my glass i saw: A Roadside Memorial

[Brian Moore]

It's not uncommon in the USA for memorials to be placed where cyclists have been killed. Often an old bike, painted white, is placed near the site of the tragedy.

I spotted this one some months ago on Warner Avenue in Fountain Valley, California.

I read up about it in back issues of the local newspaper. Hung K. Do was killed on May 15, 2011 at this spot. It happened at about 3 am. As you can see in the second photo, there is no sidewalk over the rise of the road. My guess is the driver who struck Hung came over that rise and failed to see the cyclist until too late.

I took these images with my FED 3 and Legacy Pro 400 film.

 

[Hamish Gill]

V sad, grafiti on the pavement too!
I love the reflection in the picture in the second one... adds a bit of mgic to the image some how ...
Seems odd commenting on a photo like this though ...

 

[Brian Moore]

Seems odd commenting on a photo like this though ...

I know what you mean, Hamish. I wanted to post these images, yet didn't want to also.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yeah... odd one!
So these bikes just stay forever or until they fall apart do they?

 

[Brian Moore]

Not sure. There was one in Long Beach a few months ago--at the big roundabout (AKA "The Traffic Circle"). That white bike only lasted a week or so before it was gone. Perhaps the authorities removed it. As to the one above,...I haven't been by there in a while so I'll have to go have a look.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Surely they can't do that?
I suppose if you had something like that for every accident, tere would probably be a lot of white painted things around the place!

 

[Pete Askew]

I think Hamish and your comments are quite correct about these images. I think they are a fitting addition to the memorial and will live on beyond the physical 'tributes'.

 

[Brian Moore]

I suppose if you had something like that for every accident, tere would probably be a lot of white painted things around the place!

That's the point exactly, Hamish,...it's to bring awareness to motorists and cyclists alike of the dangers of cycling. But especially it is to raise the awareness of motorists who are too often distracted by their mobile phones and text messages. I believe it was a bicycle organization of some kind that concieved the idea because I first read about it a few years ago in Bicycling Magazine.

I think they are a fitting addition to the memorial

Thanks Pete. It was this notion that compelled me to take the photos in the first place and then later to post them, despite my reluctance. I had intended to photograph the one at the roundabout I mentioned before. However, it disappeared to soon.

 

[Paul Lange]

I took a photo of a memorial and my wife said it was sick. My thoughts are people create these things not just to pay their respects but to get a message across, one that we often think is not relevant to us until it actually happens. My belief is that taken photos of these things helps to spread the message further and in new ways.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Very sad - I see crosses and motor cycle helmets etc on the roadside set up the same way.

They clearly indicate to other drivers that the piece of road they are on, may be a killer.

Once you've seen 2 or 3 on the same stretch, you get the message


I shot the wreckage from a huge smash once - same deal - some folks thought it was wrong/poor taste

I'll see if I can dig it up and post on another thread - interested to hear what people think