Less than one week ago, a man pulled his car over on the southbound side of the Tobin Bridge, headed towards Charlestown, and exited the vehicle.

Moments later, he jumped to his death.

It was the first reported suicide from the bridge this year, just weeks into 2013, and followed two previous suicide attempts already, according to State Police records.

Despite the consecutive instances, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the agency in charge of the dilapidated structure that connects the Charlestown section of Boston with Chelsea, has no plans to introduce safeguards to the Tobin Bridge to prevent future deaths.

“With regards to the installation of fencing on the Tobin, there are no plans to do so. Fencing complicates maintenance and inspection plans and carries a significant cost and is especially susceptible to the weather, such as high winds,” a MassDOT spokesperson said in a statement.

Advocates for suicide prevention, however, told BostInno they would like to see some sort of railing to help prevent people from jumping.

“I have heard of [agencies] putting higher guardrails up,” said Elizabeth Blake, a grief support volunteer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “Whatever they can do—anything they are willing to do—every little bit helps.”

In 2012, there were three reported suicides from the Tobin Bridge, not counting the attempts made by people who survived the fall.

As MassDOT prepares to pick up where it left off last year, and continues to upgrade and repaint the bridge as part of a $42 million preservation project in the spring, Blake said she wished there were a way to add safeguards to the Tobin to help people who may be suffering from depression.

Work on the Tobin started last May, and will continue in the spring of 2013, and includes sandblasting off the existing paint, repairing steel elements as necessary, and repainting the structure.

The painting job is expected to be complete in the fall of 2014, officials said.

As for safeguards, there is no such plan in sight.

“Both fencing and barricades would be cost prohibitive and difficult to maintain,” according to a statement.

In the past, MassDOT made clear that based on the design and engineering of the bridge, it couldn’t sustain adding barricades, according to Roberta Hurtig, Executive Director of the Samaritans group.

“I do know that historically…guardrails or barriers can work, such as with the Sagamore and Bourne bridges, but I also have heard that such barricades are not feasible on all bridges,” said Hurtig in an email to BostInno.

Psychologists have also agreed that when guardrails can’t be used, fencing will suffice in suicide prevention practices.

While safe guards are not part of the multi-million dollar renovations for the Tobin, the state does have cameras on the bridge that are monitored at the Highway Operation Center, and use pan, tilt and zoom capabilities to watch traffic and manage incidents.

These cameras, said Hurtig, along with patrols of the bridge, have helped decrease the number of attempts, and suicides over the years.

There are also Samaritan signs at either end of the bridge, according to a MassDOT spokesperson, offering a phone number to contact for people who need help.

State Police told BostInno that the percentage of people who take their own lives by jumping from the Tobin Bridge remains low, as well.

“Sadly, our detective units respond to many suicides throughout the state every year,” said State Police Spokesman David Procopio. “Persons jumping from bridges are a very small percentage of the overall number. All suicides, whatever the manner, are extremely sad cases and are always tragic for the families involved.”

In 2012, transportation officials said that more signage would be added along railroad tracks and crossings to help people in need of help, through a partnership with the Samaritans of Boston.

This week, Boston City Councillor Felix Arroyo called for a hearing, unrelated to the Tobin Bridge incidents, to assess how more outreach can be offered to people who may be “unable to cope with their pain.”

The most recent data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Injury Surveillance Program determined that there were 56 suicides in Boston in 2010, an increase of 33-percent from 2009.

Arroyo will ask representatives from the Boston Public Health Commission, Samaritans group and other mental health organizations to attend the hearing and discuss suicide prevention methods in the city.