I note with some amusement that light post #69 has by far the most deaths. Are these posts numbered in such a way the jumpers can see them? Too much activity at that particular spot to be coincidental.

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Curses, a minute late!

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It seems to be midway between the two towers, which might make a difference.

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Yes, that was what I thought as well.

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Are they numbered that way on the bridge? Pole 69 seems inordinately popular...

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Yeah, I think they are.

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and i know 2 of those personally.
gah.

one i recall was closer to the SF side. facing inwards.
the other i dont remember.

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More of 'em facing the city than the ocean.

The cynical part of me thinks "attention whores to the last".

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Naw, they were just comitting suicide because someone stole their bike, and they couldnt get on the bike path.

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Local knowledge trumps all!

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well I suppose it would depend on which side was closest to where I left my transportation....

the ocean side is nicer in my humble but correct opinion.
city side you get to flip off the assholes that drove you to your decision??

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and whats with the person who jumped off by the parking lot??
accident?

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nah, just a casual push

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It's the circle of life.

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Wow, some of those guys managed to jump pretty far.

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Heh

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A few months ago I found out one of my former coworkers jumped from there.

This doesn't change my feeling that the plans to uglify the bridge and put up some kind of suicide barrier are idiotic. People'll just jump in front of Caltrain, which causes far more inconvience to the rest of humanity.

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I like cityscapes. So I would face East.

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if you face the city the wind can blow you back onto or into the bridge

seen the film joy of life by jenni olson?
it's an interesting examination of thhe ggbridge suicides

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I noticed the crisis counseling signs near the phones on the bridge a couple days ago and wondered if they'd ever made a difference. On the Portland bridges, we've got signs, but no phones.

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bikers lead healthier lives and don't commit suicide because they are happy?
people in cars would commit suicide except they are too fat to be arsed?
there's a current from west to east? no, forget that one, too unlikely.

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Nah, the great thing about cars is they let you commit suicide in comfort, with your choice of music and they give your family plausible deniability (great for Catholics!).

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Those crazy academics.

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There are more on the city side because that's the side open to pedestrians. The ocean side is bikes only.

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Which raises the question, would you rather bike or walk to your suicide?

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I think I read somewhere that the apparent preference for the eastern side predates the exclusivity of bikes on the western side; and it was hypothesized there that people who went down the western side were more likely to reconsider, facing the infinite void and violent thrashing of the Pacific, while the calm serenity of the city is less effective at scaring some sense into people.

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While pole 69 is the obvious largest group, the second most visible grouping is that there tend to be far more on the SF side than the Marin side. Equally odd is that going by looks alone the people who face West trend heavily towards being in either the middle or the half closer to Marin (not by a large amount, but still). I wonder what, if any, significance there might be to this.

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Point-of-origin might play a factor. People coming from points north by car might tend to jump west, because otherwise they'd have to cross the bridge and turn around.

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Obviously we need more charts and graphs.

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Sixty-nine, dude!

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The thing I wonder is if the pedestrian lane is both ways on either side. If not, then it means that more suicidal people come from San Francisco than Marin.

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More info can be heard on one of sparkletack's episodes.

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