New ghost bike in Mill Woods 22nd such memorial installed in city since 2007

Advocates are calling for the city to do more to protect cyclists as a memorial was erected downtown Thursday. CTV News Edmonton's Curtis Goodrum reports.

A plea for more attention to road safety comes as the city group that creates bike memorials to people who die while riding erected its 22nd over the last 19 years.

Alfred Reisdorf was killed in November while riding his bike in Mill Woods. The 65-year-old was crossing 34 Street at 28A Avenue when he was fatally hit by the driver of an SUV.

“He was my whole life, and now I am all alone,” Zeenat Damani, his widow, told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday at the scene of Reisdorf’s death, where Bike Edmonton, a city bicycle support group, installed a ghost bike as a memorial to him at the suburban scene.

The 41-year-old driver of the Hyundai Tucson has been charged with careless driving.

Coreen Shewfelt of Bike Edmonton said the ghost bike, which is painted white and installed at or near the scene of a cyclist’s death, serves as a reminder to people passing by the scene to take greater care on the roads.

“Ghost bikes are here to remind people that we’re all, we all deserve to get home safely, no matter what type of transportation we’re using,” Shewfelt said on Thursday. “Sometimes, that may mean giving up a little bit of convenience for people driving to make sure that everybody else who’s using our roads and transportation systems is safe.”

Bike Edmonton has put up 22 ghost bikes since 2007. Shewfelt said Reisdorf’s death was the 30th of 32 fatal traffic collisions in Edmonton last year.

It took just a week for the ghost bike in memory of Reisdorf to be installed after Damani first learned of them and contacted Bike Edmonton.

“It will maybe deter some people from speeding,” Damani said. “If I can save a life, it will be a blessing.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Curtis Goodrum