A ghost bike (also referred to as a ghostcycle or WhiteCycle) is a bicycleroadside memorial, placed where a cyclist has been killed or severely injured, usually by the driver of a motor vehicle.[1] These bicycles are painted entirely white and can often be seen with signs, flowers, or personal mementos from the families of the lost lives. They appear in different cities around the country and the world. Created by the local communities and volunteers in order to honor those that have been lost.[2]
Ghost bikes are typically put up once the sun has set often done is a solemn ceremony by fellow cyclists as a way to honor the life that has been lost. Though, the installation of these bicycles is not started until the approval of the family of the fallen is given as a way to respect both them and their lost loved one.[3]
Apart from being a memorial, it is usually intended as a reminder to passing motorists to share the road. Ghost bikes are usually junk bicycles painted white, sometimes with a placard attached, and locked to a suitable object close to the scene of the accident. These ghost bikes are typically considered to be old or previously discarded bicycles that have certain parts removed to make it less likely to be stolen, and then completely painted white from the wheels to the handlebars. They are usually places near the scene of the accident either alone or with a placard mentioning the lost life.[4]
Though, outside of this, those that make these ghost bikes do not only want people to see these things as memorials but as a form of art. They want their creations not to be seen an everyday junk project but as something beautiful and meaningful.[5]
Ghost bike memorials, marked by their immobility and stark white paint, create sites that not only commemorate loss but also invite diverse performances and connections to unfold. Intentional performances aimed at shaping others' perceptions differ from the incidental ones that arise spontaneously, yet the two can concurrently memorialize the past as well as celebrate the interconnectedness of the community.[6] These bicycles are created white and have the vital parts taken off in order to remove the possibility of the bicycle being stolen or removed from the area.[7]
History
Ghost bike in Berlin, 2009
The idea of painting bikes white originated in Amsterdam in the 1960s as part of an anarchist project and tactical urbanism initiative called the White Bicycle Plan to liberate two-wheel transport—white bikes were free, help yourself and then leave it for someone else.[8]
The ghost bike idea in the United States may have originated with a project by San Francisco artist Jo Slota, begun in April 2002. This was a purely artistic endeavor.[9] Slota was intrigued by the abandoned bicycles that he found around the city, locked up but stripped of useful parts. He began painting them white, and posted photographs on his website, ghostbike.net.[10]
A ghost bike memorial project was started in St. Louis, Missouri, in October 2003.[11] 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 reading "Cyclist Struck Here". Noticing the effect that this had on motorists in the area, Van Der Tuin 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.[12] They used damaged bikes, in some cases deliberately damaged to create the desired mangled effect.[13]
Ghost bike sign in New York City, 2013
Similar projects began in Pittsburgh in 2004,[14]New York City in 2005,[15]Seattle in 2005,[16]Albuquerque in 2010,[17] and Toronto in 2006.[18] In August 2005, nearly 40 ghost bikes were placed throughout Seattle to draw awareness to locations of crashes, near-misses, and poor road conditions.[16] A ghost bike in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C., commemorating a rider killed by a garbage truck in 2008, remained for a full year. When it was removed by city employees, friends of the rider replaced it with 22 ghost bikes, one on every lamppost.[19] London Ghostcycle was active in 2005 and 2006.[20] There have been similar projects in dozens of other cities worldwide. A bike memorial project[21] was started in Durham, North Carolina, in 2013 to commemorate the death of two prominent cyclist[22] and bicycle safety advocates.[23]
In late 2013 and early 2014, the Houston Ghost Bike Group has placed 47 ghost bikes to raise awareness during an especially deadly string of traffic violence involving automobiles taking place in Houston, many of them hit and run. Later in 2014 they were working on 13 more bikes to bring the list of deaths in recent years up to date.[24][25]
As of 2017 there were over 630 ghost bikes that have appeared in over 210 locations throughout the world.[26] No single entity governs the installation of all ghost bikes, and they are sometimes removed by those who dislike the practice.[27]
Concepts
Having a need for ghost bikes can be reduced by drivers and cyclists alike understanding a few concepts for cyclist safety. However, not every state or country in the world follow these few concepts.
1. Understand that the road has rules that everyone must follow whether being a motorist or cyclist. Riding a bicycle on a sidewalk is illegal. It is illegal to go against the traffic flow of the street.
2. Infrastructure needs to be improved in order to provide ample space for bike lanes.
3. Respect needs to shared and given to everyone when on the road.
4. Highlights problem locations based on multiple incidents that have occurred; highlights the need for increased vigilance[28]
These ghost bikes are memorials that speak to the government and implore them to make these certain changes in order to avoid more situations that end in fatal accidents.[29]
The Other Side
While ghost bikes are put in place to memorials and reminders, there are people out there who do not agree with them or their messaging. There are groups of people who deem this memorials as inappropriate and not belonging of beside the road because it makes it more difficult to maintain the road. However, due to the fact that these bicycles are not obstructing the road nor the visibility of any street sign, the bicycles are not usually removed.[30]
Gallery
Ghost bike or "Bicianimita" in Santiago, Chile, with a traditional small house for the soul, commemorating Arturo Aguilera, killed 2012
Ghost bike in Provo, Utah, USA, commemorating Douglas Crow, killed February 2013
↑ Costantini, Nicole M. (2019). "Bikes and bodies: ghost bike memorials as performances of mourning, warning, and protest". Text and Performance Quarterly. 39 (1): 22–36. doi:10.1080/10462937.2019.1576919.
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