Ghost bikes project aims to remind Atlanta drivers to slow down

Riding a bicycle in Atlanta can be dangerous — and sometimes deadly — particularly on roads without dedicated bike lanes. But one metro Atlanta man is working to ensure those tragedies are not forgotten, and to remind drivers that many of these crashes are preventable.

For Barbara Taylor, the danger became deeply personal in 2012.

"So we were married in 1995," she said, recalling her husband, Paul Taylor. "He had a huge love for his community. He coached girls' soccer. He coached girls' basketball. He was very involved in our church community, and just an all-around great guy." 

Taylor remembers her husband as a devoted father, runner, and dedicated physician's assistant at Grady — and as a cyclist who found joy riding on two wheels.

That life changed in an instant.

"I was told he had been hit by a car while he was riding his bicycle and did not survive," Taylor said. "In a blink of a second, your life can completely change."

Across metro Atlanta, quiet memorials now mark places where cyclists like Paul Taylor lost their lives. Known as "ghost bikes," the white-painted bicycles are placed at crash sites to honor victims and urge drivers to slow down and pay attention.

Dave Mathews, founder of Bike Friendly ATL, created Paul Taylor's ghost bike — a project that would grow into a broader mission to remember fallen cyclists and advocate for safer streets.

"I'm still here fighting for these people that don't have a second chance, and it shouldn't be that way," Mathews said.

Since then, Mathews has placed about 180 ghost bikes across the Southeast. Each one represents a life lost and a family forever changed.

"I hesitate to put them out because I don't know what it's going to do to the family," he said. "But I feel like I'm doing something to help somebody that's in a hard place."

For Taylor, the grief remains constant.

"There's not a day that goes by that we don't think about him," she said. "There's just a hole… a huge hole," she said.

Still, she believes the memorials serve an important purpose — not just honoring the dead, but protecting the living.

"Not looking at your phone, just little things can save somebody's life," Taylor said.

Advocates say those small decisions behind the wheel — slowing down, staying alert and sharing the road — can make the difference between life and death for cyclists.

"We've got to get back to morals… and doing what's right — not what we can get away with," Mathews said.

Until that happens, the ghost bikes will remain — stark, silent reminders of lives cut short and a call for safer streets.

"I'm just trying to tell a story and stand up for these people that don't have another voice," Mathews said.