How ridiculous is choosing the Golden Gate for suicide and then jumping over land, please?

More than 50 people made that strange decision.

I have heard, but not confirmed, that jumping from that height that you would most likely die before you even hit the water. Of course, if you did survive the distance that would be like running into a brick wall. Water still has resistance.

Out of curiosity, how would one die before one hit the water? An object would just be in freefall, and I don't think that usually kills people. I think the impact with the water would be the killer.

Also out of morbid curiosity, I wonder how big of a splash a jumper would make? We tested gravity with a boulder and a helicopter once, and that made one big splash into a lake. Maybe a body would have less of a splash and more of a splat? I don't know.

"...tested gravity..."

Yeah, right...
You were having fun, nothing more, nothing less! Damn you, scientists!

There's a documentary called The Bridge about the suicides. You actually see a number of people in the act so it's pretty disturbing. But the splash isn't anything too spectacular.

No! I swear! It was a highly scientific experiment and there was no fun involved. At all. None whatsoever. Which is why we also tested gravity over a sandy esker, where the boulder left a big crater.

The rest of the world should be thanking us for double-checking to make sure gravity was working properly!

Light post 69 seems popular.

Just saying...

Huh. We just took a trip to SanFran for a wedding, and were commenting on the suicides on our way over the bridge. Thanks for this... we're always morbidly interested in such things.

Light pole number 5 - disgruntled Microsoft employee*? But given that it is in a car park, do you suppose he didn't jump, but ran a hose from his exhaust and poisoned himself instead?

I quite like the perversity of that. Run yourself a warm bath and then shoot yourself, or climbing out onto a high ledge and taking a lot of pills.

Obviously less keen on the "killing yourself" part. But the perversity I'm down with.


*Or rather, ex-employee. I don't think MS have been employing the undead.

I think you're onto it with the second part there - most people who fall that far die as they hit the water, rather than drowning.

Yeh because if for some reason the worlds gravity wasn't working properly and you guys weren't testing it we'd have no other way of knowing, ermm apart from the whole floating thing :)