The Asheville Police Department has confirmed the death of a man who jumped from Smokey Mountain Bridge this morning. The jumper has been identified as a 37-year-old Asheville. APD received a call about the incident at approximately 9:32 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2.
"He was headed eastbound on 240. When he got to the bridge, he pulled left and almost immediately exited the vehicle and jumped," APD's spokesperson Lt. Wally Welch said. The Smokey Mountain Bridge is about 100 yards high. According to Welch, the man had been experiencing mental-health issues. The family has been notified.
"He was headed eastbound on 240. When he got to the bridge, he pulled left and almost immediately exited the vehicle and jumped," APD's spokesperson Lt. Wally Welch said. The Smokey Mountain Bridge is about 100 yards high. According to Welch, the man had been experiencing mental-health issues. The family has been notified.
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Is this the same place where a suicide that was actually witnessed occurred a year or two back?
Also, are there any structural or engineering reasons why some sort of safety net couldn't be installed on bridges to prevent these suicides? I'm not opposed to suicide per se, but this kind of death is typically one that is needless and preventable (terminally ill people rarely choose to go out by jumping off of a bridge).
By mat catastrophe
08/03/2011
I don't think we have the resources to install safety nets on all the bridges in the county. I'm aware at least three different suicides from local bridges in the recent past....over US 74 and the Parkway, over I-26 and the Parkway and this most recent one.
By D. Dial
08/03/2011
Besides, what if you are driving over the bridge and you catch on fire?
By brebro
08/04/2011
Alright, alright! So it's not the best solution.
By mat catastrophe
08/05/2011