community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Ghost Bike Pittsburgh
by Concerned Cyclist
Tuesday, May. 25, 2004 at 12:59 PM
The Ghost Bike Pittsburgh project has begun.
ghostbike.jpg, image/jpeg, 640x480
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ghost Bikes Memorialize Bicyclists Struck by Motor Vehicles
Pittsburgh, PA
May25, 2004
Contact: ghostbikepgh@yahoo.com
Ghost bikes, bright white bicycles with placards declaring “cyclist struck here,” are appearing around Pittsburgh as roadside memorials to cyclists struck by motor vehicles.
The people behind this project call themselves Ghost Bike Pittsburgh. GBP is a group of concerned bicycle commuters who have seen lives destroyed by the lack of concern by city government and automobile drivers in general. They see Pittsburgh as a city with an uninviting transportation infrastructure, a government reluctant to accommodate their needs, and a set of laws that leans toward the rights of motorists and ignores unprotected bicyclists.
Jim Rihn was tragically struck and killed on June 28, 2002 along Allegheny River Boulevard by a woman who was distracted by the temperature controls in her car. The woman at fault was not given a citation. Mr. Rihn left behind a wife and family who have since run into numerous bureaucratic difficulties having a memorial installed.
Bicycling remains a viable form of transportation that can reduce roadway congestion, air pollution, noise, parking needs, energy use, and above all, to provide more daily physical exercise for everyone.
Pittsburgh, ranked fifth from the worst among American cities for the amount of airborne solids (which come from fossil fuel emissions such as car and diesel exhausts) by the American Lung Association, can benefit from embracing cycling as a viable and sustainable form of transportation.
Ghost Bike Pittsburgh’s goal in installing the ghost bikes is to help Pittsburgh become a city where cyclists and motorists can coexist, to the benefit of both groups.
More information and high-quality digital photos are available upon request.
Picture
by .
Tuesday, May. 25, 2004 at 1:49 PM
.
Up the bikes
by Justin
Wednesday, May. 26, 2004 at 6:54 AM
hiatus11@hotmail.com
dscn0300.jpg, image/jpeg, 2272x1704
I took a photo of the ghost bike in front of the BBT - it is suppose to appear in Pulp with a small blurb about the project. Hope the exposure helps a bit.
Thank You
by s.donahue
Wednesday, May. 26, 2004 at 7:19 AM
Thank you. This is excellent.
Boss Media coverage of Ghostbikes
by T.J. Hicks
Thursday, May. 27, 2004 at 5:35 AM
Pretty well written, all things considered.
postgazette.com/pg/04148/322514.stm
Isn't that counterproductive?
by Ilikesbikes
Thursday, May. 27, 2004 at 12:00 PM
Aren't you associating bikes with death? Don't we want to people to ride bikes? Are you certain that a good way to advertise something is to tell people it will kill them?
Pittsburgh bikes
by I hate Pittsburgh
Thursday, May. 27, 2004 at 3:38 PM
Pittsburgh is the worst city to live in, especially if you want to bike to work or school. I live in the South Hills, but work on the North Shore. It's actually only a few miles, but I can't bike or walk because of the goddamn mountains and the rivers.
No
by Yakov Chodosh
Thursday, May. 27, 2004 at 4:37 PM
Have you ever been to Detroit, Houston, Cleveland, Columbus, Kansas City, Kabul, Hebron...
trust me Pittsburgh is not the worst city to live in, OR the worst city to bike in
frustrated pedestrian
by fp
Friday, May. 28, 2004 at 6:26 AM
I commute on foot from my home on the South Side to my job downtown. And I am really tired of close calls with people biking in the Armstrong Tunnel, and the 10th street bridge. Don't you realize that I can't HEAR a bike coming up behind me in either place? I am also sick of people nearly running me down on Carson street, ignoring traffic signals and jumping unexpectedly on the sidewalk when traffic slows. Now, I am a big proponent of biking. But don't people see that when you bike like an asshole around pedestrians, you're just like the assholes in cars terrorizing cyclists? I understand that you don't want to be mowed down by cars, but you don't HAVE to bike through the Armstrong Tunnel, you can go around it. As for bridges, I sympathize. I look forward to the glorious day some idiot gov't flunky realizes that one of the sidewalks on the Smithfield St or 10th St bridge should be reserved for bike traffic only. But until that day, why risk slamming into me and tossing both of us into the Mon? If it's not safe to bike on the street, it's prob not safe to bike on the sidewalk there, either. So do what I do - get off your f*ing bike and walk the measly two blocks across.
Hope this works!
by Smc
Friday, May. 28, 2004 at 7:56 AM
This is great. I hope it gets some of the police/politican's eyes. I'd like to bike in from North Hills, but you'd have to have a death wish to come down McKnight, 279 or even old 19. How about a protected bike lane in the HOV?
.
by .
Friday, May. 28, 2004 at 11:22 AM
Yeah, just like how I don't HAVE to ride my bike on any of the precious places that you walk, you don't HAVE to walk where I ride. If you'd like to apply that kind of logic to the situation, it had best go both ways.
You know, I'm tired of pedestrians walking out in front of me without looking. Yelling at me to get a car. Even the one in a million that makes threatening gestures or movements towards me as if ready to attack. Nonehtless, I don't demonize all pedestrians or undermine their efforts for safer paths. Please extend the same respect...
..
by .
Tuesday, Jun. 01, 2004 at 6:39 AM
people who ride bikes on the sidewalk are idiots. its a very dangerous thing to do.
ghost bike picture
by gwen
Tuesday, Jun. 01, 2004 at 8:30 AM
I found this bike at Josephine and 18th Street at night, and thought it was just far too moody to not get a few pics of.
I'm glad to see more awareness brought to the bike accidents -- a good friend of mine had both of his legs broken downtown last month when a car making an illegal left turn ran right into him on his bicycle.
On point & socially responsible
by eddy merckx
Friday, Jul. 30, 2004 at 6:49 PM
Visual Memorials to fallen cyclists is a powerful statement
to both cyclists and motorists. I cycle the streets of Pittsburgh I am often confronted by motorist who believe they own the streets. I use the PENNSYLVANIA BICYCLE DRIVER'S MANUAL as my riding bible. The guide works and should be a part of the Pennsylvania Autos Drivers Manual.
Motorist do not respect cyclists because many are ignorant to cycling laws that are "on the books". Being correct in road riding position does not guarantee safety. Many times it is necessary to alter the rules... and not be dead right.
Eddy Merckx
Awesome idea
by Alan
Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2005 at 2:46 PM
Just saw one a couple weeks ago at the corner of Verona Road and Graham Blvd. and became very curious. As a cyclist, Pittsburgh is very unfriendly for cyclists. Keep up the great work. Is this site going to be updated with new pictures?
.
by .
Thursday, Apr. 07, 2005 at 6:43 AM
Word on the street is that another round of Ghost Bikes is being prepared for deployment...
From Pittsburgh
by Victor Ruiz
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005 at 6:29 PM
viridianno@hotmail.com
A couple of months ago I was driving (my car) and suddenly I saw a guy falling down with his bike in the intersection in front of me, he was struck by a car and I parked near to see if this guy was ok. I got my digital camera to make a shoot of the car that hit the bike and leave the place. At my home later I saw the pictures in my PC and noticed that the bike driver was a neighbor two homes away from me. I got the pictures to this guy who was thankful because the insurance could have a testimony of his accident by my pictures. Last week I saw a bike white painted, chained to a pole and with the sign Cyclist struck here…. I did a shoot of and posted in a photo forum here is the link http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/view?id=1661060
www.photosig.com/go/photos/view?id=1661060
Ghost Bike Target
by George K.
Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005 at 5:40 AM
dodgerambler@comcast.net
I can't wait to see one of these ghost bikes and beat it with a bat, take a shit on it, and throw it into the river.
This is littering, plain and simple.
Out of the vehicle, scumbag
by kramer's neighbor
Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005 at 7:59 AM
Kramer, you'd have to get your fat ass out of the suburbs, and then out of your car to deface a ghostbike. The odds of those things happening are not good.
surprise
by George K.
Saturday, Jan. 07, 2006 at 4:39 AM
dodgerambler@comcast.net
You would be surprised at where I show up.
These ghost bikes are funnier than those stupid roadside memorials when some poor fuck dies.
Kramer's a whack
by Mike A.
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2007 at 4:07 PM
What is wrong with you Kramer? You claim that the bikes are litter yet you want to crap on the ground (litter) and throw one in the river (more litter). You are an idiot.
Is there a correst way to go about it?
by Brendon
Monday, Jul. 14, 2008 at 4:28 PM
brawlings@gmail.com
I was in an accident in Oakland in April and I am considering putting a ghost bike where I was hit. My bike is totally mangled, the frame bent in half and the front wheel wrapped like a taco around the frame, so I thought it would be effective to use my old mangled bike instead of a normal looking one. The homocide detectives also came to the scene and spraypainted the location of my body, the bike, and the car because they though it was going to be fatal, so I think putting the mangled bike next to the scene (where the spraypaint still looks as if it were sprayed yesterday) would be very effective. Has anyone seen people who use the mangled bike from the accident, or is it always just old junkers that are put up? Also I was wondering if there is any format that is usually followed in Pittsburgh for the plaque, in terms of wording and coloring.
Has anyone done something related to this???
by Paul C.
Thursday, Jul. 17, 2008 at 12:39 PM
tgripper@hotmail.com 412-222-2222
Reward offered in fatal bicycle hit and run
Thursday, April 13, 2006
By Ervin Dyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The sisters of Sean Pearce offered a $10,000 reward today for the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver who struck their brother as he rode his bicycle on Route 119 in Indiana County nine months ago.
In July 2005, Mr. Pearce, 29, of Blairsville, was struck near Mile Hill along Route 119 in Burrell. He died of multiple injuries. Police say he was hit by a sport-utility vehicle or light truck.
Today, Heather Pearce-Kunkle said police remain open to the possibility that it was another type of vehicle that killed Mr. Pearce.
The family said police have no firm description of the car or even what direction it was traveling in, so they remain open to hearing information.
Blairsville attorney Matt Kovacik has set up a separate hot-line, 724-388-8441, where the public can share information anonymously.
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