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SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge may soon be rigged with a safety net to deter people from jumping to their deaths from the world-famous landmark, official records showed Monday.
The Golden Gate Transportation District has voted in favour of installing the net pending the results of studies into its environmental impact, according to a statement on the district's website.
The plastic-covered steel net would extend six metres on either side of the bridge and would cost between 40-50 million dollars, local media reported. It is likely to be several years before the netting is installed, reports said.
The Golden Gate district voted 14 to 1 in favour of installing the netting at a meeting on Friday attended by around 50 people including psychiatrists, suicide prevention experts and relatives of bridge suicides.
More than 10 million tourists visit the Golden Gate Bridge annually, but the landmark also has the distinction of being the world's number one suicide destination. The number peaked in 1970 with 40 reported suicides from the famous span.
Golden Gate suicides were the subject of a 2006 documentary entitled "The Bridge" which chronicled the stories of a handful of 2004 suicide jumpers.
Since the bridge was built in 1937, at least 1,250 people have jumped to their deaths according to local coroners. - AFP/ar
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