Ghost Sightings

A ghost bike at Sussex Downs, near Devil’s Dyke

A white bike has been placed at the junction of Devil’s Dyke Road and Saddlescombe Road, where cyclist James Danson-Hatcher was hit and killed by a car travelling at around 60 mph.

A ghost bike or ghostcycle is a bicycle set up in a place where a cyclist has been hurt or killed by a motor vehicle, as a memorial and as a reminder to passing motorists to share the road. A junk bicycle is painted white, with a placard attached, and locked to a suitable object close to the scene of the accident. These memorials are mainly a political statement – aiming to make a wider point beyond personal loss – erected by pro-cycling organizations, unlike a typical roadside memorial, which is usually purely personal. Not all ghost bikes commemorate real casualties: some merely reflect indignation at near-misses by careless drivers, or even protest against a poor road surface