Dr Jay-Marie Mackenzie, University of Westminster

Suicides that take place on roads and bridges have a profound impact on families, friends, witnesses, drivers, and emergency responders. Yet we still know very little about how people come to these locations, what signs might show that someone is in distress, or how others might help before a tragedy happens. This study brings together researchers, National Highways, the Samaritans, and people with lived experience of suicide to learn more about what happens before a suicide or suicide attempt on the roads. The team will study information from police reports, CCTV and body-worn cameras, and insights from people who have experienced suicidal thoughts or worked in these settings.

By exploring patterns of behaviour and the journeys people take, the project aims to identify opportunities for earlier help and safer interventions. It will also examine whether technology, such as CCTV or automated systems, could safely assist staff in recognising when someone might need support. The findings will inform staff training, infrastructure design, and prevention policies, and will be shared widely through open-access publications, workshops, and public reports to help make roads and bridges safer for everyone.

Suicide remains a pressing public health issue, and we expect wide interest in our findings, which we will disseminate across academic, policy, and public domains to inform evidence-based action. 

Key outputs will include: 

• A stakeholder workshop (with National Highways and Samaritans) on suicide prevention at high-risk locations.
• Three open access peer reviewed articles, stakeholder report with behavioural taxonomies, and public facing outputs (blogs, lay summaries).
• Presentations to multi-agency suicide prevention groups, the National Suicide Prevention Alliance Conference (attended by people with lived experience of suicide, policy makers, public health leads), and research conferences (e.g. International Association for Suicide Prevention World Congress). 

Outcomes

• WP1: Evidence synthesis to inform further research and practice.
• WP2-4: Transferable knowledge about people’s journeys to and behaviours at high-risk road  locations (e.g. how far people travel, time on the road ne work) to inform staff training and strategic placement of support and intervention. 
• WP4 & 5: Evaluation of existing CCTV and body-worn camera systems for capturing suicidal behaviour, and potential for automated detection.
• WP1-5: Taxonomy of behaviours to inform suicide prevention on the roads with potential application to other settings

Jay-Marie is Professor in Suicide Prevention in the Department of Psychology at the University of Westminster. She collaborates with organisations and industries to understand the contexts in which suicides occur and inform tailored, evidence-based prevention strategies, guidelines and initiatives. Her work has shaped professional training and informed policy on suicides in high-risk public and private settings. Jay-Marie's research explores suicide in diverse contexts including probation, railways, highways, coastal locations, universities, and other public spaces. She works from multiple perspectives; incorporating insights from people with lived experience, professionals, and members of the public who have witnessed or intervened in suicide attempts.

Lisa is Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Centre for Abuse, Trauma and Suicide Studies (CATS). Formerly a Research Fellow at the Oxford University Centre for Suicide Research, Lisa has worked in suicide and self-harm prevention for over two decades, drawing on a variety of methods and disciplinary approaches. She currently leads an established programme of research focusing on suicides in public locations which has informed a range of preventative initiatives (including the award-winning Small Talk Saves Lives campaign, as well as national and international media guidelines to promote responsible reporting of sui­cide). In 2019 Lisa was recognised by Universities UK as a “Nation's Lifesaver” for “saving lives and making a life-changing difference to our health and wellbeing”, and received a “Lifesaver Award” from Transport for London.