Question

Reread the case on the Golden Gate Bridge at the beginning of Chapter 4 in your textbook. Give an analysis of this case in terms of “scripts.” How do the design of the bridge and the context of use contain a structure of invitation and inhibition with respect to committing suicide? In what respects do they “invite” and in what respects “inhibit” suicide? How would the addition of a suicide barrier change the script? Can you think of certain suggestions for the design of the barrier on basis of the analysis of the script?

From: van de Poel, Ibo; Royakkers, Lambèr (2011-08-02). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction

Answer 1

Description:

• The design of the bridge and the context of use contain a structure of invitation and inhibition with respect to committing suicide. The Golden Gate Bridge is the second-most used suicide site/suicide bridge in the world, after the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.
• The deck is about 245 feet (75 m) above the water. After a fall of four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75 mph (120 km/h). Most of the jumpers die due to impact trauma. About 5% of the jumpers survive the initial impact but generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water.
• Most suicidal jumps from the bridge have occurred on the side facing the bay. The side facing the Pacific is closed to pedestrians, and it is a good move.
• Marin County coroner Ken Holmes asked local media to stop reporting the total number of jumpers. By 2012 the unofficial count exceeded 1,600 (in which the body was recovered or someone saw the jump) and new suicides were occurring about once every two weeks, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis. The most suicides in one month were in August 2013, when 10 jumped.
• The total count for the year 2013 was 46, with an additional 118 attempts prevented, making it the year with the highest tally so far. The rate of incidence of attempts has risen to nearly one every other day. The youngest known jumper is 5-year-old Marilyn DeMont; in 1945, she was told to jump by her father who followed her.
• There is no accurate figure on the number of suicides or completed jumps since 1937, because many were not witnessed. People have been known to travel to San Francisco specifically to jump off the bridge, and may take a bus or cab to the site; police sometimes find abandoned rental cars in the parking lot. Currents beneath the bridge are strong and some jumpers have more than likely been washed out to sea without being seen.
• The fatality rate of jumping is roughly 98%. As of July 2013, only 34 people are known to have survived the jump. Those who do survive strike the water feet-first and at a slight angle, although individuals may still sustain broken bones or internal injuries.

Concluding remarks:

• From the above description, we can come to know that the design of the bridge and the context of use contain a structure of invitation and inhibition with respect to committing suicide.
• It's designers did not have this suicidal people in their mind. That is the problems in this case. It assures us that the technology must be used with ethics. But, in this case, ethics was not followed. So, Golden Gate Bridge “invites” and “inhibits" suicides.
• An additional suicide barrier change this tragic script. For me, I can give one suggestion: we have to install a safety net like they are used in movie productions: if people jump from the bridge, they would fall down only on the net.