The Final Leap

There have been 1,600 confirmed suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge since it opened in 1937, including 46 in 3013, 33 in 2012, and 37 in 2011. That number only begins to tell the story, though. Many times a body isn't ever found. Ocean currents are strong in and around San Francisco Bay, and a person's remains can be carried out to sea long before anyone can recover them. Without a body, an autopsy can't be performed and death can't be confirmed, even if the person's car is located in a bridge parking lot and there's a suicide note. 

Sometimes a body is found, but the death isn't connected to the Golden Gate Bridge. For instance, if a person's remains wash up farther down the coast, the coroner doing the autopsy there won't consider it a bridge suicide unless specific evidence supports that conclusion. Similarly, the San Francisco coroner doesn't attribute any deaths to the Golden Gate Bridge, even when a body is found underneath the bridge. The cause of death is determined to be a fall from a great height—that's all. Many bridge barrier supporters believe this is intentional and politically motivated in order to downplay the problem.

READ MORE: http://www.thefinalleap.com/the-death-toll.html

The Bridge

Inspired by a New Yorker story, Jumpers, written by Tad Friend, director Eric Steel decided to train cameras on the Golden Gate Bridge over the course of 2004 to capture the people who attempted to leap off the famed structure, the site of more suicides than anywhere else in the world.

He also tracked down and interviewed the friends, family members, and eyewitnesses to further recreate the events leading up to the incident and to try to explain what led these people to want to kill themselves, especially at this specific site.

SEE MORE WITH VIDEO DOCUMENTARY AT LINK: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-bridge/