Excerpt:
In their second year since completion, the Golden Gate Bridge suicide prevention barriers allowed only four suicides in the first half of 2025. In the second half of 2025, the bridge saw zero suicides.
For decades, it was an irresistable magnet for those at the end of their ropes. There was an average of 30 successful suicide attempts each year from people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, and an estimated 2,000 such deaths since the bridge opened in 1937.
Back in 2014, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District approved installing suicide prevention nets on the bridge in hopes of ending this dark phenomenon. And while the installation of those suicide nets took years longer than planned and went about $150 million over budget, the barriers were finally completed almost exactly two years ago, and are proving their worth.
We now have our statistical results for 2025, which would be the first full year of the barriers being in place. And the New York Times reports there were only four Golden Gate Bridge suicides in the first half of 2025, and then zero suicides between June and December 2025. The Times adds that “seven months might be the longest stretch without a suicide at the bridge, though early records are sparse.”
We must throw some cold water on this assessment and admit there has reportedly been one successful suicide at the bridge in the first 20 days of 2026. But given this historical average of 40 suicides annually, and only four in the entire year of 2025, the barriers certainly appear to be doing their job.
Author(s): Joe Kukura
Publication Date: 20 Jan 2026
Publication Site: SFist
