Message from Supervisor Smith: Don’t jump from Canal bridges

In the last week and more we’ve seen a disturbing resurgence of young people jumping from Canal bridges into the Canal.  This is an astonishingly dangerous thing to do.

In my announcements at Tuesday’s Town Board meeting I asked those planning to do this to refrain, and for their parents to prevent it from happening.

You don’t know what’s under the water.  We’ve retrieved shopping carts, construction material, metal and other potentially dangerous debris from the canal.  The water is murky.  You won’t see something submerged until it’s too late.  A fatal or life-changing injury isn’t worth the jump.  Do you want to be impaled on a piece of metal?  Do you want to hit your head and drown?  Do you really want to ingest the dirty water of the canal, or let whatever germs that lurk there infect you? 

Young people are capable of doing stupid and dangerous things.  As an ex-young person myself I speak from personal knowledge.  That’s why there are parents.  

Parents, please be alert to any intentions your offspring may have about canal jumping.  Please do your best to prevent it. 

I remember well the tragedy on the Canal railroad bridge in 1997, here in Pittsford, that cost two high-schoolers their lives.   

Yes, tragedies happen.  But this kind of tragedy is completely avoidable.

Jumping from the bridges is illegal.  I’ve asked the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to step up enforcement as of now.  There will be zero tolerance and violators will be subject to tickets for maximum penalties even for the first time.