Suicide barrier

They are commonly used on pedestrian bridges that cross over train tracks or highways to prevent injury to other members of the public caused by jumping suicides and to keep transportation systems functioning efficiently.

Most suicide barriers are fence-like metal structures that are made difficult to climb by inward curving tops.

After an imposing fence was removed on the Grafton Bridge of Auckland, New Zealand, jumping suicides increased, and a glass barrier was installed.

[4] Suicide barriers also include nets that extend from the structure or hang below it in order to preserve views outward.

[7] However, whether suicide barriers on high places specifically are effective at saving lives is unclear and likely depends on both physical and cultural context.

[8] A longer-term study of the Bloor Street Viaduct released in 2017 highlighted that there had only been one suicide on the Bloor Street Viaduct in the 11 years after the barrier went up, and there was a statistically significant decrease in suicide on bridges in Toronto in the 11 years after the barrier went up when adjusted for changes in the population.

The report notes there was not a significant difference between the jumping suicide rate in Toronto in the 11 years before and after the barrier went up (57.0/year before and 51.3/year after when corrected for population increases), so it cannot be concluded that site substitution did not take place.

[14][15] A study on the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, found a decrease in jumping suicides on site and among men in the area after a barrier went up.

[16] Another set of data comes from the Memorial Bridge over the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine, where 14 people jumped to their deaths before a barrier went up in 1983.