Ghost Bikes

[alp1950]

The more I think about this the more complex this seems.

First reaction is supportive, great idea, anything that raises awareness of cycling -related safety issues must be good and I think that sometimes more direct tactics are necessary if the public, politicians, local authorities, police etc are ever going take cycling seriously.

However this could add to the distress of bereaved relatives who may not wish the death of a loved one to be used in what ultimately is a fairly naked political manner.

 

[Mr Pig]

being seen as a 'cycling is dangerous' thing rather than what they intend to signify

That's not necessarily a bad thing. It might do a lot of cyclists good to consider their own mortality a little more.

I think they're a great idea.

 

[dondare]

I've said it before and I'll say it again; I want my roadside memorial to be a speed camera.

 

[dondare]

Ghost bikes are going to send out entirely the wrong message about how dangerous cycling is. This leads to fewer people being prepared to take it up or allow their children to take it up, and a view that cyclists who do get killed are to blame for their own deaths for being so foolhardy.

 

[wafflycat]

That's not necessarily a bad thing. It might do a lot of cyclists good to consider their own mortality a little more.

I think they're a great idea.

As usual, Mr Pig speaks tosh. Go and look at the stats on cycling. Cycling is a remarkably safe activity in the great scheme of things. And in the cases where a cyclist is killed on the road, in the vast majority of cases, it isn't the cyclist at fault. So the ghost bikes can send out a completely erroneous picture about the real level of danger associated with cycling. But why am I not surprised Mr Pig once again is short on logical thinking..

 

[wafflycat]

Ghost bikes are going to send out entirely the wrong message about how dangerous cycling is. This leads to fewer people being prepared to take it up or allow their children to take it up, and a view that cyclists who do get killed are to blame for their own deaths for being so foolhardy.

Exactly. I do like your speed camera idea..

 

[Mr Pig]

As usual, Mr Pig speaks tosh. But why am I not surprised Mr Pig once again is short on logical thinking..

What's your problem? Do I speak to you that way?

I'm very sorry if it offends you, actually, that's a lie and I don't give a stuff, but I like the ghost bikes.

It may be true that when cyclist is killed it is usually the car/lorry driver who is mostly to blame, but I still think it does no harm for cyclists to consider the risks and be more pro-active about his or her own safety. If these bikes make both cyclists and drivers think about the fact that when they make mistakes, or take chances, people can die then that's no bad thing. If I rode through a junction where one of those bikes was sited I'd be wondering how the cyclist died. I might even ask around to try and find out and just maybe I'd learn something about a possible danger that I could avoid myself in future.

Sure, some people will say 'stupid cyclists again' but people like that are probably so arrogant and hardened that virtually nothing would alter their opinions anyway.

But more than anything, they provide a place for other people, other cyclists in particular, to pay their respects and mourn the needless loss of another's life. A place to express that this matters, we care, we are together in suffering about what has happened here. It's a human expression of grief in a harsh world, and that warms my heart.

And if you don't like that, too bad. Others will decide for themselves whether what I write is logical and of worth. Who are you to tell them?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Mr Pig - the ghost bikes are not aimed at teaching cyclists a lesson but those who do not see cyclists and cause their deaths - i.e.: drivers.

I don't share Wafflycat's view on them (I think they are poignant and important - they send a strong political message), but I think you are missing the point both of the ghost bikes and about who is responsible for the dangers that do exist on the road.

 

[Mr Pig]

Mr Pig - the ghost bikes are not aimed at teaching cyclists a lesson but those who cause their deaths - i.e.: drivers

How do you know? I'm sure there will be many and varied motives behind them. If I put one up, or one was put up for me, I'd hope that other cyclists might take more care because of it. Why not?

We're all in this shoot together, there is no 'them and us'. We're all just human beings who bounce from one screw up to another.

 

[Origamist]

In Bogota, Columbia the death of a pedestrian is memorialized by a stencilled black star.

 

[dondare]

In Bogota, Columbia the death of a pedestrian is memorialized by a stencilled black star.

There must be a lot of stars.

 

[Chuffy]

I've always thought that any fatal accident should be marked, preferably in the style of the Road Peace crosses. The sheer number of them might actually focus minds a little.
The Ghost Bikes look and feel cool at first, but singling out cycling fatalities could easily be counter-productive, as others have pointed out. The other thing is that with such a highly visible memorial the family of the deceased have to ok it first. It would be hugely insensitive for any overly keen cycling campaigner to put one up without asking first. There was a chap killed earlier this year on the road that Baggy and I commute along. I've been wanting to sprinkle a handful of poppy seeds on the verge there but even that feels slightly disrespectful without the family's permission.

 

[Mr Pig]

I've been wanting to sprinkle poppy seeds but even that feels slightly disrespectful without the family's permission.

Sure. It's a sensitive area. The family may resent the fact that the person died because they were cycling. I don't think I wouldn't erect such a memorial without approval.

 

[roshi chris]

I think they are a very good idea. I understand the argument that they might put new cyclists off by giving the impression that it is more dangerious than it actually is, but that's a short term negative imo, to be balanced against a potentially much greater long term benefit.

Car/ van drivers need to be made aware that they are piloting lethal weapons and they need to exercise caution around vulnerable road users. Ghost bikes are a powerful message I think to any person who sees one.

I also think they work much better than flowers or some other tribute as the bike immediately tells you something about the person that died - that they cycled, the type of bike they cycled - it immediately makes them a person rather than an abstract. I think they're a great idea and i hope someone does it for me if the worst ever happens to me.

 

[vbc]

I don't believe in ghosts.