The bicycles painted white which are chained to telephone poles and street signs are called ghostbikes.

They mark the spot where a cyclist was killed in an accident by a car.

The concept began in Seattle in 2003 and has since spread to 15 cities across the U.S. including Austin.

There are a total of four ghostbikes in the Austin area stretching from the Capitol City to Dripping Springs.

The most prominent perhaps is the ghostbike at West 6th and Highland.

It was put up 2-years ago when 35-year old John Smythe was hit and killed by a drunk driver in August of 2005.

"It's a reminder to people that we deserve to live, we are somebody's husband, somebody's son, somebody's Dad, somebody's girlfriend, boyfriend" says Al Bastidas, the co-founder of a group called "Please be kind to cyclists".  Bastidas himself almost became a candidate for a ghostbike in 2002 when a driver turned in front of him striking him with such severity that he was in a coma for 2-days.  His doctors didn't expect for him to live.

Unlike other cities, there's no organized group putting up ghostbikes in Austin.  Who puts them is is a mystery.  It is believed that in most cases it's a family member or a friend of the victim.

Bastidas says the point of ghostbikes is to remind drivers and cyclists alike to share the road so that no more of the ghostly road-side memorials will have to go up next to a roadside ever again.