The Curse of the Emo Bridge
With one of the highest suicide ratings in the world, Westgate Bridge is something I call cursed.
A Wikipedia article can provide the first evidence:
"Two years into construction of the bridge, tragedy struck at 11.50 am on 15 October 1970, the 112 metre (367.5 ft) span between piers 10 and 11 collapsed and fell 50 metres (164 ft) to the ground and water below. Thirty-five construction workers were killed. Of those who perished many were located beneath the structure in workers' huts which were crushed by the falling span. Others were working on and inside the girder when it fell. The whole 2,000-tonne mass plummeted into the Yarra River mud with an explosion of gas, dust and mangled metal that shook buildings hundreds of metres away. Homes were spattered with flying mud. The roar of the impact, the explosion, and the fire that followed, could be heard some distance away. A West Gate Bridge Memorial to workers who lost their lives is located near the bridge."
Not convinced? My personal nickname for Westgate Bridge (which I reside not too far from) is Suicide Bridge aka Emo Bridge.
Another article, since I can't be fucked typing right now:
"Police data show up to one suicide happens every three weeks at the West Gate Bridge. In 2008, the bodies of a mother in her late 20s and her 18-month-old baby were found on the river bank below the West Gate Bridge, prompting calls to erect a suicide barrier.
Those who argue for a suicide barrier claim that most of those who jump from the West Gate Bridge do so through impulse and that police officers who try to save those who try to jump are putting their own lives in danger. There are multiple incidents of police officers dangling off the side of the bridge while holding onto would-be jumpers.
A 2000 Royal Melbourne Hospital study on people who jumped from the bridge found at least 62 cases between 1991 and 1998. Seven people survived the 58-metre fall. Seventy-four per cent of those who jumped from the bridge were male, with an average age of 33. More than 70 per cent were suffering from mental illness.
Of those who jump off the West Gate Bridge, 31 per cent fell on land. Some of those who land in water drowned afterwards."
Hm...A coicidence? I think not!