On September 2, a ghost bike was placed on Foothill Boulevard to memorialize 22 year-old cyclist and Cal Poly student Kennedy Love who died in a recent hit-and-run accident.

 For those unfamiliar with the concept, a ‘ghost bike’ is a bicycle painted white, inscribed with the victim’s name, and left as a memorial at a site of cyclist collision. These bikes have been placed at crash sites all around the globe since 2003.

 “These bikes make me think that this could happen to me at any time.  It makes me think about being more careful,” said freshman bicyclist Benji Torre.

 How has the presence of this new ghost bike impacted the San Luis Obispo community, specifically, students and families with regular exposure to the memorial?

 “Parents are talking about it. They’ve been worried for a while about cyclist safety,” said Pacheco Elementary School principal Rick Mayfield.

 The bike will remain standing for two months before its permit is reviewed by the City of San Luis Obispo, but locals have voiced their interest in the bike becoming a permanent fixture in the community.

 “I think it should be allowed to stay there. It reminds people driving by that a young man died there, and that you need to be careful, because this stuff happens right here in our own backyard,” said Mayfield, who works less than a block from the site.

 To San Luis Obispo High School students, this monument should be not only an important reminder of the vulnerability of cyclists, but also of the incredible responsibility that comes with a holding driver’s license.  Of course, one can try to avoid roads all together.

 “The route that I take stays away from roads.  I’m mostly on the train track trail all the way to school,” said freshman cyclist Noah Little.