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Ghost Bike memorials are seen in and around downtown Mobile in honor of, from left, Edward Lindsey Mack, Joey O'Brien and Terry Lee Crawford. (Michael Dumas/mdumas@al.com)

MOBILE, Alabama – The votes are in, and after nearly 600 readers weighed in on memorial Ghost Bikes being erected throughout the downtown/midtown area after the deaths of several cyclists over the last few weeks, 60 percent say the shrines are eyesores and should be removed.

Traditionally placed in honor of cyclists killed by motorists around the world, Ghost Bikes are bicycles painted all-white and chained near the locations where the victims died. Twice over the last three weeks, such memorials have gone up on Springhill Avenue in Mobile, to honor homicide victims Joey O'Brien and Terry Lee Crawford.

The men were killed in separate incidents about a week apart, and Ghost Bikes still stand near the scenes of their deaths, only a mile apart.

On Nov. 6, AL.com asked readers to weigh in on whether the memorials were appropriate, and as of Monday morning, 355 voters (59.87 percent) said "Ghost Bikes are illegal eyesores and should not be kept up" while 238 (40.13 percent) believed "Ghost Bikes are fitting memorials to those killed."



AL.com's online polls reflect the views of readers who choose to participate and are not the kind of scientific sampling of opinion used to predict the views of the public as a whole.

Readers of the story that included the poll had much to say about both sides of the question. A sampling of those comments can be found here:

WillGill said, “Place them on private property with the owners approval but not on public property.”

Kislath said, “They're a nice sentiment, but they're also an open invitation to disaster. If drives get used to seeing them, and then used to ignoring them, then people on real bikes could be endangered.”

alabama the beautiful said, “These roadside memorials are distracting to drivers . . . We all feel for those lost loved one's families but get real and think about the general public and the safety of others.”