Golden Gate Bridge Boosts Security After Insane Stunts

The Golden Gate Bridge is beefing up security to prevent others following in the slippery footsteps of two teenagers who climbed the bridge and performed death-defying stunts. In video posted on YouTube, the two 18-year-olds from Wisconsin climb suspension cables before doing backflips and somersaults on a walkway, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. They also dangled above traffic on the 746-foot-high bridge. Bridge manager Denis Mulligan says the teens could have killed themselves—or motorists—and they could face trespassing charges. "The Golden Gate Bridge is not an amusement park ride," he says.

One of the youths, Peter Teatime, tells the Los Angeles Times that he and a friend decided to climb the bridge "on a whim" at 3am one morning while visiting San Francisco last month on spring break. " We weren't doing anything wrong," he says, adding that he can offer bridge officials tips on improving security. Mulligan says bridge security was set up to stop terrorists, not "reckless behavior," KTVU reports. He says authorities have known about the stunt for a while, but didn't address it until Tuesday to avoid inspiring copycats before new measures were in place. Climbing the bridge is a misdemeanor that can carry punishment of a year in jail or a $10,000 fine. (More Golden Gate Bridge stories.)