Fallen cyclist memorials reappear in San Francisco
Ghost bikes are here to stay, for now.
Our streets hold many stories about people on bicycles who never made it to work or home to their loved ones. They died in places we pass everyday. But how would we know?
Like the roadside memorial crosses that remind us of people who have died in car crashes, ghost bikes are a way to honor the memories of people on bikes who have been killed on the streets.
For Julie Mitchell— whose 21-year-old son Dylan was killed by a garbage truck driver four years ago this week on 16th Street and South Van Ness Avenue — making the ghost bike was a healing labor of love for her family.
“It’s the one way I can memorialize my son and I want those ghost bikes out there, because I feel like it makes an impact on people driving by, and riding by,” said Mitchell. “It’s more than just a memorial.”
Dylan’s ghost bike is accompanied by a National Street Service listening post — part of a moving series called “The Street Speaks.” Passersby can call and listen to Julie talk about her son and the fatal collision on May 23, 2013.
The ghost bike the Mitchells put up last year was removed, which upset the family. “It was like throwing our son in the garbage,” said Mitchell.
Now, thanks to the work of bike advocate Devon Warner, who sits on the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Board of Supervisors last year temporarily lifted a moratorium on ghost bikes and will allow them to stay up until a permanent policy is worked out.
“Every ‘Ghost Bike’ serves as a reminder to the entire community that safety is not to be taken for granted, that we all have a duty to participate in safety regardless of our choice of means of transportation, and that the consequences of crashes are sometimes the tragic loss of life,” the resolution stated.
“It’s a moratorium that I want to make permanent,” Supervisor Norman Yee told those who took part in last week’s Ride of Silence.
But he said city departments haven’t gotten together yet to consider a permanent policy, and he’s encouraging people who support the memorials to contact the Department of Public Works to request it gets them moving.
“I need your pressure to make sure it actually happens,” he said.
Rachel Gordon, a spokesperson for Public Works, said the department has just started working on the policy and had nothing new to report.
It’s been a challenge to keep the bikes up, even though there’s now a moratorium on removing them. Two have been stolen, and some were removed by Public Works crews who were unaware of the new policy, said Antony Trezos, who has been collecting most of the junk bikes, stripping them, and painting them white for memorials. The bikes have the bare minimum: frames, rims, saddles and handlebars.
“They’re reminders to reflect that life is a very fragile thing, and that these are very real people that this happened to,” said Trezos. “They’re visual markers for both drivers and cyclists and the whole community.”
Hans and Syliva Berg had never seen or heard of ghost bikes before, until they came across a memorial on Octavia Boulevard and Market Street.
The couple, visiting from Holland, was “pretty curious” so they stopped to observe and read the tribute to Renata Gonzalez, killed in 2008 along with her dog.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Hans Berg. “I think they should support it, and there should be more.”
In San Francisco, an average of two to four people are killed every year while riding their bicycle. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) says there are an average of more than 500 crashes involving bike riders every year — presumably an underestimation, as many go unreported.
So far, Warner, Trezos and Jeff Jones — whose partner Charles Vinson was killed on his bicycle by a driver in 2015 at 14th and Folsom — have put up nine ghost bikes, and they plan to put up more over the next year.
“I have met a lot of parents and friends of the dead and I find that the most interesting part of all this,” said Warner. “I imagine all the time what the moms and dads must be going through when their strong young child is destroyed by a bus, big rig or garbage truck.”
And that is why Warner got involved in organizing the Ride of Silence. She said it has enriched her life and “brought the community together a bit.”
After Vinson died, Jones said he couldn’t bear to go anywhere near 14th and Folsom. It was too much of a haunting reminder of what happened. But then he visited the intersection with the Ride of Silence.
“It was only then that I saw someone had installed a ghost bike for Charles. That symbol meant so much to me. To this day, I still don’t know who put it there, but I am eternally grateful. And I was crushed a couple of months later when suddenly his ghost bike was gone,” Jones told Human Streets in an email.
This year, Jones says, he and Warner and Trezos have been transforming junk bikes into ghost bikes and installing them at sites where bicyclists have been killed all over the city.
“It’s a lot of effort (and some expense for paint & locks & signage), but if it comforts any of the victims’ loved ones, it’s worth it to me. It’s definitely part of my ongoing grieving process — I see every ghost bike as a continuum of a memorial to Charles,” Jones said.
“There are about 20 more sites in SF that still need a ghost bike, and I hope we can have one for every victim. On the street, ghost bikes are a powerful message.”
The Ride of Silence SF is in need of donations, old U-locks and junk bikes. Those interested in donating should contact Antony Trezos at aitb1@yahoo.com.
