“Ghost” bikes originated in Amsterdam during the 1960s. Anarchists painted bicycles white and left them on the streets for people to use.
Around the turn of this century, artists began to make “ghost” bikes from abandoned bikes, some of which were stripped of their parts. They were purely artistic expressions until October 2003, when Patrick Van Der Tuin placed a white-painted bike and a sign reading “Cyclist Struck Here” on a St. Louis street.
Within a couple of years, “ghost” bike monuments began to appear on streets in New York and other American cities. Soon afterwards, they started to show up in other parts of the world.
Nearly all of those monuments have been placed on or near the sites where cyclists were struck by motorized vehicles. Members of the Norwich Cycling Campaign decided that members of their English city’s council need a daily reminder of the six cyclists who have been killed on city streets this year. So, Campaign placed six “ghost” bikes outside the Council’s offices.
“Each of the white bikes symbolizes a failure to keep people safe on our roads,” declared Campaign chair Peter Silburn. He added, “These deaths are not accidents, they are the result of policies that prioritize the convenience of car drivers over people’s safety.”
The Campaign wants the city to install more cycle lanes, lower speeds on urban roads and fewer cars. I hope the “ghost” bike installation helps to deliver the message—and results.
