ghost bikes question
 

so if a bike is spray painted white and locked to a bike post, that means someone has died there right? now what if the bike is spray painted another colour, like pink or light blue, is it still a death bike or is it something else (why else would someone spray paint a bike and leave it out locked in public?), cause i seen some of this in toronto and let me tell you it is confusing. what is the answer?

Is there a sign anywhere?

16 y/o kid died here.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/IMG_5838.jpg

That's the the idea. A white bike is a memorial.

If somebody painted a bike another color maybe it's some personal thing but not a recognized symbol.

I've never seen, nor heard of such a thing.

I'm not sure where it started. An urban area like Washington, DC I think. But very similar to what I see (and has recently started to be regulated in some places) to roadside memorials of flowers and crosses for motor vehicle fatalities.

Early edit: This site claims they started in St. Lous, MO and here's the Wiki.

Here's a link about the banning of roadside memorials.

i've seen those around Austin but never knew what they ment.Now i know.

I too have never heard of this before. How long do they stay before road maintenance removes them?

the answer is: it's art

http://www.blogto.com/arts/2011/06/n...e_art_project/

Currently in many areas of the US there is no money available to fund road maintenance so they can be there a while.

I think the ghost bike practice is fantastic. It makes road users think when they pass one. These shots are pulled from the web, they are about a ghost bike placed along one or my commute routes in my town in memory of a young man who was killed by a hit and run driver earlier this year.

RIP Zachary Parke

http://rad.smugmug.com/photos/i-xvBG...-xvBGGQX-M.jpg
http://rad.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZqVV...-ZqVV6vp-M.jpg

Back to Ghost Bikes: I haven't seen any around Metro Indy but am aware of the practice and agree that if it's not painted white, then it could mean anything or nothing.

We've placed two in the last year, one for a friend of mine. They were all white.

One of the owners of a local LBS along with a local cycling advocate were involved in supplying and painting the ghost bike and arranging the placement ceremonies. There was a huge turnout for both of the placement cerimonies. The first bike stayed in place for a couple of weeks, the other for more than a month. The city allowed them to stay in place for a time and contacted these guys to remove them after a while.

I had to delete the political comments or the thread would get moved to P&R.

Let's keep the topic as the OP intended.

I like these, Like Uban legend pointed out, it's an art project. It started with someone painting an abandoned bike outside the OCAD student gallery. There's one near my place at Dundas and Parliament.

These have been around a long time,I understand where this comes from and we as bike riders,need to keep people aware,but it's kind of creepy.

A friend of mine died in a airplane crash,should I paint his propeller and set it out....Just kind of creepy....I'm not sure I want to ride by his propeller everyday either.....I love him and miss him greatly but.....

What if everybody put some kind of memorial out for this or that.....After awhile it starts looking like all the roads to Vlad the Impaler's house.....I don't know,really kind of creepy....

Interestingly enough, in the Army, when an aviation accident occurs, we placed "Broken Rotors". Sometimes at the site, sometimes at the unit HQ.

It's supposed to be creepy. It's supposed to make you stop and think. That's the entire point. Just like the white crosses on the side of the road, denoting where a motorist died.

Thank You. My bad.

In South Dakota, we have these signs all over the state marking where people died in vehicle accidents. The signs are only placed with permission from the victim's family. When they come down due to construction or other reasons, they are only replaced upon the family's specific request.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1103/...888d19fe_m.jpg

In Arizona, road side memorials are allowed by law. There is a ghost bike west of town that, I believe, will never be taken down. It's attached to a highway sign and has been there for a couple of years.

Never heard of any other color but white for one though.

Orange one in here:

http://www.google.com/search?q=arizo...2&ved=0CB0QsAQ

I like this one:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=215306

This thread seems to be proof that people can respond to a thread based on the title alone.

Guilty as charged:roflmao:

The mangled ghost bikes are extra sad to me.

This was the first one I saw. It was at the corner of 5th and L Streets in downtown Sacramento. I don't think it was there very long, as it was removed not too long after I took this picture.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...kememorial.jpg

This one is still standing. It is in front of the CSUS campus in Sacramento.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/...7120248f74.jpg
ghost bike memorial by kittyz202, on Flickr

[QUOTE=10 Wheels;13103943]Orange one in here:

http://www.google.com/search?q=arizo...2&ved=0CB0QsAQ[QUOTE]

If you're referring to this one:

http://stylefrizz.com/img/dkny-bicycles.jpg

It was part of a failed Donna Karan marketing action.

http://stylefrizz.com/200802/dkny-pr...nsuccessfully/

Never heard of such.
I hate to say this because it is a no-win situation on my part .......but.....I really don't like these memorial things. Those white bikes can be a danger to someone else. Just from the standpoint of someone glancing at them can take their eye off the road and cause a danger to others. Also, if someone crashes into that spot the bike can be a danger from that standpoint also.
Also if we allow memorials to everyone that died, the roadways will be nothing but cluttered with this stuff. And in my mind what;s the difference between them and littering anyway? Not much.
If your relative/friend dies, remember them in your way and leave the roadways uncluttered. Please :)
Highway departments go out of their way to make roadways safe. Light posts that break away. Guard rails that curve down and away at the ends. Debris removed from roadways and yet they allow this stuff to be put on roadways. Makes no sense to me.
I'm going on record to say this stuff should not be allowed. Say what you wish but I think it's crazy.

I've got some old bikes, motorcycles and such that need to be trashed. Hey, I got it, instead of paying to throw them away(as it does in some states), I'll just paint it white and throw it on the side of the road. Problem solved.

Art? As in the city project above................. Trash is still trash no matter how you dress it up.

My... you really do have a chip on your shoulder.

I'm not going to get into a screaming match with you, but I think you are completely wrong.

And that second to last paragraph is rather a cheap shot.

Don't worry about him the guy's a loser:

I am sorry for you that you feel that way.