So, I would like to jump off some bridges in my town, Pittsburgh. Is this legal? I’ve searched the web and come up with little.
This is not to die of course, or get hurt, I just think it would be a rush. Is 70feet doable with little to no experience? How deep should the water be to be safe?
Thank you, for those that contribute.
Ummmm… my common sense suggests to me that jumping off of huge public structures such as building, bridges, etc. would be against the law.
But if you are planning a jump like that, I would suggest cliff diving or something similar instead. There’s a bit of technique involved in jumping into water. From the right heights, water will be as hard as concrete. To do something aproaching the height you’re suggesting, I would get some instruction from a seasoned jumper (not just off the internet) before you do it. Even then, it would be very prudent to work your way up from smaller jumps. The first drop you do on your uni won’t be a 20 footer so don’t make your first water jump 70 feet. Be safe man!! Check out how Sam Patch died. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Patch
But once you’re sure of your saftey, GO FOR IT!!! but make sure to get it on video for your devoted fans.
Of course. I heard it was legal, I heard it was illegal. It’s public water, no trespassing or anything. I figured it would be illegal, but I would really, really like to do this. There are some smaller bridges around, cliff jumping seems fun, but there is something about a bridge.
of course it would be filmed. I thought about going to the top of the arch, but I feel that may be pushing it too far. A police officer may let me off just jumping off the side, but probably not the truss, since it would create a traffic hazard and such. I would like to not get arrested.
Hmmm… just say there’s nothing illegal about being a badass?
Actually, in the country, noone much cares if you jump off a bridge into a river. In fact, if you look hard enough you might be able to find the jumper bridges that the kids hang out at. At least in my area they’re around. That way you know the water is deep enough as well.
No. 70 feet with no experience and off a bridge is a terrible idea.
You will not land properly and you will get hurt since you have no experience jumping off anything high into water. Even 45 feet is huge for the first time.
I have jumped off some cliffs while deep water soloing and there is a technique to landing and it takes practice and building up.
Be smart. I hope no one recommends that you go ahead with this as it is obviously a bad idea.
Well yes in the country, I know that.
But they are small. I’m looking to jump off the West End, or Fort Pitt bridge, one is in downtown Pittsburgh, well leads too, the other is damn close. There are a couple smaller bridges I was going to do before, to make sure it’s safe/ build up the confidence.
just wear sandels and keep your legs together. i repeat: keep your legs together. i nearly threw up in pain after a 25 foot drop in which my balls took in a lot of H2O
Jumping is usually illegal. Being in the water, may not be illegal, but can be hazardous. Thats why people who do this sort of thing jump quick and get out of there even faster.
I havent done a lot of bridge jumps, but if done some cliff/waterfall dives. When its pretty high, I land feet first, and my feet are pointed towards the water, hands by my side. As soon as I hit the water and im going under, spread your legs and your arms.
Visit sunny Bosnia.
I remember my dad telling me a story about a guy jumping off a local bridge and killing himself. The river would have been deep enough if it hadn’t been for the cars local toerags had dumped in the river - ouch!
No idea whether the story is true but don’t just assume it’s deep enough
Have fun but be careful, the world doesn’t have enough unicyclists yet;)
Dude. just so you know water hurts when you hit it with some speed. If you haven’t jumped much into water I wouldn’t go higher than about 10m/30’ to start with. even that can really hurt if you mess it up.
I did a cliff that was about 80’ last year and my elbow wasn’t perfectly against my body and the water pulled on it hard enough to give me a partially torn ligament in my shoulder.
As for legality who knows. Ask a cop.
Thanks for the tips.
I would like to ask a cop, at that point though I can’t claim ignorance, not sure if that would help.
I’m planning on getting out of there quick, but at the location I’d like to do it, I fear the cops will get their quicker, and I’m not going to run from the police. Getting away before they arrive maybe, but definitely not running from them.
I know it’s going to have a little painful probably. I’ve jumped into water when I was younger, but no recently.
I’ve done a bit of cliff/bridge jumping before. There is a 15m cliff (50ft approx) at my favourite hiking spot in a national park that is a fav. I can’t talk much about the legality of what you want to do- the bridge we used to jump off near my old home town was disused by traffic and had been converted into a pedestrian walkway. I’m pretty sure it was still illegal but the cops only got serious when a kid hit a submerged shopping trolley and died there. So all i can stress is the safety and technique aspects of it. Firstly you have to check the depth-not just in one spot but in your whole potential landing area- submerged objects are a real danger. 5 meters should be ok for up to 15m of height. Flail about in the air as much as you need to to keep good body form in the air but before you hit the water you need to get it all together. That means arms in, legs together. As for the shoes/no shoes thing- i preffer no shoes and pointed toes. With shoes your knees can buckle under you and you can end up kneeing yourself pretty bad.
i’d say start with some cliff jumps until you find out the legality of what you want to do on the bridges.
mark
That reminds me of a story:
When I was much much younger a bunch of us where at a lake water skiing. While taking a break we saw a big rock about 30’ high that was climbable. So about 4 of us kind of swam around sinking down feet first to see if we could find any rocks. We didn’t find any. So we started jumping. We each did about 10 jumps. When we were all done, we were just kind of floating around where we had been jumping and my foot touched something only about 5’ under the water. It was a big pointy rock within a couple of feet of where we had been jumping. Anyone of us could have jumped a little bit to the left (like 3’) and hit this thing. Pretty much a miracle that none of us did. I think some of us probably just missed it a couple of times.
Still was a fun day (but we needed some luck to keep it that way)
Scary. I am going to check for sure. I own a canoe so can paddle out and muck around before jumping. I’ve been on water before, and I know how debris can lay just under sight, and how the bottoms aren’t always uniform.
Called the local police run non-emergency line and the man said “Uhhh…what?” I tell him, “Is it illegal to jump from a bridge… not to kill yourself, but for a bit of fun” “Yeah, I’m positive it is” “What is the penalty, a fine? What price? Just how illegal is this” “I’m not sure what it would fall under, but I’m sure it is illegal” “thank you, have a good day”
any cop whos having a bad day would probably just charge you with disorderly conduct…
Claiming ignorance wouldn’t help your cause anyway, so you might as well be informed.
You might want to try sounding a little more professional.
Hi I’m planning a safe, controlled dive from a low level structure into water. I was wondering the legal issues concerning using one of the these public bridges: ________ over these these waterways:____________. Firstly are there any laws and penalites preventing this that I should be aware of? How could I contact somebody who would know? Is there a channel for me to further pursue this legally?
You might also want to actually be more professional and contact people who do this type of stunt (both the jump and the quick recovery) regularly for proper information, training, and preparation.
Definitely be OVER PREPARED for something this dangerous and don’t do it “urgently.”
Around here, when bridges become popular for jumping, signs are posted to notify people it is not allowed. So the bridge is public, the water is public, but from the professional body retrievers, the jumping is not legal. The assumption should be that it is not. The actual answer to your question probably depends on the specific bridge in question, and may vary from bridge to bridge.
justtysen had some excellent advice above. If you want to do it legally, be completely open about it, but also make sure the people you contact will see you as a responsible adventurer, and not someone looking for a thrill that may end up costing the city thousands of dollars in rescue and retrieval.
If you get away with it on the day-of, your video will likely lead to an arrest later.
Don’t ask a cop. Cops are not lawyers. If it’s a known statute, they can give you an easy ‘no’ but if it’s not a well-known law, they’ll probably say ‘no’ anyway but they may not be sure. If you really want to know the legality, be prepared to pay a lawyer to research your options for you. This is a lot cheaper than needing a lawyer later so it might be worth looking into.
I think when stuff like this happens on an “official” basis, permits are usually involved. Though I don’t imagine this is the way you want to go, it would at least ensure the jump was legal. 
[QUOTE=wickedbobI’m planning on getting out of there quick, but at the location I’d like to do it, I fear the cops will get their quicker, and I’m not going to run from the police.[/QUOTE]
Aw, c’mon. We’ll never see you on COPS if you don’t run! 
Consider your exit plan from your landing site. Then consider your exit plan if you’ve taken a bad landing. Planning to swim to the side? Have someone else in the water just in case.
And if you haven’t tried something like this before, you definitely don’t want to start at 70’. The highest jump I’ve done into water is about 30’, and it was a surprising amount of freefall for that. Work your way up.
Friends should be in a canoe, other with a vehicle. We’re actually heading out on the river this week for some fun, and some depth checking, debris checking, and get away routes.
Good advice. That is exactly what I read, and so thought, by some miracle that it may technically be legal. Even though they could still get me on some bogus charge like disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace.
Can I not blur out my face? I mean, that is available right? I have no editing skills, programs, etc, but I’m sure I could find some person who does.