Laura did a very touching piece, I must say. But I still find memorials like this and the various roadside shrines inappropriate. It is as if people want a very public display of mourning to replace something society has lost, the notion of a private life, of intimacy, of personal mourning for a dead friend, family member, lover. Bodies of the dead lie in cemeteries, souls of the dead perhaps live on somewhere, memories of the dead should find a home with those we leave behind, and most importantly in the works we do with the time we are granted on this earth.

Sent by Marc Naimark | 9:48 AM ET | 07-16-2008

there are typos and its not well written

Sent by editor | 10:17 AM ET | 07-16-2008

Laura, lovely story. I had never heard of this phenomenon. People really do have a need to create memorials for those they loved.

Sent by Cheri Campbell | 11:04 AM ET | 07-16-2008

Someone brought a bastardized version of the Ghost Bike program to Seattle, where I live, and all it did was make me angry. They had white bikes up all over the city not for people who died but anyone who posted on their website saying they were hit by a car in Seattle traffic. The problem with that is people lied about being hit lied about it being the car's fault. All the program did was inflame tension between the cyclist or the motorist. It entrenched both sides more and more in their belief that the other side is unwilling to watch out for them. I know the group was trying to bring attention to the fact that cyclists get hit every year while riding downtown and motorist and cyclists need to watch out for each other, but that message got lost.

Sent by Christy | 11:16 AM ET | 07-16-2008

When these shrines are first displayed they are out of the norm and are noticed. Soon after they blend into the landscape and are overlooked. Thus, the "ghost" bike is a self proclaimed prophesy.

Sent by Jeff | 1:27 PM ET | 07-16-2008

Great piece. I am going to have to disagree with Marc. While these bikes and similar on site memorials are partly for the loved ones, like they said in the piece they are also serve a reminder to the general public. I think they can help remind both drivers and bikers alike the consequences of the the all to common overaggressive behavior found on many city roads. A young woman died on my commuting bike route a few weeks back and seeing the flowers that were left as a memorial twice a day have really made me slow down and stop some of my more idiotic tendencies.

Sent by Drew | 2:54 PM ET | 07-16-2008

@Laura, I loved the story. You did not disappoint.

What I thought of during this piece was how my wife worries about my son & me when I take him for a ride on the local bike trail --and, I must tell you, the joy of taking my son biking is worth the price of parenting. I tell her that the entrance is only 4 blocks away, but I understand her fear because of the senseless driving which goes on within those 4 blocks.

After reading Christy on the blog, I'm also reminded of all these senseless cyclists (usually teenagers, but some 30- and 40-something riders like me) who are weaving all around roads, riding on the wrong side of the road, jumping curbs. For the record, I obey every traffic law, including stop signs. Yes, it is possible for a bike to stop at a stop sign. That's why God invented curbs, you know.

The subtext that I got from the story was how important it is to look out for each other. Drivers can stand to be careful. Cyclists can't afford to be careless. And the community can learn from remembering those who've gone on.

I'll add this to the list of "Things I'll Miss from the BPP."

Sent by Matthew C. Scallon @mattsteady | 6:09 PM ET | 07-16-2008

I am a bike commuter in Seattle and there is a particular intersection with a ghost bike that is for a true biking fatality, not for a hit, made-up or real. The bike is suspended on a electrical pole above the sidewalk, keeping it out of the way of all pedestrians, bikers, and vandals. Every time I ride through this intersection, I am reminded to be a defensive rider, particularily in poorly planned intersections such as this one. This ghost bike serves as a memorial for the young man who lost his life as well as a strong reminder for bikers AND drivers alike that we all just want to get around safely.

Sent by Ann | 8:15 PM ET | 07-16-2008

I think it is nice that there are memorials, but I have to say, that at least in Chicago, where I live, bikers are reckless. They almost never heed the traffic signals (like stopsigns and even red lights) and bike the wrong way down a one way street. I've almost been hit (as a pedestrian) on more than one occasion by a reckless biker and I've seen people almost get into an accident because bikers were going the wrong way (and not stopping at the intersection). I think if bikers want to have more space on roadways, they first need to learn to respect the rules of the road. Here they are mostly just a danger to themselves, to motorists, and pedestrians.

Sent by megan | 10:51 PM ET | 07-16-2008

Laura C. already thinks I'm mean, and this isn't going to help matters... If you are concerned about bike safety, whether or not you were close to someone who was killed or injured in an accident, you would be better off working with others to improve bike lanes and paths, to change signage, to ensure education for drivers and cyclists, etc. That would be a far more meaningful memorial to someone that you've lost than painting a bike white.

Sent by Marc Naimark | 4:28 AM ET | 07-17-2008

BTW: I think the removing of the decorations on this bike is just pure nastiness. If you have a problem with the bike, call the city to have it removed, but don't vandalize a memorial like that.

Sent by Marc Naimark | 4:30 AM ET | 07-17-2008

excellent story. I'd like to see another story about the origins of the strange hostility that municipalities seem to have against bicycles. I once read that the data on which the so-called bicycle safety instruction that many of us baby-boomers received in elementary school began with ad campaign funded by the automobile industry. Their goal was to reserve roadways for cars and the "data" was concocted to that end. This may explain why bicycle policies in those few cities that have them seem to make so little sense. I'm hoping now that gas prices are going through the roof there might now be a fresh look.

Sent by Rob Schoenbaum | 6:41 AM ET | 07-17-2008

This is an excellent story and I did hear of this on another program and thought of it as touching. I do find the roadside memorials to be a little obnoxious and gaudy at times depending on how they are managed. The excessive use of stuff animals that rot, balloons that float then hang on the ground is at one point no longer a memorial but a mini garbage dump. I think it is acceptable to have these personal memorials out in the public b/c it does bring notice and attention to the fact that an accident occurred here, that a death occurred here, and it needs to bring forth a change in mindset as to how we drive, ride and should make the city take notice.

Sent by David Comstock | 8:08 AM ET | 07-17-2008

Although cyclists are much more common in Amsterdam than in Budapest or any US city, you don't see ghost bikes there. In the Netherlands, the law states that any collision between a motorist and a cyclist is the former's fault. In addition, motorists can be cited for giving a cyclist less than 1.5 metres clearance when passing.

Policies need to be adopted in the US that incorporate cyclists into traffic while recognizing that they're much more vulnerable to injury and death and need basic protections.

Sent by Greg Spencer | 8:37 AM ET | 07-17-2008

I'm going to have to agree with Marc that a lot of these memorials to people killed in accidents be it cycling or otherwise borderline on the obscene. I appreciate the need for people to have some kind of memorial but often times these displays are too over-the-top -- crossing over from being respectful to being simply gaudy and morbid.

That said, as a downtown cyclist, I can certainly appreciate the need to remind motorists the need to share the road. But I also completely understand Megan's point of view -- in bicyclists defense however, bikes and cars are two very different animals. Since they are human powered, stopping and starting is much more strenuous. And because bicycles are so lightweight, they don't set off the traffic sensors at intersections -- which may explain some of the reckless riding you've witnessed. I do agree, however, that many cyclists can be just as a nuisance (if not more so) than many reckless motorists.

In the end, the solution falls squarely on the city to design road and path infrastructures that limit the interaction between these two forms of transportation. Until efforts are made to reduce the contact between motorists and cyclists, I fear we will continue to see the random occurrence of these ghost bikes.

Sent by Dan Kovalcik | 10:56 AM ET | 07-17-2008

@Marc Naimark,

Full disclosure...in case you don't know, I'm Laura's partner, so I kind of have a soft spot for anything she does.

I was surprised by your idea that public memorials to dead people are somehow "inappropriate" and a sign that society has lost a more "private" way of mourning. Isn't the desire to publicly memorialize the dead one of the main markers of human civilization? Something archaeologists look for in the development of societies?

That said, I'm not big one for memorials myself. But I do think it's a normal and completely understandable human instinct to create them.

Sent by Sarah Goodyear | 11:36 AM ET | 07-17-2008

@Sarah

Well, I too have a soft spot for anything she does. And since I'm not her partner, that makes my spot even softer, so there!

:)

Yes, it is human to build memorials for the dead. Pyramids were memorials for the dead, and they involved incalculable torture. I think we have, or should, evolve, and find better ways to memorialize our loved ones than stuffed animals by the roadside and tshirts we'll be using to wash the car in a year's time. We should give time and money to the causes that were dear to the loved one, we should come together to remember their life, we should do what we can to decrease the risk of similar losses to others.

We used to have respect for the dead and for death. We had something called "mourning". Various cultures had rites and rituals for the dead that brought people together. I don't think that attaching a balloon to a bicycle for complete strangers to "enjoy" does honor to the dead. I think it's just a show so that the "mourners" can play the victim in public.

And of course, at least for car death shrines, what better way to deal with a dangerous intersection than to create a new visual distraction?

That does it; I'm mean.

Sent by Marc Naimark | 11:39 AM ET | 07-18-2008

Marc, there's no contradiction between mourning the dead and fighting for the living. At least in New York, everyone who works on the ghost bike project is also an activist for more bike lanes, speed reduction, etc. And the ghost bikes themselves do more to raise awareness of the need for street design improvements than any study or press release could.

Sent by nyc ghost bike volunteer | 5:24 PM ET | 07-20-2008

Marc
RE your message 4.28 7-17 regarding Ghost Bikes. We can and should do both! And most importantly do whatever YOU can. If that is providing support to Laura, Great! I will continue to do what I can for us riders living and those not.
Thanks Laura
Ride on
Larry

Sent by Larry Boes | 6:48 PM ET | 07-20-2008