It probably sounds like a great idea at the time.
"Let's go find the highest bridge around and jump into the lake below," one teenager says to a friend. "Oh, and let's videotape it and put it online to prove we did it."
But with some bridges hovering as much as 50 to 100 feet over the water, making that leap can be fatal. Throw in a flip or other trick mid-air and you'd better worry about the landing.
"It's become a game with social media, who can outdo the other," Officer Keith Holbrook with the Gainesville police department told the AJC. "But you never know exactly what is underneath the water there."
On Sunday, a northeast Georgia man died after jumping 50 feet from a railroad trestle into Lake Russell. Timothy Scott Fleming, 41, never resurfaced after jumping from the trestle along with three other men. Fleming's body was pulled from the water several hours later Sunday night.
With school out and the summertime heat, bridge jumpers are out in full force around Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona, both a quick drive from Atlanta. Law enforcement officials near both lakes stress the need for caution before plunging into the waters below.
At Lanier, the murky waters hide the trees and vegetation beneath the surface of the water, Holbrook said. Jumpers run the risk of getting tangled or entrapped under water, he said. Those that surface after jumping often misjudge how far they'll have to swim to reach the shore and can easily tire out.
Additionally, some area bridges are up to 100 feet above water, making the drop to water akin to hitting concrete, Holbrook said.
In February, a Buford woman was seriously injured when she was forced to jump 40 feet into Lake Lanier to avoid being struck by an oncoming tractor-trailer. Once Bianca Vera got to shore, it took rescuers about 30 minutes to reach her, she later said.
Vera sustained a broken vertebrae in the fall, forcing her to temporarily drop out of her college classes. She spent more than two months in recovery, but Vera said her injuries could have been much worse. She knows she could have been left paralyzed or not survived.
"I would have been one of those people who wanted to do that," Vera said of jumping from a bridge. "Now, I never want to do that ever again."
In addition to the impact of the jump, there's also the issue of vehicles traveling on the bridge, Holbrook said. Drivers may be distracted watching someone preparing to jump.
Water rescues can put public safety members at risk, too, Capt. Jason Shivers with the Forsyth County Fire Department told the AJC.
Northwest of Atlanta, the waters of Lake Allatoona entice daring jumpers, Cobb and Bartow county officials said.
"It's a temptation. Or for people that have just had alcohol," Craig Millsap, Bartow fire chief, told the AJC. "We always urge people to use common sense."
A CSX railroad trestle tempts jumpers on the south end of the lake, Bartow County Sheriff Clark Millsap said. The water below is at least 40 feet deep, he said. But if you're walking on the trestle, you'd better be prepared to jump.
"There's nowhere to go when the train comes except in the water," Clark Millsap said.
In northern Cobb County, it's not the height of the bridge, but the depth of the water below that police officers warn could be deadly.
A pedestrian bridge at Cauble Park is about 15 feet above the water, Major Wayne Dennard with Acworth police said.
"The water's not deep there at all, probably eight feet tops," Dennard told the AJC. "There are constantly young people jumping off the bridge."
On a recent steamy afternoon, about 30 children and teens -- many unsupervised -- were gathered at the bridge, waiting of their chance to jump in, Dennard said. Officers will write citations for those seen jumping, he said.
"We are actively enforcing it," Dennard said Monday. "It's just simply dangerous. People exceed their personal limit all the time."
Steven Ray, 24, told the AJC he's been jumping from the bridge in Acworth for years and never thought twice about it. He doesn't see the danger, except for those who can't swim.
"There's a sign and I hear people get fined, but I ain't been fined yet," Ray said. "I'm never dumb enough to be on the thing when cops are there."
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