George Washington Bridge Suicide Attempt Thwarted – Do We Need More Barriers? [POLL]

Recently there was a report urging pedestrians not to walk across railroad crossings for fear of colliding with trains.

A suggestion had even been made that railroad crossings be equipped with fencing around the crossings to deter those who would want to jump in front of trains.

The same might be said of those who want to jump off a bridge, like, say the George Washington.

According to this article:

A pair of Port Authority police officers took a suicidal woman off the George Washington Bridge Monday afternoon — their third such rescue in the last week.

Port Authority Police spokesman Al Della Fave said that officers Jesse Turano and James O'Neil spotted the 52-year-old woman acting strangely on a portion of the bridge's walkway close to New York City. The woman was taking pictures with her cell phone and stopping for long periods looking over the bridge.

Turano and O'Neil approached the woman, who confirmed she was contemplating the 212-foot jump into the Hudson River. She was taken into custody without incident, and is being treated at a New York City hospital, Della Fave said.

On Thursday, Port Authority officers thwarted a pair of suicide attempts from the bridge, just minutes apart.

The agency has devoted more resources toward monitoring potential jumps, sending officers across the bridge on foot, bike and in vehicles to monitor its walkways.

Question here is whether or not higher barriers or just an outright closing of the walkway would be in order.

I’ve always felt, and still do, that if someone is that committed enough to want to end their life, unfortunately they’ll find a way to do it.

A higher fence on the GW or the Victory Bridges won’t prevent suicides. More safeguards at railroad crossings won’t stop potentials suicide victims either.