriers are installed. For example, San Francisco officials voted to install netting below the Golden Gate Bridge span, and New Mexico's state legislature approved a bill that mandates a feasibility study on installing a barrier on the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. AFSP supports these and other efforts to place physical deterrents on bridges where suicides frequently occur.
