Golden Gate Bridge was designed by Joseph Strauss, Irving Morrow and Charles Ellis. It became known as one of the most beautiful and most photographed bridges in the whole world. However, the designers, as well as the rest of the world, never thought that it would become also a hotspot for suicidal people.
One of the strangest suicides is the one of the 49-year-old John Thomas Doyle. In 1954 he jumped off the bridge leaving a puzzling death note. It said he had no other reason to die except a toothache.
Countless death cases have taken place on the bridge. The 1000th person to jump off the huge façade was Eric Atkinson who committed suicide in 1995. By an unofficial count of 2012 the number of suicides exceeded 1600. Numerous measurements have been taken in order to prevent people from jumping off the bridge. The California Highway Patrol, the bridge’s ironworkers, suicide hotline telephones and staff patrol are just some of the government’s resolutions to the tragic suicide rates. Furthermore, the bridge is even closed for pedestrians during nighttime.
SOURCE: [factsWT]
