Ghost bike
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A ghost bike or ghostcycle is a bicycle set up in a place where a cyclist has been hurt or killed, as a memorial to the injured or fallen rider, and as a reminder to passing motorists to share the road.[1] A junk bicycle is painted white, and locked to a suitable object close to the scene of the accident, with a white placard and (typically) red stencilled lettering. These memorials are a political statement, erected by pro-cycling organisations, unlike the typical roadside memorial which is usually purely personal.
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[edit] History
The first ghost bike memorial project was in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in October, 2003. After observing a motorist strike a bicyclist in a bike lane on Holly Hills Boulevard, Patrick Van Der Tuin placed a white-painted bicycle on the spot with a hand-painted sign "Cyclist Struck Here". Noticing the effect this had on motorists in the area, Patrick then enlisted the help of friends to place 15 more "ghost bikes" in prominent spots in the St. Louis area where cyclists had recently been hit by automobiles[2].
Similar projects began in Pittsburgh in 2004[3], New York City[4], Seattle in 2005[1], and Chicago in 2006.[5] London Ghostcycle was active in 2005 and 2006, now defunct.[6] There are or were projects in dozens of other cities worldwide.[7]
In 2002 San Francisco artist Jo Slota started a similar, project which he called Ghostcycles. This was a distinct, purely artistic project which involved painting abandoned bikes white, and recording them on a website.[8] Any connection between the two phenomena is uncertain.[9].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b 'Ghost bikes' offer eerie reminder to share the road, an August 3, 2005 article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- ^ "Roadside displays focus on plight of bicyclists" by Greg Jonsson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 17 November, 2003; re-posted on Missouri Bicycle Federation website, 29 October 2007.
- ^ Pittsburgh ghost bikes
- ^ New York Ghost Bikes
- ^ Elegy for a bike rat
- ^ Ghostcycle UK
- ^ Cities with ghost bike projects
- ^ Jo Slota's website
- ^ Momentum Planet
[edit] External links
- Information on ghost bikes around the world: Ghost Bikes
- Patrick Van Der Tuin's web site Broken Bikes Broken Lives with photos of original Ghost Bike installations
- Earliest known press coverage of the Ghost Bike movement
- Early reference to Ghost Bike campaign in St. Louis
- Press coverage of the Ghost Bike movement in 2004
- Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Ghost Bike Campaign
- Ghostcycle: Bike Accident Awareness in the Seattle Area
- Ghost Bike at Los Angeles vigil for cyclist Ilia Pankin killed by hit-and-run driver at intersection of Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards, September 2006
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