Time for this nonsense again. The city can stop this anytime they want. Not saying they should. If the jumpers would just be more cognizant to not block the entire bridge there would be less complaints. I understand cognizant and this demographic is "bridge" too far. :-)
Just reinstating the periodic bike patrol or have a patrol officer stop by in the afternoon a few days in a row. Word would get out and the young'ins would go elsewhere. They don't need to write citations but that would pay for itself if you wanted to go hardcore. These are harmless kids having a good time. Good opportunity for community policing to raise safety awareness vs tickets. I prefer a people solution over fencing/nets or god forbid more useless signage.
If you want to have an discussion (I doubt it), the city council cut APD budget which led to the parks department being disbanded. Whether or not you think PDs should be funded, that was a side effect. At one time APD did care about the parks specifically. I don't believe our parks are better for the change. So yes, the city council can reinstate budget for park use if they desire. Of course that is its own shitstorm of political priorities.
My point was if the city wants this to stop immediately, it is a one part time officer job. Some problems are hard to fix, this isn't one of them.
But APDs budget is higher than it has ever been. The lack of hiring more park patrol is in line with the whole quite quitting that they are doing to make it look like they don't get enough money.
It was cut in 2021 and all the park resources were re-assigned to general patrol. There is no more "park patrol" thus not a specific emphasis on park issues/priorities. Context matters on this topic if parks are your concern.
Rangers do go out there, and they run off for a bit. They don't have enforcement power, so it's really up to APD. They gave up their parks patrol years ago. Like most things in Austin, people can do whatever they want with little risk of being caught. Even if they do, the tickets typically get dismissed.
Nothing will change here because there is absolutely zero enforcement, citation or consequences, just some "education" from park rangers on the dangers.
It's fun, not gonna lie. But be careful, had a friend way back in like '99 jump one of the train bridges on town lake, took some rebar under the skin of his stomach, left some pretty gnarly wounds and scars, lucky for him it didn't get deep enough to puncture any organs or anything major. If you haven't jumped from a bridge before, get in the water first, swim around all the possible landing spots, make sure it's clear. Take no one's word for it.
I mean town lake is just filled in land that had literal houses that were not demolished that are sitting just bellow the water. You would have to be an idiot to jump from the train bridge knowing that.
One of my buddies cut his foot open on a turtle jumping from the arch under one of the town lake bridges (maybe Lamar?).
The police also caught me standing on the railing of the footbridge at Barton Springs once. My lizard brain thought about jumping and running. But I was with my little sister so I just got down and we talked our way out of a ticket since they didn’t see us jump. Even though we were both soaking wet.
At Sewell park one time another buddy swam under water and allegedly high-fived a ducks feet while it was swimming. He came up yelling “I did it!!” Park Ranger walks over and says “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything and don’t care if you did the duck or whatever, but please don’t disturb the wildlife.”
Good memories being a teenager in Austin in the early 2000s.
The city should just remake the bridges with additional fencing so it is impossible to jump. COA loves PSAs but never acknowledge how ineffective they are. In this case there will be some who might even say “that’s a cool idea.”
Chances are someone landing on my kayak would not be sueable, so I have no issues with taking away their “right to jump.”
This reminds me of that video from 3-4 years back of the young dude who jumped from the TOP of 360 bridge. probably top 5 craziest videos I've ever seen
I have no idea where this bridge is at, is it affecting anyone by them doing it? We used to jump of bridges as kids but they didn't have traffic on them.
\*Edit: People downvote the most stupidest shit.
Okay well that is just a stupid person not looking where they are jumping. One would think common sense would dictate you look before you leap, but I guess common sense isn't all that common anymore.
Ahh I see, yeah I can see how that would be an issue then. At least the ones we jumped from there was no traffic using them. Traffic is bad enough without people making it worse.
It’s the pedestrian/bike bridge near Barton springs where it feeds into town lake that’s the crossing bridge for the trail there. Hundreds maybe thousands of people cross it daily, and it’s pretty narrow (just enough for 2 bikes to cross basically). So you get these teens hanging out in the middle blocking the bridge watching their friends jump and hanging around it
Yeah that is why I asked if it had traffic or something, because that I can see as a problem, there are enough traffic issues in this town without adding to them.
Get some realistic, silicone mannequins. Made to look like they are floating face down in the water. Anchor them to the bottom like freaking buoys, so that they float around in the water just where people are wanting to jump.
It will be a deterrent because it is something in the way the people wanting to jump in the water. And also it will look scary as fuck. Make sure some of them have long hair so that it kind of floats around their head.
Yes, use steel cables or whatnot to hold them to the bottom. Make the fine for stealing them or cutting them loose 10,000 to dollars a piece, and put signs on the shore And on the bridge stating that.
Yeah, they aren't stopping people from jumping from that bridge. Jumpers and paddlers really need to look out for each other more. You can blame the jumpers all you want, but dumb kids are going to be dumb kids. There are the ones where their mother asked "If your friends jumped off a bridge would you too?"
And they said "Hell, yeah!" I was one myself until a friend ended up quadriplegic cliff jumping at Pace Bend. Same cliff I jumped off several times.
Time for this nonsense again. The city can stop this anytime they want. Not saying they should. If the jumpers would just be more cognizant to not block the entire bridge there would be less complaints. I understand cognizant and this demographic is "bridge" too far. :-)
How could they stop it?
Nets off the side is probably the easiest. Or the police could probably make someone salary by just having them sit there and write tickets.
Nets would just be cut. The police don't even enforce traffic laws anymore. They aren't interested.
Nets doesn't mean simple nets, but more of a metal mesh like net.
Turns jumpers into potato wedges.
Nets are a great idea. Nets are so much fun.
We would just climb on the nets..
It wouldn't stop everyone, but would prevent quite a few.
Post photos of the kid whose foot was impaled by rebar a few years ago. Add in his estimated hospital costs for treatment.
The people who want to jump off bridges wouldn't care.
Different bridge
Install some rebar that pokes up out of the water.
That would just stop repeat jumpers. First time jumpers many not be as impacted.
Oh, they would be impacted alright.
The first wave would be the heroes for all that don't come after.
[Imgur](https://imgur.com/dIw8F3g)
Just reinstating the periodic bike patrol or have a patrol officer stop by in the afternoon a few days in a row. Word would get out and the young'ins would go elsewhere. They don't need to write citations but that would pay for itself if you wanted to go hardcore. These are harmless kids having a good time. Good opportunity for community policing to raise safety awareness vs tickets. I prefer a people solution over fencing/nets or god forbid more useless signage.
The police do not answer to the city. They don't care about things like this.
If you want to have an discussion (I doubt it), the city council cut APD budget which led to the parks department being disbanded. Whether or not you think PDs should be funded, that was a side effect. At one time APD did care about the parks specifically. I don't believe our parks are better for the change. So yes, the city council can reinstate budget for park use if they desire. Of course that is its own shitstorm of political priorities. My point was if the city wants this to stop immediately, it is a one part time officer job. Some problems are hard to fix, this isn't one of them.
But APDs budget is higher than it has ever been. The lack of hiring more park patrol is in line with the whole quite quitting that they are doing to make it look like they don't get enough money.
It was cut in 2021 and all the park resources were re-assigned to general patrol. There is no more "park patrol" thus not a specific emphasis on park issues/priorities. Context matters on this topic if parks are your concern.
It was never actually cut.
Source?
Go look it up. The funding was never actually moved because the state jumped in to our small government.
The APD was never actually defunded and they currently have their highest budget ever, and it’s increasing.
Also didn't Abbott make it illegal to lower police budgets, ever? We should have just never, ever raised their budget again after that.
Yeah in response to us.
Rangers do go out there, and they run off for a bit. They don't have enforcement power, so it's really up to APD. They gave up their parks patrol years ago. Like most things in Austin, people can do whatever they want with little risk of being caught. Even if they do, the tickets typically get dismissed.
Nothing will change here because there is absolutely zero enforcement, citation or consequences, just some "education" from park rangers on the dangers.
It's fun, not gonna lie. But be careful, had a friend way back in like '99 jump one of the train bridges on town lake, took some rebar under the skin of his stomach, left some pretty gnarly wounds and scars, lucky for him it didn't get deep enough to puncture any organs or anything major. If you haven't jumped from a bridge before, get in the water first, swim around all the possible landing spots, make sure it's clear. Take no one's word for it.
I mean town lake is just filled in land that had literal houses that were not demolished that are sitting just bellow the water. You would have to be an idiot to jump from the train bridge knowing that.
The people jumping are not smart, so this is probably accurate.
That’s lake Travis. The debris in town lake is from bridges
Darwin FTW
You can't stop me! I do what I want! Cash me outside brah.
One of my buddies cut his foot open on a turtle jumping from the arch under one of the town lake bridges (maybe Lamar?). The police also caught me standing on the railing of the footbridge at Barton Springs once. My lizard brain thought about jumping and running. But I was with my little sister so I just got down and we talked our way out of a ticket since they didn’t see us jump. Even though we were both soaking wet. At Sewell park one time another buddy swam under water and allegedly high-fived a ducks feet while it was swimming. He came up yelling “I did it!!” Park Ranger walks over and says “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything and don’t care if you did the duck or whatever, but please don’t disturb the wildlife.” Good memories being a teenager in Austin in the early 2000s.
The city should just remake the bridges with additional fencing so it is impossible to jump. COA loves PSAs but never acknowledge how ineffective they are. In this case there will be some who might even say “that’s a cool idea.” Chances are someone landing on my kayak would not be sueable, so I have no issues with taking away their “right to jump.”
This reminds me of that video from 3-4 years back of the young dude who jumped from the TOP of 360 bridge. probably top 5 craziest videos I've ever seen
You’d die.
I would. he survived though. somehow
Source?
[here’s the video](https://cbsaustin.com/amp/news/local/viral-video-shows-man-jump-from-top-of-pennybacker-bridge)
That’s wild. Did he land upside down?!?
I have no idea where this bridge is at, is it affecting anyone by them doing it? We used to jump of bridges as kids but they didn't have traffic on them. \*Edit: People downvote the most stupidest shit.
Kayakers are often below the bridge on the Lady Bird Lake trail and one was sent to the hospital not too long ago after they were jumped on.
Okay well that is just a stupid person not looking where they are jumping. One would think common sense would dictate you look before you leap, but I guess common sense isn't all that common anymore.
Mainly traffic, it’s annoying to have 20 people clogging up the best crossing point in that area.
Ahh I see, yeah I can see how that would be an issue then. At least the ones we jumped from there was no traffic using them. Traffic is bad enough without people making it worse.
Yeah it’s not something I think about much, but not surprised that they’re doing this. We pretty much always avoid that bridge for that reason.
It’s the pedestrian/bike bridge near Barton springs where it feeds into town lake that’s the crossing bridge for the trail there. Hundreds maybe thousands of people cross it daily, and it’s pretty narrow (just enough for 2 bikes to cross basically). So you get these teens hanging out in the middle blocking the bridge watching their friends jump and hanging around it
You’re downvoted because the article points specifically to people being jumped on and injured. So yes, stupid shit gets downvoted.
it's mostly just teenage children and it's super annoying. there's legit a sign that says "no jumping" but there's a line of kids jumping.
It’s mostly because they block the bridge
Yeah that is why I asked if it had traffic or something, because that I can see as a problem, there are enough traffic issues in this town without adding to them.
Wow, what a noble cause.
That bridge is fun to jump off.
Get some realistic, silicone mannequins. Made to look like they are floating face down in the water. Anchor them to the bottom like freaking buoys, so that they float around in the water just where people are wanting to jump. It will be a deterrent because it is something in the way the people wanting to jump in the water. And also it will look scary as fuck. Make sure some of them have long hair so that it kind of floats around their head. Yes, use steel cables or whatnot to hold them to the bottom. Make the fine for stealing them or cutting them loose 10,000 to dollars a piece, and put signs on the shore And on the bridge stating that.
Yeah, they aren't stopping people from jumping from that bridge. Jumpers and paddlers really need to look out for each other more. You can blame the jumpers all you want, but dumb kids are going to be dumb kids. There are the ones where their mother asked "If your friends jumped off a bridge would you too?" And they said "Hell, yeah!" I was one myself until a friend ended up quadriplegic cliff jumping at Pace Bend. Same cliff I jumped off several times.
Nobody cares they are jumping, everyone cares that they block the entire bridge for no fucking reason.
Hah! Yeah. I try not to run over them. The guys are always completely clueless. It's always one of the girls that yanks them out of the way.
Stopping bridge jumpers... or ***JUST ANOTHER OVERREACH BY THE WOKE LEFT?!***
Wtf
Lame
Send it 🤡
Of course APD will focus on this and ignore the car breakins along the greenbelt.