At least 34 people killed themselves last year by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County Coroner Ken Holmes said Tuesday.
The number of suicides was mostly unchanged compared to the previous two years but exceeded a presumed historic average of 24 a year, Holmes said.
In his annual tally, Holmes said the deaths could be greatly reduced by a plan approved last year by the bridge's board of directors to suspend nets under bridge sidewalks to catch jumpers.
An environmental study for the $40 million to $50 million suicide prevention project is expected to be done this spring. The exact funding source has not been identified.
"It will probably stop 98 percent of them simply because people will think, 'I can't do it here,' " said Holmes, whose agency receives most bridge suicides from the Coast Guard.
Since the bridge opened in 1937, more than 1,300 people have jumped to their deaths from the storied span, which hangs about 250 feet above the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay.
There have been a few survivors over the years, but most who jump are crushed by the impact, drown or die of hypothermia.
The total number of deaths is considered conservative because many of the bodies drift away and are never recovered, or the leaps are not witnessed or otherwise recorded by surveillance cameras.
About 85 percent of those who jump are local, but the span draws people worldwide.
Of the 34 suicides last year, 14 were Bay Area residents, four were from out of state and one was from England.
Three were from Marin County and none were from Sonoma County.
In 2007, 35 people leaped to their deaths and 29 committed suicide in 2006.
"The (bridge) is an attractive suicide site because it is easy to access and features a short railing along the pedestrian walkway," Holmes said in a written statement. "Research has consistently shown that suicides can be reduced if easy access to lethal means is restricted."
Many more would have died in 2008 if not for bridge patrol officers, who talk people out of jumping or keep them from doing so.
As of November, officers had stopped 60 jumps, said Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.
Bridge directors took a historic step in 2008 toward building a permanent suicide deterrent.
After years of debate over engineering, cost and aesthetics, the bridge board agreed in October to suspend nets made of steel cable about 20 feet below the sidewalks.
The design was chosen over others that included raising the 4-foot hand railing to 12 feet.
Just where the money will come from has yet to be determined but government grants and private donations will figure in, Currie said.
Bridge directors have said they won't spend any money from tolls.
"This is the first time any board has gone this far," Currie said. "They are determined to have a suicide barrier that impedes one's ability to jump off the bridge."
You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.
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