To the mayors of the cities of San Diego and Coronado,

Everyone who lives near San Diego knows the tragic history of what happens on the Coronado Bridge. It is one of the most prominent spots for people to commit suicide in the Greater San Diego Area. Since its conception in 1969, the Coronado Bridge has had a death toll of close to 400. The death toll in 2012 alone was 19 lives that were ended far too soon. Suicide rates nationwide have been on an increase and something, anything, needs to be done.

There have been numerous talks of installing fences or netting, none of which have come to fruition. There are signs with the suicide hotline number posted all along the bridge which is a great resource. Those can only do so much if someone that is truly contemplating suicide has left their phone in the car or at home. These calls may be the first time help has truly been available to them and it needs to be more readily available in these key moments before the final decision has been made.

Our suggestion today is to install call phone boxes with telephones that connect directly to the suicide hotline. These telephones have been implemented in places such as San Francisco, California., Yakima, Washington., Brisbane, Australia., and Prospect, Maine. Many places have seen success after these have been installed.

These phones can help save lives and are a healthy alternative while the conversations and planning surrounding any form of netting rage on. The problems stated for nets not being able to be funded are budget constraints, infrastructure issues, and the time it will take to plan and implement them. These phones can be a fairly quick remedy to implement while others options are waiting in the wings.

So many lives are torn apart by suicide and every death is a tragedy. Even if only one life is saved by the ability these phones will give to get someone contemplating suicide the help they need, it is immensely worth it. Please consider this option and help to give the people contemplating suicide a chance to continue to live.

Thank you for these considerations.