Walking down the street a few months back, I noticed a visibly mangled bicycle with white-washed and twisted tires and frame, chained to a lamppost with the sign, "Ghostcycle.org #39" hanging on it. Curious, I went to GhostCycle.org and found it is a "bike accident awareness" organization. GhostCycle is a Seattle project that could be mimicked in any city. The group solicits stories online from bicyclists who have had accidents revolving around interactions with cars on Seattle streets, primarily. The site tells the story of a bicyclist's accident, and then a memorial broken bike is placed on the spot of the accident. The bikes are painted an eerie white, and the tires are contorted and completely painted white, too, which really works well for a "ghostly" effect.
The GhostCycle.org site lists approximately 100 locations of GhostCycles in the Seattle and surrounding areas. Their stated mission is to "raise awareness for everyone regarding bicyclists on the streets of Seattle. Our city is one of the most bike-friendly cities in North America, but things can always improve. We began to use this website to collect data from cyclists in the Seattle-area who have been involved in an accident while bicycling. As the information began pouring in, patterns arose and we were able to identify and isolate trouble spots all over Seattle. On August 1, "ghostcycles" were placed in each of those trouble locations to make people start asking questions and direct them to our website where all of the information we collected is readily available." Their site continues, "It's about all cyclists in Seattle, and they are speaking for us through the reports they submitted. It's their information, experiences, and (unfortunately) their accidents that reveal the areas in need of improvement in Seattle. This project would not have been possible without their help, and we thank them all. Please explore the site and read their stories. Ultimately we hope that through information and education people will have a better understanding of the changes necessary to make our streets safer for everyone."
Their website has an extensive list of bike-friendly links. The usual groups such as Critical Mass, Bikes Not Bombs, CarBusters Mag, etc., make a showing, but other interesting links are displayed as well. Some of the interesting links included on their site are Asphalt Nation, Autoholics Anonymous, Divorce Your Car, Shift to Bikes, Times Up!, Different Spokes ( a gay/lesbian bicycling club), and the Evergreen Tandem Club. They even list a "bicycle attorney" in Portland, Or.
GhostCycle.org says it has been collecting data "on car-related bicycle accidents in Seattle since May 26, 2005. Cyclists all across our city have submitted 103 incidents where they have been struck by a moving vehicle." The statistics they have come up with from the tracking of these incidents show that 98% of the respondents were obeying the law when the accident occurred, that 75% of the accidents involved a vehicle, and that 25% of the accidents came from problems with the infrastructure. They also discovered that 1 in 5 of the accidents involving two vehicles were hit and runs, and that 74% of the accidents involved physical damage to the bicyclist and 35% of these accidents also damaged the bikes involved. They also found that only 34% of these situations were reported to the authorities. GhostCycle.org also reports that in 92% of these incidents the bicyclists were wearing helmets, and in 90% of the accidents at night, the bicyclists were using lights.
As the site says, the goal of GhostCycle.org is to get people to realize we must share the roads; otherwise it is very dangerous. They are working to raise DRIVER awareness on the streets. They are trying to educate people to notice who is on the road around them as they drive, primarily. By highlighting statistics, stories, and patterns within the Seattle area pertaining to vehicle traffic and bicycle accidents, GhostCycle.org reminds drivers that "the roads they drive on do not belong to them alone, but that these spaces must be shared with the cyclists and pedestrians around them." I encourage all cities without a GhostCycle team to start one today!
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.
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