A speaker at the forum described the Golden Gate Bridge suicide-prevention net and credited it with a sharp early decline in bridge suicides, saying the structure deters attempts, signals care, and creates time for intervention.

"The net is installed 20 feet below the roadway and extends 20 feet out," Speaker 8 said, describing the stainless-steel mesh and its physical design to interrupt attempts. "In early 2024, we completed the suicide barrier ... and the early results are that suicides have declined dramatically. In 2024, they declined by 75 percent, and there were only 8 suicides as compared to about 30 every year before the net was built," Speaker 8 said.

Speaker 8 outlined three mechanisms: deterrence (making it harder to reach the jump point), providing a symbol of hope and care, and creating a rescue opportunity because a fall into the net is likely to cause injury and require rescue. The speaker noted a jump from the bridge has roughly a 1 percent survival rate without a net, underscoring the difference in lethality.

Forum participants said the barrier's presence provided time for intervention in individual cases and offered a model for combining engineering, staffing and outreach to reduce deaths. The presentation paired those data with survivor testimony about how barriers and physical deterrents gave individuals time to reconsider and seek support.

Speaker 8 and other presenters positioned the barrier as an example of an infrastructure intervention that, alongside clinical and community efforts, can reduce suicides at particular high-risk locations.