ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Since the installation of the barriers on the Sunshine Skyway bridge, new data shows a decrease in people dying by suicide at the bridge.
"For a few years now, our engineers were working on a way to deter jumpers or would-be jumpers on top of the Sunshine Skyway bridge," Kris Carson with the Florida Department of Transportation District 7 said.
Once a jumper is on top of the bridge, troopers race to talk them down and stop them from taking their life. It's their most desperate moment.
"The whole point of the fencing project was to deter suicides and hopefully stop jumpers from the bridge," Carson said.
An incident involving a person trying to die by suicide occurred back in May when a man on a U-Haul stopped traffic at the top of the bridge for hours early in the morning and troopers were able to talk him down as the sun came up.
Carson said people who are attempting to die by suicide have tried to figure out ways to get over the fencing, but with the barriers being so large, it gives authorities more time to save lives.
"That trooper can be dispatched out there very quickly. We have pedestrian sensors on top of the bridge that can detect if a car stopped and if someone got out. We also have cameras on top of the bridge, so the quicker a trooper can get up there to someone in need, the better," Carson said.
The fencing was completed in June. Since the installation, 85 suicide threats were recorded.
"The numbers are very low this year, so we're very pleased that it is working as a suicide deterrent. We still have the crisis phones on top of the bridge and they're linked directly with the crisis center. We still have the Florida Highway Patrol driving the bridge all day. There's a lot going on in the bridge, we just want to make sure that people know that there's help," Carson said.
The project to install the barriers costs over $3 million. FDOT says engineers from across the country have reached out to learn from its success in lowering suicide rates.
Anyone experiencing a mental health crisis is urged to reach out for help. You can contact the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay at 211 or call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached 24/7 at 800-799-7233. Anyone experiencing a mental health crisis can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.