Drivers in Ballard received a blunt reminder to share the road with bicyclists last week by a new group calling themselves GhostCycle.

A bike was painted white and hung high up on a street pole at the northwest corner of Northwest Market Street and 14th Avenue Northwest.

Placed on the bike was a sign with the message "A cyclist was struck here. No.38," referring to the 38th accident between a bicycle and automobile since late May.

The next day someone had taken the bike down and it was leaning on the street sign.

Marybeth Turner, spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Transportation, said it is illegal to install anything where the city has the right of way.

"We do not want people to chain things to signs on streets," she said. "It's a safety hazard and a distraction to drivers."

GhostCycle has explanations of how each accident occurred as described by each bicyclist. Visitors to its Web site can click on an intersection and read about each incident.

Accident No. 38 allegedly involved a driver who was not paying attention when leaving the Safeway parking lot and ran into a bicyclist.

"I screamed and he hit the brakes, but not before he hit me," according to the unnamed bicyclist. "I was thrown from my seat, but caught myself on my right leg. I thought I was fine after the accident, but the next day I was sore all over, incredibly sleepy, and was having cognitive problems,"

Organizers of GhostCycle prefer to remain anonymous. A representative of GhostCycle answered questions by e-mail and remained nameless.

"We are a group of like minded cyclists," the GhostCycle member said. "Most of us ride regularly as either full-time bicycle commuters, part-time commuters, or for health, exercise and fun."

As for why they won't reveal their names, there was this answer.

"Simply because the ghost bikes are there to represent the accidents that people have submitted to us, not for any personal gain for any member helping out to get them up," said the nameless GhostCycle member.

The Web site lists 18 locations in Ballard where bike and car accidents have occurred. Many of them are in and around the Burke Gillman Trail.

"Ballard seems to be a real hot hotspot," the GhostCycle member said. "Since pushing the Burke over a really bad set of tracks, accident reports there are pretty heavy. Daily we get reports of cyclists hitting the tracks. The city put the Burke onto a roadway with badly angled tracks. Foot, bicycle, and car traffic all share the same stretch of badly painted pavement. It is very confusing and needs a fix."

The city has been working towards completion of the Burke Gillman Trail towards Golden Gardens. The next planned section will be along Seaview Avenue Northwest, the Ballard Locks to 11th Avenue and Shilshole Avenue.

An article in the July 27 issue of the News-Tribune indicated the newest section of the trail is along the area's industrial waterfront with the greatest potential for bike accidents; an area with heavy truck and train traffic.

Ghostcycle says it has been collecting data on car-related bike accidents since May 26, this year. Since then, 103 bike riders have reported being hit by cars.

"We share their interest in improving safety for bicyclists on Seattle streets," said Turner. "We are working on a master plan to make Seattle the best city for bicyclists." She added that Seattle is already among the top five cities for people who ride bikes.

GhostCycle has placed 40 of their bike installations throughout the city where numerous or severe accidents have taken place.

The group says their goal is to raise driver awareness and educate them on how dangerous it is to not share the roadways.

"Bicycles and autos both need to share and respect each other on the road. It can be easy for autos to be blind to bicyclists. If one accident is prevented by someone being a little more aware and courteous on the road by viewing one of the ghostcycles, we'll be happy," the GhostCycle member said.

"We discourage people from doing things like this in the future," said Turner. "We're hoping to work with people who want to make a public statement to do it legally,"

City crews will begin removing the GhostCycle installations as they encounter them on their normal rounds.