Researchers estimate 14 lives could have been saved if barriers had remained in place

A joint American-New Zealand study provides new evidence about effective ways to prevent suicide from bridges, and raises important issues of government accountability and liability.

A team of researchers from the University of Otago, Christchurch, and Yale University in the US examined how the removal and subsequent re-instalment of safety barriers on Auckland's Grafton Bridge impacted the number of suicides.

Safety barriers to prevent suicide by jumping were removed from Grafton Bridge in 1996 after having been in place for 60 years. After they were removed, there was a five-fold increase in the number and rate of suicides from the bridge. These increases led to a decision to reinstall safety barriers. Since the reinstallation of barriers, of an improved design, in 2003, there have been no suicides from the bridge.