Photos: 20 More "Ghost Bikes" To Remember Killed Cyclists

The Eighth Annual Memorial Ride for cyclists and pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in NYC was held yesterday, with participants pausing at twenty more sobering "ghost bikes" that have been added to our urban landscape in the past year. 136 pedestrians and 18 bicyclists were killed in crashes 2012, compared to 134 pedestrians and 22 bicyclists killed in 2011. (So far this year, at least two cyclists have been killed in traffic collisions.) Yesterday's Memorial Ride attempted to draw focus to Queens, which organizers say is desperately in need of safety improvements.

At the intersection of Queens Boulevard and Jackson Avenue, participants gathered to dedicate a memorial to all of the cyclists who were killed in traffic crashes in 2012 whose names were not publicly released. "As more bike and pedestrian safety infrastructure is added to New York City streets, Queens has been left behind, and fatality and injury numbers reflect this,” says Leah Todd, a volunteer with the New York City Street Memorial Project. "More cyclists were killed by drivers in Queens in 2012 than any other borough, yet amenities that protect cyclists and pedestrians are slow to arrive."

Other killed cyclists memorialized yesterday included Daniel Martinez, who was run over by a truck outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art last April. Participants paused for reflection at the intersection of East 108th Street and Park Avenue, where 18-year-old Shaquille Cochrane was killed in a collision with a cab driver.

The all-volunteer memorial project, which started in 2003 with the first ghost bike in St. Louis, Missouri, is currently in the midst of fundraising push to help pay for the installation of ghost bikes, and to maintain the current ones. “Since the first Ghost Bike was installed in New York City in 2005, the number of bicyclists killed has not changed significantly," Todd points out. "The message is clear: with bike share on the horizon and more New Yorkers trying bicycling every day, more attention is needed as to why cyclists are killed year after year.”