You see these all around Chicago. It’s a sad sight
Same with Boston/Cambridge. Frustrating and sad.
Are ghost bikes not common there?
If you did that in my part of London, someone would just nick the bike :(
That has happened here but not often. Baddest of bad juju.
Ya the white bicycle, a “ghost bike”. You see them here in Portland. Gruesome but I think it’s an important visible reminder.
i do feel like it doesn’t really remind people, unfortunately
same with flowers and crosses next to roads, people just see it and go “oh how unfortunate, nothing to be done about this, that’s just how things are sometimes people die on the roads”
this is why you never move, remove, or lock your bike up with a ghost bike. they are someone’s tribute to a loved one. be respectful
I should tell you about the time when I visited the crash site, where a 13-year-old girl who was riding her bike through a crossride was killed by a driver who basically didn’t bother to stop.
A lady, with an empty stroller, was looting the memorial set up for the girl, stealing dolls and flowers as if it was a shopping spree.
Not only did I order her to stop, but after calling the police, I led them to her, and then made sure she returned everything.
This remains one of the lowest points in my faith in humanity, and it truly was one of the most despicable acts I’ve witnessed in person.
Here’s a photo, because not even I would believe an internet stranger speaking of such depravity:
the ironic thing is by you taking the time to remedy that injustice you restore a little bit of Faith in humanity for me and i guess for others as well.
I have conflicted opinions on this. Disrespecting a person’s tragic death is wrong, but consider also if someone is so desperate for a stuffed toy that they would lift it off a memorial then maybe they really do need it hard enough to deserve it. The toy would just lie around in the rain otherwise and eventually go to waste. It’s better use for the toy and better respect for the memory of the deceased if the toy ends up in the hands of a child of the desperate parent. Even if the thief has no children and is just crazy, wanting the toy for themselves, even a madman’s comfort from having a toy has value.
The only situation where I can wholly condemn the thief is if they are taking the toys and flowers with intention to resell later. That’s no better than digging up flowers from someone’s yard!
I see this as a failure of society. We have not only neglected the safety of a cyclist and failed to memorialize this person for those that miss them, but also neglected the needs of someone who has resorted to stealing.
I feel you, but… That’s quite a line to cross. Like really.
You’d better be ready to justify it, because that’s unacceptable to just about everyone everywhere.
We’ve started putting similar memorials up around our city when pedestrians biking are killed by car drivers. It’s getting pretty scary just how many we need to make. There’s even some spots where we almost had to put two on the same street corner (the biker lived after a hospital stay), and we’ve only been doing it for a year!
It’s terrible how dangerous biking around cars can be, I know from personal experience.
I think every cyclist should have an AirZound on their bike
Roadside accident shrines always struck me as kinda ghoulish. I definitely wouldn’t want one if I got killed by a car.
if a driver kills me, don’t put up a ghost bike, put up a fight against other people dying in the same way.
or maybe do put up a ghost bike, but put it in the middle of the fucking road along with a sign to protest the fact that it was allowed to happen.
Same. There is a gravestone close to where i live with 3 heads on it. It were 3 teenagers borrowing one of their dads BMW and they all raced to their death. Absolutely horrible, and because it was also a very well ridden road by other cars and cyclists, so it was a wonder that they didn’t took anyone else. The persons dad also committed suicide over it a little bit later. This was like 13 years ago and it’s just there as a reminder for all that. Gor whom?
Toronto checking in, we have these at almost every “major” street intersection.
Our drivers like to speed through the red lights, to get to the next red as soon as possible.
We also have a “Vision Zero” goal in the city (which is to get to zero deaths on city roadways), but since the initative was announced not much has been done to limit car travel or access across the city.
Murdered? Did the driver do it on purpose or something?
Beautiful tribute… My buddy rides through Manhattan every day and I tell him he is insane. I love biking but you’d never catch me doing it around cars.
This is why we need proper infrastructure design, together with dedicated cycling corridors.
Cars should not be allowed anywhere near pedestrian or cycling routes. Especially at any speed high enough to seriously ingure or kill. City streets should be for the people that live in the area and not through traffic.
Also I like to cycle, but my cycling style is like “taking a relaxing walk”, I like to look around at my surrounding and enjoy the area I am in. I can’t do that and feel safe on a two or more lane city street packed with cars racing to the next red.
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Ghost Bikes are old news. They exist for years, if not decades in Europe.
