July 9, 2008
WABA to Host 'Ghost Bike' Ceremony for Alice Swanson
The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has just announced a press conference for this evening on the death of bicyclist Alice Swanson. Swanson was killed by a garbage truck just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
Tonight at 6:30 p.m., the cyclist association will install a "ghost bike" at the intersection of Connecticut Ave and Q R Street NW, near the spot where 22-year-old Swanson died, in an effort to highlight the need for better bicycle safety and driver education efforts in the D.C. region. WABA describes a "ghost bike" thusly:
Ghost bikes are somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street. A bicycle which has been painted white will be locked to a street sign near the crash site to serve as a reminder of the tragedy and as a quiet statement in support of cyclists' right to safe travel. Cyclists and others who attend the ceremony are encouraged to bring bike lights and flowers.You can read more about ghost bikes in other cities at ghostbike.org. The organization hopes this "ghost bike" will send a message to the Metropolitan Police Department to conduct a full investigation into Swanson's death.
“All too often drivers are let off the hook when their negligence leads to serious injury or death of a cyclist or pedestrian,” said Eric Gilliland, WABA’s executive director. “’I didn’t see them’ is too often accepted as an excuse that results in a small fine or no punishment at all. While we cannot comment on the particulars of this case, we expect the Metropolitan Police Department to conduct a thorough examination of this crash and hold the driver fully responsible if he was at fault.”
UPDATE: To clarify, the "ghost bike" installation this evening will be happening at the intersection of Connecticut Ave. and Q Street NW, although Swanson died at 20th and 20th and R, right next to Connecticut Ave.
UPDATE II: WABA's original press release contained a typo. The "ghost bike" will be at 20th and R, and we've heard it may already be there in advance of the 6:30 p.m. ceremony.
Photo courtesy ghostbike.org
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I don't know about this--it seems kind of creepy.
Reminds me of those mini-shrines one finds in Europe at the sides of road where cars drove off--just makes one think of death.
Query whether the memory of Miss Swanson would be better served by using the time, energy, and money that will go into this 'shrine' instead to do something concrete, that will improve biker safety.
I'm not a biker in DC (was in other, much larger, yet safer cities), so I am not sure what is needed, between bike lanes, promotion of helmet-wearning, fines for bad drivers (or bikers), driver's education, bike education in the schools, etc.
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i feel like real action might be better too, but hopefully this ghost bike will lead to that.
of course, this being DC, and all things being equal, that bike will be stolen within a day or two.
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It's exactly like the highway memorials. We have them here too - and every time I see one I slow down, don't you?
The best safety measure possible is anything that reminds drivers to look out for bikes. I think "creepy" is exactly appropriate.
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Connecticut and R, no?
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not to take attention away from the tragedy itself, but wasn't the young lady killed at 20th and R?
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I second that. It IS creepy having a ghost bike in an otherwise (mostly) cheerful neighborhood, but I suppose if that's what it takes to get people to make changes, then I'm all for it.
Question is: will the city let this bike stay on this post for long? Or will they deem it to be some kind of hazard and remove it?
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If they remove the bike because it's a hazard then what are all those other parts of bikes still locked to poles around the city? Decoration?
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Connecticut, 20, and R are sort of a trisection.
I think the WABA guy is kinda ignoring the reality that bicyclists violate traffic laws just as much as motor vehicle drivers do.
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Connecticut, 20, and R are sort of a trisection.
right, but Q isn't in there.
it's clearly just a typo.
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Maybe they do loganmo, but not in this tragic case.
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@loganmo:
I don't think he's ignoring anything. Yes, bicyclists violate traffic laws. I've done it, and I confess on one or two occassions, I've had to sheepishly yell "Sorry!" back at a car.
But that's not what a visibility event is about.
As a cyclist and a driver, I know, for example, that when I turn from the Key Bridge onto the Whitehurst Freeway in my car, there is a really good chance of bicyclists cross my path. I know to look for them, because I'm aware of the large number of cyclists using the area.
But I'm primarily aware of these spots because I've approached it from the saddle so many times.
Similarly, even if you have the right of way, you wouldn't drive past Eastern Market on a Saturday morning at 25 mph, because we all know tons of pedestrians are walking back and forth on 7th St. That's awareness.
The more drivers see cyclists on the road or, yes, in mass gatherings at Dupont Circle, the more they'll be attuned to these things.
It's got nothing at all to do who violates the law.
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This is a very tragic accident and it must be awful for her friends and family. But I have a problem with this quote:
"we expect the Metropolitan Police Department to conduct a thorough examination of this crash and hold the driver fully responsible if he was at fault."
What exactly does that mean? If it truly was an accident, what kind of responsibility will be held against the driver? It's sad and awful, but accidents do happen. You've never pulled out and almost hit someone? What if you HAD hit someone? More than once I've tried to make a right turn, making sure to look to confirm no one was in the crosswalk, when a biker comes flying through at 20mph!
Now, if the driver was impaired at all or acting recklessly then that's different. And I'm not placing any blame on the biker here OR the driver until we know for sure what happened. But this sounds like a tragic accident and accidents do happen...
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“’I didn’t see them’ is too often accepted as an excuse that results in a small fine or no punishment at all."
"I didn't see them" is an acceptable excuse if a bicyclist is driving dangerously or unlawfully. I do not know enough to say whether that is the case in this instance, but i would like WABA to take just as proactive stance on educating bicyclists on responsibility as they do on hectoring drivers (of which I am not one) on "sharing the road."
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yeah, is it @ Q or R? The email I got from WABA says R.
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@gulcer (is that GULC-er? because if so, me too):
They actually do take a proactive stance on educating cyclists. Check out http://www.waba.org/events/education.php , specifically their Confident City Cycling classes, which include a healthy does of obeying the law and knowing how to act responsibly.
I'm not sure what hectoring drivers to share the road entails other than reminding people to do so once someone gets killed. But my opinion is that until people stop screaming "GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD" (I get this four times a year or so) or, even better, "Use the sidewalk!" (this was downtown), I think the message isn't quite out.
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Everyone would benefit from reading the WABA's "Safe Bicycling in the Washington Area" booklet. It's 33 pages and is VERY informative.
I highly recommend that both cyclists and motorists pick one up or review it here:
http://www.waba.org/areabiking/safecycling/
It's a SHARED responsibility and we all need to do our best to keep each other alive and safe.
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Good point, Flapjack. What I was implying was that this memorial might not sit too well with the politicos (it might make tourists feel uneasy) so they would come up with some lame excuse to remove it, hence my saying it could be a "hazard".
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So I guess this is the white equivalent of the classic DC "ghetto shrine" complete with teddy bears, forties, and "We Miss You, Stinkerman" t-shirts? Should I leave a pack of American Spirits and pour out my liter of Smartwater?
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This is a terrible tragedy to be sure. But we should not be so quick to hold the driver at fault if he wasn't negligent. One life has been destroyed this week - let's not be so quick to have a witch hunt to take another.
From what I have read, the driver made a right turn while she was next to the truck in the bike lane. Most likely she was very close to the front of the truck, since she didn't have time to stop when she got cut off. That would almost certainly be in his blind spot.
As a cyclist, you are far more vulnerable than a car or truck and have to assume that they can't or don't see you. It's much harder for a driver to see a cyclist than another car, or even a pedestrian, because cyclists move much faster than peds and may enter a vehicle's path on a turn even though he looked before turning and it appeared clear.
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WABA website:
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tangentially related: check this bike accident from LA yesterday.
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Is there any way we could save the whole bicyclists deserve whatever they get comments for another thread? I get that some people seem to have a big problem with bikers, but I honestly wonder if a thread about a memorial to a person who was just killed is the place for that discussion. I get that there is a political slant to WABA's statements, but I wish this could be a touch more about Alice Swanson and the tragedy of her death than yet another variation of "bikes suck, no cars suck, no your mom sucks" that has been done ad nauseum on this site.
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ah monkeyrotica, a total douche bag no matter the occasion.
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Well, it looks like the press release WABA sent me contained the typo about Q street, but they fixed it on subsequent emails, so yes, R street it is.
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Ms. Anthrope, don't be so self-riteous. It is DCist, for cripe's sake. As you said yourself, this is a "thread about a memorial." This is NOT the memorial.
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I wrote to WABA and asked them to sponsor a Silent Ride to memorialize this tragedy. I believe that when an area cyclist is killed while riding or due to injuries sustained while riding -- regardless of fault -- cyclists should take to the streets, obediently and quietly in an organized way and ride in solidarity. Those who agree might want to write to WABA, too.
Arguments among drivers, cyclists, pedestrians will continue and I can see the views on all sides. What is apparent, yet ignored, is the fact that cyclists do not kill motorists. On the whole, yes, cyclists are lawbreakers, and some of our risky behaviors jeopardize safety. But riskiness and moving violations make us all equals when in motion in DC, whether on four wheels, two wheels, or two feet. Cyclists and pedestrians are much more likely to be killed or injured by motorists than the other way around. And whether these casualties result from ignorance or carelessness doesn't really matter much to me when someone is crushed to death by a garbage truck. What would matter more is that all of us learn from it and become better fellow citizens.
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I'm a little surprised to see people taken aback by calls to punish the driver if he's found to be at fault. Nobody's calling for blood here, or even jail time, but if failing to obey the law resulted in Miss Swanson's death -- as could easily be the case, given police statements that she was in or next to the bike lane -- then some sort of sanction is completely appropriate.
There's a sense among many drivers that bike lanes are just PR exercises undertaken by cities. That's wrong: they're legal traffic signals and they have to be obeyed. When they aren't, drivers should be punished. That goes double when the result is as tragic as this incident.
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Tom, I don't know that anyone is saying the driver should not be punished if indeed is is determined that he violated a law. The issue is WABA's slightly political overtone/undertone (cant remember the difference) and their implicit presumption of the driver's guilt when the facts are not really all known.
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Jamie, do you really think that "the cyclist was in my blind spot" is an acceptable excuse for plowing them over? The driver knew - or should have known - that there was a bike lane to their right. They should have known that that meant there might be a cyclist over there. They should have checked their fucking mirror - which usually has one of those fish eye things to clear the God-damned blind spit - before turning. And they should have made sure that they weren't going to fucking kill someone before they made their right turn.
So, I'm sorry but "they were hard for me to see so I just assumed no one was there" is not going to cut it for me.
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The ghost bike IS already there, you've heard right. Darrow Montgomery shot it early this afternoon for City Desk:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/07/09/2000-block-of-r-street-nw-july-9/
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@IMGoph
Whoa that LAist article you linked is insane! That guy surely needs to be locked up for a long time. What is wrong with people?
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I also highly recommend WABA's confident cycling class and the booklet mentioned above (even if you drive more than cycle). WABA definitely promotes safe and lawful cycling.
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I saw the ghost bike there this morning and I think it's a fitting remember of the tragedy. It was chilling riding my bike through the intersection she didn't make it through, seeing the police investigative marks on the pavement and the white bike locked to the lamppost. I had never heard of a ghost bike before but I knew immediately why it was there.
And I think we're all a little sanctimonious on the breaking driving laws. Whether you're a cyclist, motorist or a pedestrian do you always obey the law? Pedestrians have never jaywalked, or crossed in the middle of the street? Motorists ALWAYS obey the speed limit? I'm not arguing FOR breaking the law, I'm just stating a fact and suggesting motorists come off their high horse about cyclists.
Common Tater's comments are spot on: Let's all learn from this and become better citizens.
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I kinda wish instead of the memorial, WABA would stand up behind the pedestrian plan and the meetings they're holding tonight:
I have to second what folks are saying about SAFE Cycling and being cognizant of the enviroment. NOT to blame the victim or take away at all from the tragedy that this is but....
one of the saddest things to me about the WAPO articles is the rider's comments about her discomfort/unfamiliarity with riding in traffic to coworkers.
I've lived in the city a long time and I'd NEVER attempt to bike down conn. ave. never. I don't even much like riding in rock creek park the way the "real" riders come at you. I'm just not that good. Please don't launch the attack but I almost think there needs to be a mandatory safe cycling class for city riders. I see near misses EVERY day, multiple times (not even counting the biker v. walker sidewalk collisions.)
We ALL need to be a lot more careful and please don't mistake this for an exoneration of the driver - we jsut don't know everything yet. I guess I'm just hoping we can all learn, slow down and be a bit more careful.
To think this all happened what a day? two? after the Post's freaking FRONT PAGE editorial-barely-disguised as news on "Wah, it's so hard to drive in the city when you're from the suburbs" ridiculousness. perspective, eh?
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It's my position as a driver that until no individual on a bicycle ever breaks a traffic law, no driver should no driver should ever be held responsible for running down any cyclist at any time.
Cyclists should always me mindful of the fact that when I'm making a right-hand turn, or opening my door into traffic, checking my side view mirror is a somewhat difficult thing to remember to do. And if I end up killing you, well, you're engaging in extremely risky behavior. Did I mention I saw a toothless old guy on a Huffy riding down the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD just last week, sipping from a forty in a paper bag. And cyclists claim to be responsible.
Oh sure, some cyclist is going to say, "When a single motorist obeys the speed limit *ever*, we can talk about cycling scofflaws." But surely you don't mean 5-10 MPH over the speed limit? I mean that would be ridiculous! Everyone knows the speed limits are set artificially low!
Oh sure, this particular cyclist was doing everything she was supposed to be doing, and still she was run down by a garbage truck who never bothered to check that the bike lane was clear, but hey, what was she doing in the street?
So tragic, but of course, no one is to blame.
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I've lived in the city a long time and I'd NEVER attempt to bike down conn. ave. never
You realize that this wasn't on Connecticut Ave, it was at the intersection of 20th and R Street. She was heading eastbound, about a half-block from the intersection w/ Connecticut.
And can we have a moratorium on any comments that are variants of "What was she doing in the streets on one of them bicycles????" please?
Thanks.
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@washwords: If I'm not mistaken, WABA offers city cycling safety classes. If not them, they're definitely in affiliation with people who do.
I disagree that it should be mandatory for city cyclists. I