Another Cold Spring Bridge Suicide

These press releases from the Sheriff are the most cynical thing I've seen in a long time.

Each year in Santa Barbara County about 40 people die in traffic accidents, and another 40 die by suicide. Has Bill Brown ever put out a press release extending his sympathy to those victims?

I guess he might if a few million bucks was at stake.

Here's another example of the cynical BS that is propelling this project forward.

CalTrans has already admitted that they don't actually know if the Cold Spring Bridge is the most lethal spot of road in District 5, and even Lisa Firestone herself basically admitted there was no scientific evidence that suicide barriers save lives in her presentation before SBCAG last month.

Yet look at what she just told the public in that quote in the last paragraph. A cynical, bald-faced lie.

If this is such a great project, why do barrier supporters need to resort to these tactics?

"If this is such a great project, why do barrier supporters need to resort to these tactics?"

I could only guess: Maybe those who are involved in this will make money off of it?

People that really want to kill themselves will find a way to do it.

Exactly! Wow, I'm surprised that the supporters of the barrier haven't taken over this blog yet. Remember the last few times Bill? Ugly! I agree though, if a person wants to commit suicide and are prepared to move forward with it, they will find a way to do it. The bridge is there... just like the court house tower is there, or the Granada theatre, or cliffs at Shoreline park. The big difference is that the bridge is less public. There is less chance of a bunch of people seeing the body on the ground. I would rather people jump from there than somewhere that they may land on another person or splatter themselves across a busy sidewalk. It all is terrible but we cannot stop someone from doing things like this.

Wow, I'm surprised that the supporters of the barrier haven't taken over this blog yet.

============

You mean supporter. It turns out many of the "different people" posting in favor of the barrier are all the same person. I caught him/her red-handed in the last thread on this topic, so maybe he/she is too embarrassed to show up again:

http://www.independent.com/news/2008/...

So add that to the list of cynical tricks barrier supporters have used to try to move their project along: one person with multiple accounts trying to create a false impression of widespread public support.

I would love to know which barrier supporters have a relative in the contracting business.

please stop the crass callous comments about "relatives in the conracting business" until this poor man's body is at least cold. Shame on you, sir.

I will also state the obvious that someone who takes the time to drive up to the Cold Spring Bridge is someone who has thought their suicide out and isn't doing it spontaniously.

"please stop the crass callous comments about "relatives in the conracting business" until this poor man's body is at least cold. Shame on you, sir."

Which blogger made the comment to which you refer?

Folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if a person is going to committ suicide, they'll find a way & a place aside from Cold Springs Bridge.
The thing is usually when a person is in that state they just want to take themself out, not others, unlike driving a car head on into oncoming traffic. Nonetheless, the loss is sad.
As for Sheriff Bill Brown extending condolences, he does do that to the families of victims, it just doesn't get publicized as this did, in fact, I don't think it was a press release, just a quote by picked up by this publication.
If any of you all ever met Sheriff Brown, you'd know he's a guy that feels for any loss, be it by accident, crime or one's self. My sincerest & deepest condolences to the family & friends of Mr. Pitts :) hnery

please stop the crass callous comments about "relatives in the conracting business" until this poor man's body is at least cold. Shame on you, sir.

==========

My comment had nothing to do with the victim, so I fail to see what is "crass" or "callous" about it. Your accusation is typical of the emotional blackmail we're used to seeing from barrier supporters.

I have relatives in the contracting business and I still do not support the barrier, and neither do they. I think if they are adament about a barrier that they could try a net under the bridge first, like they have on some Northern CA bridges. It could be a compromise and certainly nowhere near as expensive as an unsightly and costly barrier. I think driving across the bridge with fencing on it would give me vertigo, seriously, and be more dangerous for drivers. It's an astounding view and in all my travels I've seen nothing that gives me the feeling that I have when I am driving across that bridge and see the valley opening up on the right and then that first glimpse of Cachuma Lake. It is a special part of Santa Barbara and it sickens me that people want to take that away.

Panacea Bridge

If California had a decent assisted suicide law we wouldn't be talking about this.

And pity the poor firemen....all loaded down with all those medals from the gap fire....no wonder they have trouble getting up and down the hill.

Leave the bridge alone!

I hope that web admin will follow up on this issue of one person posting comments under different names, pretending to be several people. It degrades this forum, which I find to be of great value. Let us keep the comments relevant and keep the convesations intelligent. I like to read about what people are thinking. I do not want to hear one person ranting, and dominating the conversation by taking over the comment forum!

I am shocked, truly shocked at the venomous tone in this line of conversation. Whatever we can do to deter ONE death, one jumper, we should certainly do! Even if the general public is so callous to write off a depressed son or daughter, how can we turn our backs on law enforcement safety? The railing is barely over knee high and jumpers risk the safety of our first responders in pulling them over with them. This is not a contracting issue, or an aesthetic issue, it is an issue about the preservation of life.

"Whatever we can do to deter ONE death, one jumper, we should certainly do!"

Drop the speed limit to 55 and enforce it. Enforce following distances. Enforce the driving with a cell phone law. Pass Pedro Nava's 3 foot passing clearence bill. These will all save lives. They will also all cost money. The cold hard callous reality is that everything has a cost.

Many people are of the opinion that the barrier is not an effective use of funds to prevent death.

Phooey, Kratatoa, so my partner left herself logged in, and I inadvertently posted under her name. We've spent all our time fighting Prop. 8 lately, so no time to post. Now we're terribly depressed.

But Kratatoa, get a frigging life. Who in tarnation cares about posting under pseudonyms on blogs... it is the posts alone that matter, nothing else, given anonymity.

And let other people keep on living by allowing that barrier on Cold Spring to be built.

Every darned small-scale safety improvement possible on local highways has been done. For sure we need better highway safety... number one would be getting rid of cell phones, radios, ipods, etc in cars, that would save more lives than anything done to the roads at this point. Number two... SUVs roll and should never have been allowed. Three, let's restore the 55mph speed limit. Those three things would improve safety more than any spending on roads.

Now the anti-barrier people had been contesting the statistics... saying 1 suicide/year was too high. This year we've had 4! 4 horrible tragedies, preventable by the barrier. Let's just build it, hurray for SBCAG and Bill Brown.

GET THE FACTS.

http://www.stopthetragedy.org/

SIGN THE PETITION (and view the comments of the *hundreds* of supporters of the Cold Spring Bridge Barrier).

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/51/sup...

Stop the tragedy at Cold Spring Bridge. Support the barrier.

I too am shocked at the indifference to killing on this thread.

Depression is one of the most common of diseases in the country, and often leads to suicide, but most sufferers eventually find their way past depression -- and when they do, if they have avoided suicide, or attempted it and failed, they look back at actions they took when in the grip of despair and can't fully believe what they did. Preventing people from jumping off bridges is a form of caring. .

It's heartening to see the authorities in this case determined to take action to prevent needless death and destruction, not just to suicide victims, but to their families.

First of all, I would like to send my condolences to the family of Mr. Pitts. It is always a terrible tragedy to lose the life of a loved one, whether by suicide or accident. My heart is with you all.

That being said, I think that placing a barrier on the bridge is probably the most ineffective way to help resolve this issue. Why not spend the $3.3M on public programs to raise awareness about depression and provide support programs for those suffering? I am completely against such an ineffective use of public funds, yet the "Save the Brigdge" group is not offering much of an argument themselves. I read that one of the main opponents of the bridge barrier proposed installing cameras and a speaker system that would provide a calming voice to any would-be bridge jumpers. That is not an effective solution either. We need to get together to debate possible solutions that dont involve the bridge. The bridge is not the problem, and by constructing a suicide barrier, that is just moving the problem from one place to the next. We need to work on resolving the underlying problem, which is finding the reasons the suicides are happening in the first place! God bless all who are suffering from depression and are looking for help.

I'm in no way for the defacing of the bridge but as a paramedic I can attest to the fact that given time to think may suicidal people change their minds about taking their lives. I have had patients who have tried to commit suicide and so many of them have told me the exact same thing "as soon as I did it, (whatever they did to try and end their life) I realized that all of my problems could be solved and I just had the greatest urge to live."

SIGN THE PETITION (and view the comments of the *hundreds* of supporters of the Cold Spring Bridge Barrier).

===========

I'll bet half of them are from sevendolphins.

Rich writes: "Drop the speed limit to 55 and enforce it. Enforce following distances. Enforce the driving with a cell phone law. Pass Pedro Nava's 3 foot passing clearence bill. These will all save lives. They will also all cost money. The cold hard callous reality is that everything has a cost.

Many people are of the opinion that the barrier is not an effective use of funds to prevent death."

Good post Rich. The only thing about this post that I question is the enforceability of the three-foot passing clearance bill on narrow roads. That having been said, Rich is absolutely right. I drive the pass six days per week and through experience can tell you that speeding and following too close are an epidemic.

Let me also say (since some blowhard bloggers have accused me of driving too slow) that I do NOT drive 40 miles per hour (as one accused me of doing) but DO keep it at 55. Nonetheless, even the maximum speed limit on the 154 (and everywhere else I drive) doesn't even come close to satisfying the people who barrel through that passage of road.

As for the recent spate of suicides: Instead of building barriers and giving in to the never-ending trend of spending more $$$ and passing restrictive laws, we should be asking ourselves WHY people are killing themselves and try to get to the cause of this despair, which seems to be societal in addition to individual.

The warning signs of course, must be small enough so as not to impede the view.

Nope, I haven't signed, Kratatoa. In fact, after I used my partners' account she thought I'd spent way to much time on this, and I've cut my comments down. The issue is over, the barrier will be built, end of story. And lives will be saved.

That is, unless CPA or whoever else who favors suicide files a suit.

Great post, MedicJ.

I completely agree with everything sevendolphins said.

Interesting to read such things as "those who favor suicide", charges of "crass callous comments", and people being "shocked, truly shocked at the venomous tone in this line of conversation."

One poster says, "Whatever we can do to deter ONE death, one jumper, we should certainly do!" I'm sure the poster thinks he or she means this sincerely, but even that poster has a line drawn somewhere, whether he (or she) is aware of it or not. Would that poster give up everything, absolutely everything he possessed in order to "deter ONE death, one jumper"? I seriously doubt it. Would that make the poster "callous"? No.

Does being against spending a huge amount of money to POTENTIALLY deter a handful of suicides make us "callous"? I don't think so. If we truly believe barriers prevent suicide, and if we truly believe we must do ANYTHING... absolutely anything... "whatever we can do"... to prevent each and every suicide, then why not put barriers around the roofs of all buildings over a few stories tall? What about the trees that people crash their cars into or the cliffs they drive off of or train tracks they park their cars on? Shall we put barriers around all of those? Shall we forbid everyone from ever purchasing any sharp object lest they use it against themselves in an unfortunate moment of overwhelming hopelessness? Ban all sales of sleeping pills, Drano, gas ovens? There are SO many ways that people kill themselves. Why are people fixating on this one bridge from which 46 people have jumped in 45 years?

Does being concerned with the goverment's inclination to try to protect us from ourselves at a cost of both money and beauty when the results are not guaranteed truly make me "callous", "in favor of suicide", and "venemous"? If so, then I must be using a different dictionary than many of the above posters.

I'm much more a fan of creative new solutions than arguing over those already proposed. I suggest placing a large shark tank at the bottom of the ravine as a deterent, with warning signs spaced evenly along the hand rail. The warning signs of course, must be small enough so as not to impede the view. Much less costly and the view is saved. If further costs need to be saved, dispense with the sharks.

MichelleRhea--what is callous is having this debate on the page that reported the death of a man, slightly more than 24 hours ago. In some cultures, it might be considered callous, at best and downright cruel, at worst, to exploit such news to engage in ad nauseum monologues opining about the aesthetic criticisms of a bridge barrier. Let he and his family grieve without having to ponder the illogical line of reasoning that claims a barrier wouldn't have saved his life.

sbsleuth99, please spare us the emotional blackmail. If you would actually listen to what other people say instead of jousting at straw men, you would see that the real debate here is over whether to spend millions of dollars originally meant for highway safety on a suicide barrier that isn't proven to work.

No jumping from bridge? I fear some of the alternatives Maybe an occasional, intentional head on? I have seen The alternatives with water falls and cliffs here . If people are determined to be done with life. Then simple barriers are not the answer.

sbsleuth99, you said, "what is callous is having this debate on the page that reported the death of a man, slightly more than 24 hours ago. In some cultures, it might be considered callous, at best and downright cruel, at worst". I likely would be prone to agree with you if it was not for the fact that the majority of the article to which these posters have repsonded is itself about the barrier and the "significant controversy and public discussion" revolving around the proposal for the barrier. If it was the man's obituary, you would definitely have a point. As it is, I must stand by my original post.

I would like to see some funds (yes I believe actual money should be spent; Scrooges try not to pass out from shock please) on suicide prevention in our community, such as more publicity for local resources for treatment of depression. Many people know they are depressed but can't even imagine how to scrape up the money to see a psychiatrist, and most of the local ones aren't accepting new patients anyway.

I'll bet half of them are from sevendolphins.

Kratatoa (anonymous profile)
That would make three and a half dolphins.

I'm much more a fan of creative new solutions than arguing over those already proposed. I suggest placing a large shark tank at the bottom of the ravine as a deterent, with warning signs spaced evenly along the hand rail. The warning signs of course, must be small enough so as not to impede the view. Much less costly and the view is saved. If further costs need to be saved, dispense with the sharks.
AShaw (anonymous profile)

Since dolphins and sharks are enemies, we could our thread's total of fifteen dolphins down there to dispense with the sharks.

If I seem cynical and call into question the money that would be spent, let me share one of the causes of my cynicism.

About fifteen years ago, my Dad and some people wanted to repair a bus stop on Alameda Padre Sierra, known to the locals in this blog colloquially as "A.P.S." The total cost of the repair would have amounted to $800. There were ready to effect repairs when the city of Santa Barbara caught wind of this and posted a threatening sign on the stop (maybe it was a trolly stop, my memory is unclear about this) telling anyone thinking about working on it that they would be prosecuted for doing such work.

What the city did afterward was to give the work over to Towbes contracting for $10,000. Now you know why I'm cynical about bills being padded with extra costs.

Yes, Beep...Obviously the solution. This could prevent more suicides and other destructive (self- and other-) crimes than the barrier would.

Whether or not the barrier is buit, something must be done to address the root cause.

I like the Shark tank idea! Seriously, my father suffers from a terminal illness and when he first became ill he had a list of ways he discussed his potential suicide with me. He knew his illness would eventually take away his ability to move or communicate....and it sure has :( Back when he could make a choice, he really put a lot of thought into how he would do it. His list included jumping from the bridge and having been a fireman years before, he'd been called up there twice over the years to clean up from jumpers. He said he knew it would be an instant death, but too scary to jump. He thought about going to the train tracks but again, discarded it because it was too scary. He and I planned a trip to upstate NY and Niagara Falls and he talked about jumping off the falls, but discarded that idea too because it would be "too scary." He talked about taking a gun to the parking lot of Cottage Hospital ER and blowing his brains out because "they are used to blood and could clean it up without being too traumatized" but again, too scary. He did decide on pills and set a date and told the family but when the time came, he determined that he just couldn't do it. Even in a desparate situation and with a life ahead that would be full of horrible things, depressed as he was, he chose life.

What separates him from those that jump? Is it intellect? Or perhaps the ability to talk about his feelings and thoughts with someone who listened? Maybe it is a strong will to live and a little bit of hope that a cure would be found even though the chance of it is slim. I don't know but I do know that if he TRULY wanted to kill himself, there were plenty of options and he explored them all before deciding not to do it. Sometimes suicide is a rash decision but my opinion is that most times, it is well thought out. If someone wants to jump off a bridge, they will.. be it cold springs, or an overpass onto the freeway. Or a long drive to the Golden Gate or another bridge on the way. We cannot stop them, don't you guys get that? It's a PERSONAL choice.

santabarbarasand writes: "We cannot stop them, don't you guys get that?"

No, sadly they *don't* get that. Remember that we live in an area where the state budget is deep in the hole as is the county budget yet people keep voting for bond measures and politicians that will continue to dig us into that hole through more spending. Emotions run high with a lack of logic. I know I seem to digress, but it gives you an idea of the mindset with which we are dealing.

I live in Oregon now, having been a resident of Santa Barbara for over 40 years. I received the call last night about Greg. I would like to share that Greg was a neighbor for many years, our children grew up together and he was a very gentle man. His son holds a very special place in our hearts as he always showed kindness and respected my wishes that he slow down when driving ;-)...at least he did whenever driving past our house. I work in healthcare, which can be approached by CAUSE, SYMPTOM and RESOLUTION. Like many suffering from either short- or long-term feelings of "no way out," the CAUSE is what must be treated. Like many have expressed in these postings, building a barrier will simply treat the symptom, not the cause. In case the Pitts actually read this blog, our prayers are that the pain of this tragic loss will not overshadow the talent and kindness Greg shared with so many. The Blanchard/King family

Sure, Kathleen King, that is why $40 million/year is spent on mental health in this County... to help address the cause.

The best the barrier can do is prevent a rash act, and allow for more time for a distressed person to think through what they should really do. But that is a lot, and the cost ($3 million for a 30-year barrier) is tiny compared to the roughly $1.2 billion spent on mental health services during those 30 years.

I'll always believe that the bridge jumpers would probably be alive today if a barrier had already been present.

So by that logic, if they put up a barrier, there would be no more need for mental health services?

Forget it, AShaw. sevendolphins is completely beyond reason and logic at this point. He lost someone in his family to suicide recently, and he's been unable to gain any perspective on this issue since then. I think it's fair to say the barrier is now his obsession, and nothing you say will change his mind.

In fact, in my experience, nearly every barrier supporter is someone who lost a loved one to suicide, and is looking for a crusade to fill the hole in their life.

I believe our challenge is to be compassionate with people like sevendolphins, without allowing them to divert $3 million in highway safety money to an emotional band-aid.

I think $3 million over 30 years for a barrier compared to $1,200 million over 30 years for mental health services represents a reasonable balance. I'd not ever argue to cap mental health or to divert all barrier money to mental health. But 0.3% on a barrier is a reasonable balance.

There is strong evidence that a barrier gives potential suicide jumpers more time to consider alternatives.

Putting a barrier there will not reduce suicide, it's so public and a barrier would be known about so any potential jumper would just find another spot to go to where there wasn't a barricade... how can you not see that? Do you really think that most of these jumpers are just driving near the bridge and have a spur of the moment thought about jumping before they do it? It's not impulsive, it's out of the way and those that jump from that bridge have considered the alternatives already. Put a barrier and they will choose another method. OF COURSE we will see a decrease in suicides from that specific place but we won't see an overall decrease... we will see an increase somewhere else. There will be more people stepping in front of trains, jumping off the bluffs over the ocean, etc. The ONLY evidence available is the obvious: If you put a barrier on a specific bridge, people don't jump as frequently from the bridge. There is NO data that can support your theory that lives are saved, no data that shows that they didn't kill themselves in another place or another way....

sevendolphins, how did your loved one commit suicide? Was it from jumping off of the cold spring bridge? You have posted so much on this topic that I think that is a fair question to ask you.

EVIDENCE
Whatever your personal opinion might be, the scientific evidence is unequivocal.

- Barriers work. Barriers are the only proven means of preventing suicide by jumping. Construction of a barrier at one location DOES NOT result in an increased rate of jumping at other locations.
- Suicide is not inevitable. More than 92% of those who are prevented from committing suicide DO NOT go on to kill themselves. This percentage is even higher (about 95%) for would-be bridge jumpers.

COST
Suicides at Cold Spring Bridge are expensive.

- Intervention and recovery operations cost thousands of dollars per incident.
- These preventable deaths cost the state *millions* of dollars in lost revenue. Suicide victims are also California taxpayers; assuming a retirement age of 65, those who died at the bridge over the past ten years had an average of 23 years of working life remaining (383 years in total).

AESTHETICS
More important than human life?

- It takes a matter of seconds for a motorist to cross the full length of the Cold Spring Bridge. The scenic view may be enjoyed before and after the bridge (although motorists would be safer if they focused on the road).
- The unique beauty of the arch structure of the bridge is NOT VISIBLE to motorists on the road. It can only be observed from below the bridge.
- The bridge is over 400 feet tall; raising the existing barrier by six feet would alter the height of the structure by less than 1.5%. Viewed from the ground, the visual impact of the new barrier would be minimal (see DEIR photo simulations).

ALTERNATIVES
Increased mental health spending and human barriers will NOT solve the problem.

- Physical barriers CAN and SHOULD be used in conjunction with other approaches to suicide prevention, including mental health programs and crisis hotlines. However, these other approaches on their own are not sufficient.
- The county already spends tens of millions of dollars *every year* on mental health programs, yet this is still not enough to prevent these suicides.
- Human barriers alone have been ineffective at preventing deaths by jumping at other locations (e.g., Coronado Bridge).
- Barriers on bridges are endorsed as "the most effective means of bridge suicide prevention" by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the leading national crisis center network providing suicide hotline support and call box services. Lifeline does NOT support providing call boxes INSTEAD of constructing barriers.

SOLUTION
Construct a physical barrier to prevent suicides by jumping.

- The one-time cost of constructing a barrier is insignificant relative to the lost revenue these preventable deaths represent.
- The barrier will make the bridge safer for everyone; reduce unnecessary risks to law enforcement and search and rescue personnel; spare the families and friends of potential victims from immeasurable grief; and save taxpayers from the real costs of suicide.

Stop the Tragedy. Support the Cold Spring Bridge barrier.
http://www.stopthetragedy.org/

For the record, I'm not StoptheTragedy or involved with that organization, although I agree with them.

Two close friends of mine committed suicide, one with a gun, one by a drug overdose.

I agree with StoptheTragedy that the Seiden study is strong evidence that would-be bridge jumpers who are deterred do not go on to find alternate methods of suicide.

I don't think suicidal people who are contemplating a bridge jump carefully plan their actions. As I've said, there are people who plan everything down to committing suicide in a body bag in a coffin, with all documents (wills, transfers of retirement funds, etc) taken care of.

Those people don't seek bridges to jump off of. Bridge jumpers are impulsive and don't follow the news carefully. A barrier will really help such people.

BTW, on the Golden Gate Bridge, there is a `human barrier' of cameras and rapid response. Existence of that system had not deterred or reduced suicidal people flocking to the Golden Gate.

There is little if any evidence that deterrence in one location causes an increase in suicides at other locations.

If anything the evidence (oven gas in the UK, for example) leans toward deterrence reducing the whole rate of suicide.

I find the anti-barrier folks to be overly focused on personal attacks of various sorts, including credentials arguments, focusing on emotional reasons to support the barrier (like personal experience with suicide), name-calling (the nanny state in drag, costumes of Caltrans shedding dollars, etc). Phooey.

It is grew that Caltrans with the support of the Sheriff and SBCAG is just getting on with it and ignoring the hue and cry of the opponents.

EVIDENCE
Whatever your personal opinion might be, the scientific evidence is unequivocal.
- Barriers work. Barriers are the only proven means of preventing suicide by jumping. Construction of a barrier at one location DOES NOT result in an increased rate of jumping at other locations.

===============

This is a perfect example of the little shell game that barrier supporters are playing. Yes, barriers reduce suicides BY JUMPING. They don't reduce suicides overall. For some reason barrier supporters never mention that little point...

sevendolphins is right about one thing. Caltrans, the Sheriff, and SBCAG are determined to give the middle finger to the public and push this boondoggle through.

I for one look forward to the lawsuit, when we can finally get these people on the stand and make them explain to the public under oath just how they reached the decision to build this thing.

Kratatoa, its mostly about personal vendettas and attacks for you, isn't it... giving fingers, debasing motivations, getting people on the stand and staging an inquisition... perhaps you'd like subject them to the comfy chair, or to throw barrier supporters in a well... if they sink they were innocent, if they float they are guilty.

Maybe barrier supporters simply have made an earnest judgment based on the data that the barrier is most likely to save lives, nothing more, nothing less.

Different people judge data differently, and it is understandable that some people would judge that the data is not convincing that barriers save lives.

As to you're comment `Barriers don't reduce suicides overall,' that is too strong. A more accurate statement is `Garrett Glasgow's attempts to determine whether barriers influence the overall suicide rate have failed.' That failure comes without prejudice one way or the other as whether barriers influence the overall suicide rate.

Actually, there is so much variation (`noise') in the overall suicide rate that the contribution from bridge barriers will always be buried beneath that noise; Glasgows attempts to reduce the influence of the noise by using large quantities of data unfortunately failed.

Like any proponent of a project in California involving the expenditure of public funds and significant adverse environmental impacts, Caltrans is legally obligated to meet a BURDEN OF PROOF that its fencing barriers proposal is firmly based upon sound factual evidence of its purported justification and careful analysis by it of less impactful alternatives.

The record in this case clearly shows that Caltrans has failed to meet its burden of proof in both of these respects, and so if Caltrans does not alter its present course, litigation will become necessary to uphold California law.

Such litigation will not involve putting witnesses on the stand and taking testimony under oath. Rather, the courts (trial and appellate) will base their decisions on their reasoned consideration of the statements and submissions of Caltrans and others that comprise the administrative record of the case.

Politically, this matter has played out so far as one would expect, given the teeth-gnashing commitment to it by political fixers in both parties (Nava, Firestone, etc.).

Legally, the matter is far from over. Sooner or later, we will all learn how judges view the evidence and render judgment on how Caltrans has chosen to address the problem of occasional suicidal behavior on the Cold Spring Bridge.

In the meantime, lamentably, the predictable "copy-cat" effect appears to be occurring due in large measure to the way in which the Sheriff-- a member of the Caltrans fencing barriers Project Development Team-- continues to draw special attention to suicidal behavior on the bridge in the face of requests to stop doing so from Friends of the Bridge and other supporters of the superior "human barriers" alternative plan presented to Caltrans several months ago.

Marc McGinnes

Well, Dr. McGinnes, litigation is never necessary, it is a choice. It is certainly your right to choose to initiate litigation, and cause the further expenditure of public funds to mount a defense. However, your previous arguments that the project was already expensive would seem a bit hollow, should the judgment go against you and the barrier be built anyway.

You and your group certainly have drawn attention to this issue, and generated a fair amount of publicity with your dress-ups, street theater, and name calling (the nanny state in drag). If there is copy-cat behavior, you must shoulder some of the responsibility. It is not really honorable to cast all the responsibility on the Sheriff, whose department at least responds to suicidal behavior on the bridge, and tries to stop it, unlike you and your group.

And of course, I'm just the guy to lecture someone else about arguing with honor. In fact, maybe I'll log in with yet another account and lecture you again.

In light of the fact that "power never concedes" (B. Obama 2008), it should be obvious that litigation is absolutely necessary at times in order to prevent those in power from unlawfully abusing their powers.

In this case, we have pointed out over the past 16 months that Caltrans-- a powerful state agency-- is trying to exercise its powers in an unlawful manner, and we have backed up our assertions with clear and unambiguous evidence (see cscbfriends.com)

We oppose fencing barriers on the Cold Spring Bridge for several reasons, including the fact that such barriers are an inferior suicide prevention (not merely suicide diversion) approach than the "human barriers" plan we asked Caltrans several months ago to evaluate and implement promptly (again, see cscbfriends.com).

The Sheriff is deploying all the considerable political muscle of that office in order to aid and abet Caltrans' unlawful abuse of its powers.

In a situation such as this one, litigation is a necessity rather than an option.

Marc McGinnes

The power here is being used to save lives. What you see, Dr. McGinnes, as clear and unambiguous evidence, is not seen as clear and unambiguous evidence by the decision makers in this case.

There is no abuse here, nothing unlawful, and certainly no malice as you imply.

Just a different conclusion from the same facts.

There is no evidence that overall suicide rates decrease when human barriers are implemented, by the way.

Your publicity is certainly a good candidate for inciting the copy cat incidents.

Sevensnugports or Whatever,

I am moving on from here to better uses of my time, so you may be the only one still attending to this chain-- you and such fictitious alter-egos as you have concocted for your anonymous blogger-self.

I hope that we can count on one of you to turn out the lights.

Marc McGinnes

Dr. McGinnes/Kratatoa/nonni/Axman/eightdolphins/etc, you of course are an expert on inventing fictitious alter-egos, and can't get the topic off your mind.

See you at the ribbon-cutting for the barrier.

I was actually on the bridge when this horrible thing happened. My prayers are with the family and friends.
Here is my thought on everything said and having a 2 year old, this is my best way to say it. My son gets in trouble, touches things he shouldn't, climbs on chairs to grab something off the counter. Knowing he does this, I don't leave a giant Knife on the counter for him to cut himself, or a giant pot of boiling water for him to touch or spill on himself. Just as I think we shouldn't leave a giant bridge that is barely knee high.
I know there will always be some cliff, overpass or gun someone can get ahold of, but putting a kink in someones suicide plans may give them or someone else the time to think about it and potentially change their minds.
Beyond suicides, think about car accidents, head on could send one or both cars over. And all the bikers, moto or not, if they were hit on the bridge it would send them right over. We can't just stay in a stalemate. Something has to be done and people don't have to be so black and white about it. There will always be someone to object to something but we must move foreward.