Man Leaps to Death from Cold Spring Bridge

Why don't we get a story in the Independent for each of the other 40 or so suicides in Santa Barbara County each year that don't use the bridge?

Many people oppose the barrier not for aesthetic reasons, but because it would be millions of highway safety dollars spent on a project that's never been proven to save lives. I can't believe that we're 2 years into this debate and the media still can't get it right.

The quality of the media coverage on this issue, quite frankly, sucks.

I have lost a brother to suicide.
It is a difficult issue and one not easily bourn by the family involved.
Politics aside.
A family has lost a child, a brother or father.
The politics around this seem to about numbers and not suicide prevention.
One thing I know from my own experience is that once a human decides to end their life it is usually because they can find no joy in life.
The rest is just geography.
I am heartfully sorry for this families loss.

I notice that my exchange on this board with Randy Campbell (the publisher of the Independent) was just deleted, I guess because it was getting a bit heated.

While I think I'm making valid points about the media coverage of this issue, and I am frustrated at how barrier opponents are portrayed in many media stories, I didn't mean to give the impression that I was personally insulting Mr. Meagher or anyone else at the Independent. My apologies for any hurt feelings.

Here here Stevesurfing2002!! My sentiments exactly!!

Maybe we need a barrier in the locations where a falling object could land on the road or an unsuspecting motorist below. I'm fine if you need to commit suicide, just don't hurt anybody else.

I attempted suicide by overdose in 1991. I ended up in a coma for 3 weeks and unable to walk. I was so angry that I survived, I really wanted to die. Now, 18 years later, I have a beautiful, funny, fabulous daughter and the wonderful life I never dreamed I could have. The barrier is not just to save lives, it is to provide a second chance at having one.

As much as we might sympathize with the families and friends of suicides (and I've been one of the latter), it seems that the idea of a bridge barrier is mixing effect with cause. If someone is intent, however tragically, on ending his or her life, does the method really matter? Is a bridge jumper not a potential gun or razor user, or drug overdoser or rail walker? As Ms. Menzies said, once the joy is gone, "the rest is just geography."

I'd like to offer my condolences to the friends and family. The TV series "Crash" on Starz had a recent episode where a character allegedly committed suicide from the Cold Springs Bridge. The series takes place in Los Angeles but the character drove up to Santa Barbara. I just hope viewers don't get the same idea since suicide is such a tragedy.

The average case fatality rate across all methods of suicide is 12%. This means that, on average, a person who attempts suicide has an 88% chance of surviving. The vast majority of survivors (over 90%) do NOT go on to commit suicide later on.

Jumping from Cold Spring Bridge has a 100% case fatality rate. There are no survivors.

A second chance can save a life. Get the facts. Support the Cold Spring Bridge barrier project.

http://www.stopthetragedy.org/

This story is like the opposite of a suicide hotline.

loonpt, you're exactly right. Scientific studies have shown that publicizing a particular suicide methods leads more people to use it. In fact, most cities don't publicize suicides for fear of copycat behavior. Here in Santa Barbara we splash Cold Spring Bridge suicides on the front page.

Even worse, barrier supporters also publicize every suicide. The Sheriff has put out press releases after some of these suicides, and activists like StopTheTragedy create websites publicizing the suicides. They're actively taking steps that increase the suicide rate on the bridge, and then coming to us and talking about what a tragedy it is.

It's almost like they want to increase the suicide rate on the bridge to solidify support for their construction project ...

Thank you, TTM for letting us know that
"The TV series "Crash" on Starz had a recent episode where a character allegedly committed suicide from the Cold Springs Bridge. The series takes place in Los Angeles but the character drove up to Santa Barbara."

It is well known that publicity of this kind inevitably contributes to increased suicidal behavior at depicted locations. For that reason, Friends of the Bridge continues to request that media of all kinds refrain from providing such copy-cat inducing publicity.

Friends of the Bridge is concerned about suicide at this location and has proposed to Caltrans and local officials a suicide prevention solution that would preserve the unique grace and beauty of the bridge and that would not require the installation on it of ugly 10' high fencing barrierst, as Caltrans proposes to do if it can get away with spending $3.3 million in public funds to do so.

The Friends of the Bridge proposal could have been implemented months ago and would now be in operation at a fraction of the money Caltrans wants to spend on its misguided fencing barriers scheme.

Information about the superior suicide prevention solution proposed by Friends of the Bridge and what citizens can do to support it can be found at www.cscbfriends.com

Dr. McGinnes... Friends of the Bridge has itself induced a fair amount of publicity about the Cold Spring Bridge. Let me see... who put on a `Guerilla Theater' performance to publicize the anti-barrier stance? Who had their special interest webpage up first? Who makes outrageous statements like `The Nanny State in Drag'?

It seems that the *only* publicity you want to stop is the reporting of actual suicides from the bridge. You love all publicity of your group's position.

Can you point anyone to scientific evidence that the Friends of the Bridge proposal would save a single life? Why do you have one standard for your own proposals, but a different (and much higher) standard for other proposals?

By the way, 7snugs compulsive use of the thumbs down button has revealed that sevendolphins and StoptheTragedy are the same person. Let me explain ...

Sometime today multiple accounts went through this thread and gave every anti-barrier post a "thumbs down" and every pro-barrier post a "thumbs up." Look at the most recent posts, starting with the post by StoptheTragedy. Notice that there are 4 thumbs down on the anti-barrier posts, but only three thumbs up on the posts by "sevendolphins" and "StoptheTragedy." An account can't rate its own posts.

The most likely explanation is that 7snugs logged in with both of these accounts to rate every post in this thread, but each of those accounts couldn't rate its own posts, which accounts for the difference in thumbs up/down.

So it's pretty obvious that sevendolphins and StoptheTragedy are the same person. We also know that sevendolphins and snugspout are the same person, which accounts for another set of ratings.

In conclusion, sevendolphins, snugspout, and StoptheTragedy are all the same person. Kind of creepy, huh?

I just voted thumbs up on my podmate's post to screw up your analysis. Ha ha.

You are such a card, Kratatoa. I do know snugspout quite well, because we are partners. We are different people.

The creepy part is your obsession.

Here's just a few examples of 7snugs getting caught pretending to be two different people:

Here snugspout says "as I've said before", and then describes a sevendolphins post:

http://www.independent.com/news/2009/...

Here snugspout says "that's not what I said" in response to a post to sevendolphins:

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

Here someone else points out that snugspout and sevendolphins always say exactly the same thing, in exactly the same way:

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

And in this thread we see that 7snugs is also most likely the person who controls the "StoptheTragedy" account.

Two people, Kratatoa. A simple fact.

Of course, this thread is nominally about yet another Cold Spring bridge suicide, which is a terrible tragedy.

Many people, including me, happen to think a barrier is an effective, appropriate, and scientifically supported countermeasure. It isn't perfect, but it will definitely give people who show up at the bridge a bit more time when they can try to solve their problems.

Now a real issue: should suicides be publicized? Should they be kept in the closet like some sexual behavior once was? Personally, I think, if it happens, it should be discussed and reported, in general. The American experiment definitely supports a free press; so it is very difficult to implement any censorship.

>>>Two people, Kratatoa. A simple fact.<<<

Then explain what's going on in the links I provided above.

Anxious unwarranted deductions.

Unwarranted? Oh please. You've been caught red-handed three times now using two different accounts and pretending to be two different people. Denying it at this point only makes you look even weirder.

Randy, what did you mean by "fair warning?" Are you actually threatening to reveal the real-life identities of the people who post on the Independent website?

Randy, I forgot to say that the print version of this story in this week's Independent corrected the inaccuracy I pointed out above, so if you played a role in that, thank you.