For decades, friends and family members of people who had jumped pleaded for a barrier.
And for decades, my colleague John Branch recently reported, officials found reasons — the cost, the aesthetics — not to build one.
But something is changing in the United States, where the suicide rate has risen by about 35 percent over two decades, with deaths approaching 50,000 annually.
The U.S. is a glaring exception among wealthy countries; globally, the suicide rate has been dropping steeply and steadily.
Barriers are in the works on the William Howard Taft Bridge in Washington, D.C., the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Maine and several Rhode Island bridges.
Persons:
John Branch, William Howard Taft
Organizations:
Washington , D.C, Universities
Locations:
United States, U.S, Washington ,, Penobscot, Maine, Rhode, Texas, Florida