Teenagers warned:
NO more jumping off
Rock Bluff bridge

By John M. Ayers

Gilchrist County residents who live in the Rock Bluff area went before the Gilchrist County Commission on Tuesday to ask how kids could be kept from jumping off the bridge into the Suwannee River.
The residents pointed out that on any weekend, Saturday and Sunday, kids appear to be climbing the sand bag embankment on the Dixie County side of the bridge and walking up to the peak of the bridge which connects Gilchrist and Dixie County via CR 340 to jump into the river.

Rock Bluff bridge is reportedly a happening place on the weekends
as area teenagers throw caution to the wind and jump off the bridge.

The kids, who are believed to be less than 16 years of age, are jumping into the river and sometimes throwing rocks and boulders into the water from the highway bridge, several residents explained.
One resident told the board that it is just a matter of time before an accident happens involving these kids.

According to several residents living at Rock Bluff, a number of the youth jumping from the bridge are
floating down the river to Bob’s, a popular privately-owned water park on the Dixie County side.

The commission asked Sheriff Daniel Slaughter about an existing Florida Statute which identifies this type of activity as unlawful.
The sheriff was asked if he would enforce the Florida Statute if he was made aware of a violation.
Slaughter agreed and said he would enforce the statute.
The Gilchrist Commission asked Road Superintendent Billy Cannon if he would have signs put up leading up to the bridge to make the youth aware of the law.
Cannon put up signs that read: No Throwing objects, No Jumping or Diving from bridge. Section 316.130, Florida Statute.
The Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Department is now working with the State of Florida Bureau of Law Enforcement to enforce the law and reduce the number of youth jumping from the bridge.