June 30, 2013

Tempe, Arizona ousts "ghost bike" memorials.

"We all expected that they’d basically have to come down someday... We would like them to be permanent, but we know that’s not actually realistic. We just wanted to make sure that it was done respectfully and with the cooperation of the families," said bicycle advocate Ryan Guzy.
Floyd Reeser, a director at Bike Saviours and builder of both ghost bikes, said he was disappointed initially to hear that the memorials were being taken down and said they “should have been welded to the street” as a reminder of bike safety. However, after reading about how most of the ghost bikes are taken down, he echoed Guzy’s thoughts.

“To have one stay up for even a week would be a miracle in most places,” Reeser said.

26 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Spray painting a piece-of-crap bicycle must be a lot cheaper than crafting a lifesized, fiberglass statue of the splayed, mangled remains of the cyclist.

madAsHell said...

aaahhh.....who is paying for this??

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Its as a teachable moment about how not to characterize a teachable moment as a ghost.

Ghosts scare the children.

rhhardin said...

I have ghost bicycles saved for parts.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Ghost bicycle riders in the sky.

Beldar said...

Yesterday I biked past one in Montgomery County, Texas, that my fellow cyclists told me had been there as long as they could recall — and the route we were on was one they've ridden for many years.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There must be a name for those cyclists who get all dressed up in their lycra outfits, with the fancy aerodynamic helmets, and they've got the super expensive carbon fiber road bikes, and then they go to the park and go zooming around on the pedestrian paths where people are walking their dogs, and elderly people are trying to work their artificial hips, and young parents are strolling with their little kids trying to enjoy a pleasant Sunday morning.

Ah yes, that's it: fucking assholes.

jacksonjay said...

My daughter's friend and mentor was killed by one of these assholes in Dallas a couple of years ago! She was jogging and the cyclist was flying!

edutcher said...

Well, anything that makes people stop and think has some value, one would imagine...

Mitchell the Bat said...

There must be a name for those cyclists who get all dressed up in their lycra outfits, with the fancy aerodynamic helmets, and they've got the super expensive carbon fiber road bikes, and then they go to the park and go zooming around on the pedestrian paths where people are walking their dogs, and elderly people are trying to work their artificial hips, and young parents are strolling with their little kids trying to enjoy a pleasant Sunday morning.

Ah yes, that's it: fucking assholes.


I was thinking Lurch.

Aridog said...

Bah. Link doesn't work...asks [demands?] a "sign in"....and says I don't have "cookies" enabled. My "sign in" allotment is full for this century....and "cookies" are enabled on this PC...what I won't do is place their shitty "cookie" [turdlet] in my "ignore when running CCleaner" folder. Sorry.

Bite me "azcentral dot com"

Kelly said...

I'm always perfectly amazed at the bicyclists around here. We have plenty of quiet county roads just a stones throw away, miles of quiet sub divisions and mile upon miles of walking/biking trails, yet bicyclists in their fancy gear insist on clogging narrow, busy roads that have no bike lane.

Anonymous said...

I Saw a Bicyclist Go Ass-Over-Tea-Kettle yesterday: He was Flying down the Street along a Line of Parked Cars when a Driver's Door opened Right in Front of Him. No Helmet, But was Able To Ride Away.

ErnieG said...

Try this link:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/20130614tempe-ghost-bike-memorials-moving-not-vanishing.html

Also, try googling on ghost bikes in the image mode. There are hundreds.

Fernandinande said...

Aridog said: "Bah. Link doesn't work...asks [demands?] a "sign in"...."

This almost always works to avoid sign-ins, etc: enter part of some phrase and "azcentral", e.g.
google ["We all expected that they’d basically have to come down someday" azcentral]
and click the link - viola and violin, no login or cookie nonsense.

Original Mike said...

"Cookies must be enabled to view articles on azcentral.com"

Well, then. Screw azcentral.

Original Mike said...

I browse in "InPrivate" mode. It's amazing the ads that don't follow me around anymore.

David-2 said...

There have been a few of those "ghost bikes" in Seattle; I saw my first one here.

Which is where you'd expect idiot arrogant bicyclists to be killed (or seriously injured): Right at the bottom of a very long hill where they fly by the traffic light and zoom into the Y-merge. (They're coming down Harvard Ave E - that is going "up" on the map.)

I drive this daily and see different riders doing it every single day.

It's sad, of course, when a cyclist gets killed - but don't imagine it is always 100% the driver of the motor vehicle's fault. The percentage varies, and in a location like this the cyclist probably should get the bulk of the blame.

Richard Dolan said...

In NYC, the bicyclists have a sense of being entitled to ignore traffic signals, etc. By reason of their righteous virtue, they own the road, and often the sidewalk too. Pedestrians have more to fear from them than cars, trucks or taxis. It's especially difficult on the walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge -- a narrow path, maybe 8' at its widest up to and between the two towers, divided between pedestrians and bikers. There are always throngs of tourists on the bridge, most of them clueless as they snap pictures. A significant proportion of the cyclists are bike-nazis, unwilling to slow down, preferring instead to yell at pedestrians to get out of the way. Near collisions are common; last week, in my walk home, I saw a lady who wasn't so lucky. She was being put on a stretcher, as the cyclist who hit her and then crashed was getting treated himself.

Richard Dolan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

Bike-Nazis.

I hate those guys.

David-2 said...

[meta-comment:]

Here on Althouse, we disagree on most subjects: Obama, economy, racism, public employee unions, Voter ID, etc.

But it is nice that there is one thing we do all agree on:

Bike-Nazis are ubiquitous, and they suck!

Aridog said...

ErnieG .... thanks, your link worked, however it did warn me:

Enjoy a limited number of free articles over the next 30 days.

Can't say I have ever noticed any ghost bikes, but I'm unlikely to watch for them if they're chained up. I'm watching for pedestrians and the other drivers, whom I know for certain are all trying to kill me on any given day.

Aridog said...

Richard dolan said ...

A significant proportion of the cyclists are bike-nazis, unwilling to slow down, preferring instead to yell at pedestrians to get out of the way.

If I planning to walk anywhere that I am competing with bicycle riders, watch out for me...I'm the guy with 18 inch pieces of 5/16th inch re-bar in his hands...to jam in your spokes as you try to fly by.

Now if I'm in my truck, I weigh 4000# and the bikey guy doesn't...I win.

Aridog said...

Every time we have one of these bike threads I say the same thing. Good grief, everything else is taxed today...why don't bicycles require licensing and registration the same as motor cycles and cars, trucks, etc.?

I ask because where I live it was once the law, but no more. I was one very proud 6 year old when my dad took me to get my first bicycle tag for my first street worthy bicycle.

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