Digital_Cowboy

How long should a Ghost Bike remain at the scene of an accident?

Casrider

according to wikipedia
I've been wondering why they're now using bikes that aren't damaged? I think it would be a hell of a lot more effective if the bike was deliberately damaged. Why *****-foot around the issue?
Yes, it's a bit morbid and grisly to use a bike that looks like it might have been run over but it gets straight to the point - a cyclist was killed because of a careless automobile driver.

cudak888 

Not to mention that it leaves perfectly repairable bicycles available for the co-ops, and it puts wrecked bikes to use, whereas they'd end up in a dump otherwise.

-Kurt

StrangeWill

Why not used the actual bike in the accident?

Speedo

I think that ghost bikes are just specialized forms of descansos, the roadside memorials that are becoming increasingly common. They have an educational function, and they have a function in the grieving process. Descansos, when new, can be quite striking. As they age, they tend to look like piles of roadside garbage. I think that both descansos and ghost bikes have a "sell by" date. I voted a year, which really means a vague longish time. But they shouldn't be permanent.

Speedo

hotbike

Sort of a ghost bike, I put a Sugino alloy crankset on a telephone pole. I put it up with three-inch drywall spikes, and a cordless drill. The spikes went thru the holes in the 8mm screws that hold the chainrings together.
It only stayed up for ten years! The girl who got hit is still dead.

It should stay up permanently.

ianjk

not always easy for to aquire.

FlatMaster

It should last as long as the person is within living memory. This memorial day, they read the names of fallen police officers back to 1900 or so. I didn't really see the point in that.

uke

^ Got to keep people worshiping authority.

xenologer

Until they get stolen.

fordmanvt

weld it all up so it would be too much trouble.

Clarks

I never knew they were called descansos. Some of the roads in latin America are wall-to-wall descansos. They do look pretty ratty when they get old. Maybe they should be allowed to remain as long as the family maintains them in a good condition. I get a chill when I see those bikes or the descansos but to be honest with you, I don't think many people really even notice them they're so common.

StrangeWill

scrap sells well.

hotbike

In the case of the chainring, I put it up across the street from the High School, where the girl and the driver that hit her both were in the same homeroom class.
It stayed up for ten years, was difficult to remove on account I stripped the screw heads on purpose. They resorted to using a front-end loader to pry it loose.

uke

Whatever happened in the case? Was the driver ever charged? Does the family still live there? Do people still remember her?

balindamood

If you had a box for "until the Muni takes it down", I would have checked it.

Digital_Cowboy

The problem with that is the very real possibility of a "destruction of public or private property charge."

StrangeWill

Permanent seems to be a little much, unless we like having trash all around.

Dahon.Steve

I voted it should stay permanent.

There's nothing wrong with having a permanent ghost bike. Quite frankly, if it's given a fresh coat of white paint each year and flowers every month, it looks quite beautiful.

The Ghost bike in my opinion is the ONLY tool we have to educate the motorist on the importance of sharing the road.

SeizeTech

I voted permanently, knowing that it is likely to be taken down in 10, 20, 30 years. All of which are significantly longer than 1 year.

Commando303

In some areas, "always" might lead to ghost-bikes existing almost all over the place, sometimes one being stacked atop another. This might sound appealing "ideologically" ("Yeah, people need to get the message"), but, practically, it's a terrible, trashy nuisance. I think the question of "how long" has to be answered by individual locales.

Digital_Cowboy

As at least one other person has noted, there are plenty of cases of multiple crosses in one area. And I am sure that not all of them come from the same accident.

StrangeWill

I've never seen them permanent though.

Sailorman13

I'd say at least a year. But like someone else said, it should vary by locale. Too many and it not only starts looking trashy, people quit paying attention.