by Dan Soul from https://www.mylloydminsternow.com
Ghost bike stands again as reminder of motorcycle safety, tribute to fallen riders
The Lloydminster Sport Riders are putting up a ghost bike for another year, to serve as an important reminder for drivers and motorcyclists to share the road and keep each other safe.
The motorcycle statue was first put up last year, not only as a reminder to be road aware of bikes but as a sobering reminder of and a way to honour fallen riders as well. With this month marking Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in Alberta, it will stand at the 59 Avenue-25 Street intersection.
The administrator of the LSR, Philip Cummine, says the bike’s key message is being cognizant of the riders people share the road with.
” We want to make sure everyone gets home safe. So we want to help bring the awareness to make sure that people realize that there are motorcycles out there, and a lot of motorcyclists are putting their life on the line when they get out on the road because, for them, a simple accident can be life-threatening.”
Riders are out on the road much more in the summer, and both they and drivers can take steps to be protected. For people on their bikes, this means wearing protective gear, making a plan for their ride, and not going out alone so that someone is there to help.
Drivers should keep an eye out for riders, be extra diligent in checking blind spots and mirrors, and slow it down when coming up on someone on a motorcycle.
Lloydminster RCMP Sargeant Brad Mouland says every year they respond to accidents between motorcycles and cars and they want people on both sides to be aware.
“Within Lloydminster, unfortunately, we have seen injury-related collisions and fatalities. Those are things we definitely want to make sure we don’t have anymore. We want to just help the rest of the agencies, emergency services and the City of Lloydminster get that awareness out to the public.”
Cummine adds that given what the ghost bike symbolizes, he hopes to only see it out during Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and the right steps are just taken so they don’t have to commemorate another fallen rider.
“Even if [the rider] isn’t a member of LSR and there’s something that happens, we want to take that onus and make sure we provide that service to the city. That way, people can see maybe if it’s a high impact area or there’s high traffic intersection like this one south of us. It’s high traffic, there’s been accidents, so let’s get some awareness.”
The ghost bike will be standing at the 59 Ave-29 St intersection for all of May.
