(CBS/AP) TARRYTOWN, N.Y. Suicide prevention telephones have been activated on the approaches to one of the country's largest bridges in hopes that people intent on jumping to their deaths can be dissuaded by one last human voice.
More than 25 people have made fatal jumps from the Tappan Zee Bridge into the Hudson River in the past 10 years, the state Thruway Authority said.
The four phones -- two each on the Rockland and Westchester county sides -- provide direct links to the Lifeline suicide prevention hot line, which would connect callers to counselors at LifeNet or Covenant House, the authority said Tuesday. State troopers stationed in Tarrytown would be sent to the phones.
Apparently there are no walkways on the bridge and from what I've read, crazies just drive to the middle, stop their car in traffic and then don't jump, inconveniencing thousands of commuters for hours while they wait for the attention they crave. If one of them does decide to make the phone call, state troopers will have to race out to the scene to baby-sit the nutcases rather than protecting the rest of us by arresting actual criminals like drunk drivers, child molesters, and drug pushers.
Here's one of the taxpayer funded phones. Maybe they should stick cinder blocks and ropes there too so the jumpers who're serious can get on with it and not inconvenience everybody else. OK--let the hate mailing begin.
2 comments:
Now Ed we cant assist them in suicide, that would be euthanasia. These are troubled people who need help. But on a serious note, this is the dumbest thing ive ever seen. We as taxpayers shouldnt have to pay for this. Its their personal business whether or not they want to live, why should we have to pay for their problems. Anyone actually serious about jumping isnt going to think twice about calling a suicide hotline.
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