Photo: the family of Mike Sheffield who was killed in 2021 visit the Ghost Bike Art Installation.
Fifty-nine ghost bikes in a central Auckland square are a heart-wrenching symbol of the folly of fast streets. Each of the entirely white bikes represents a person who has been killed while cycling in Aotearoa New Zealand in the last five years. The youngest was just two years old. It’s a fitting tribute for World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which takes place on the third Sunday of November each year.
Bike Auckland Chair Karen Hormann explains:
“Each of these 59 deaths had a ripple effect on whānau, friends, co-workers, schoolmates, the emergency services, the trauma teams at hospitals, the grief counsellors. Each of these bikes represents at least a hundred human beings whose lives were shattered in an instant. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
Whatever the cause of a car crash, speed determines the harm. And, with safer speeds, much of that harm is avoidable. For people who are walking or biking, 30km/h translates to a 90 percent chance of surviving the crash. At 50km/h, their chance of survival is just 20 percent.
Mechatronics engineer and conservation educator Lucy Ruck had her own brush with death on World Car-free Day last year when she was hit by a car while cycling to work on a painted cycleway in Tāmaki Makaurau. Thankfully, after two months of pain, Ruck fully recovered physically, though the psychological scars will last a lifetime.
“Speed was absolutely a factor when I was hit. Thankfully the driver had time to see me while they were turning across my path and we were both slowing down. The impact still sent me flying over the car bonnet but it could have been much, much worse.
“I’ve returned to work and to my beloved cycling – but there are roads I just won’t cycle down now. I’d rather add extra kilometres to my commute by riding a safer route with 30km/h streets than take a more efficient route where I’m exposed to dangerous or careless driving at speed. It’s taken away some of my joy of cycling. I feel such relief when I ride in protected, low-speed areas, though there aren’t many where I live. I’m now very reluctant to ride on my local roads and risk an injury again – or even worse.”
Ruck channeled all the emotions of her experience and contacted Bike Auckland with the idea of protesting the raising of speed limits. From this, the Ghost Bike Art Installation was born.
Mike Sheffield’s wife, daughters, son-in-law and two young grandchildren were among the first to arrive at the installation. Mike was killed on Auckland’s Stanley Street in 2021. For Mike’s wife Mary, it was a healing moment to be there as a family.
Hormann explains that many fewer crashes have happened since lower speed limits were introduced in 2020, and when they do happen, they aren’t as severe. But more recently, Minister for Transport Simeon Brown has passed a Speed Rule, forcing Councils across Aotearoa to increase speed limits to unsafe levels.
“Just like has been seen across the world, lower speed limits have been working in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. They have ensured 80 more people have made it home safely. The blanket increase in speed limits will create more harm on our roads, to our communities, to us.”
The Ghost Bike Art Installation in St Patrick’s Square in Auckland’s city centre draws attention to the deaths and serious injuries that will be the result of reversing the safer speeds laws (increasing road speed back to 50km/h in many areas where it was reduced to 30km/h for safety reasons).
While this installation draws attention to deaths and serious injuries for people riding bikes, lower speeds make streets safer for everyone.
