Too Many Ghost Bikes

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Emma's ghost bike is suddenly blooming all sorts of colors, thanks to fresh donations of flowers. Today, Laura F., a former colleague of Rose’s who lives in Glasgow, brought some bluebells from her garden, set them off with euphorbia, and gave the pavement a sweep. However, she reports that someone else had been there already to decorate and add plants. Let us know who you are, we’d like to recognize you too! 

What’s more, someone added Emma’s ghost bike to the international Ghost Bike registry at https://mapcomplete.osm.be/ghostbikes.html. Thank you for that as well! To that map, we added a photo and Emma’s name. 

It was a couple of years ago that Emma saw a ghost bike near our home in the greater Paris area. She felt it was a poignant memorial to a fallen cyclist—one reason we wanted to install one for her in Glasgow. A few weeks ago while passing this Paris ghost bike, it took my breath away when I read the recently added plaque: Emma, 1996-2021. 

There are over 630 ghost bikes in more than 200 places in the world, according to a 2015 article in Grist magazine: “No matter the location, ghost bikes turn an indiscriminate patch of road into a solemn reminder: A cyclist was killed here.” In Glasgow, Emma's ghost bike was donated by her colleague at the architecture firm New Practice, Samuel Stair, and friends painted it white. The lock was donated by Edinburgh bike shop Soul Cycles. To both, our gratitude. 

For us, installing the ghost bike was acting on a need to do something—as the funeral would be some weeks off from the data of the crash on Jan. 27. Indeed, one scholar noted that the ghost bike is used to “mourn the deceased, warn others of danger, and protest unsafe or unfair conditions for bicycle riders." Indeed, on Feb. 3, the installation of the ghost bike, which we processed from Emma's apartment in Shawlands to the site, became a vigil, where colleagues and fellow students from the Glasgow School of Art laid flowers.   

Furthermore, it’s not unusual for people to stop at the bike and linger. The ghost bike therefore becomes a medium for a change of heart and mind. On that Friday, friends lingered at the ghost bike well after the vigil ended, attracting a TV crew that just happened to be passing on the Broomielaw. The resulting STV segment featured voices calling for change. Maybe, just maybe, voices from the ghost bike will save lives and spare the world from the installation of yet another ghost bike to a young Emma.

Photo credit: Laura F. 

An article about the vigil:
Family and friends honour 'beloved' cyclist who died in Glasgow crash - Glasgow Times 

The program for the vigil:
Vigil for Emma Burke Newman - 3rd Feb 2023 

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