Sunday 23 September 2012

Ghost bike on Deptford Church Street

This week Barry Normah is due to appear in court in Bromley charged with killing Olatunji Johnson Adeyanju in a hit and run in Deptford earlier this year.

Recently a white 'ghost bike' has been placed next to the pedestrian crossing where TJ was knocked off his bicycle while crossing the road.


These 'memorials' are often placed next to locations where cyclists have been killed, and are intended to highlight the dangers of these particular junctions, remind drivers and cyclists to take care, and to serve as memorials for those who lost their lives.

Personally I have mixed feelings about this type of memorial, the same way I feel about roadside shrines. While some friends and family of the victims might find such a shrine helpful, providing a way for them to focus on and deal with their loss, I can't help thinking that I'd rather concentrate on my happy memories of that person. On the other hand I think it's good to remind road users of the potential consequences of their actions.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's really nice to go and look at and reflect, remember the old TJ, the loving and happy TJ. The TJ no-one will ever forget. Just the other day I walked past, on my way home, ended up chatting away to him, telling him we'd get justice for what that awful man did to him. It is also a good idea to raise awareness to the other bikers, they need to know the reality. X