The Washington Area Bicyclist Association installed a ghost bike for Alice Swanson on July 9, 2008 in an effort to highlight the need for better bicycle safety and driver education efforts in the D.C. region. WABA is calling for a full investigation into the crash and hopes this incident will draw attention to the need for improved traffic enforcement, increased penalties for drivers who strike cyclists and pedestrians, and more safety public service announcements to encourage everyone to share the road safely.
Established in 1972, WABA is a local non-profit bicycling safety and education organization dedicated to promoting safe cycling for transportation and recreation. The association offers free Confident City Cycling classes to adults and reaches thousands of area school children each year with its bike and pedestrian safety courses. WABA has also produced a variety of safety materials including a Safe Bicycling in the Washington Area guide, a Pocket Guide to DC Bike Laws, and numerous others designed both to encourage cycling and to make it safer.
Here is an excerpt from remarks by the WABA during the dedication of Alice Swanson's ghost bike:

This may seem like an odd time to say this, but there has been a lot of progress made for bicycling in recent years. We are seeing more bike lanes being striped, more trails being built, better bike parking and on and on. In my years at WABA I have never seen a city government more committed to making bicycling a real transportation option for people who live, work and play in the District of Columbia. But as more and more people turn to bicycling, the need for safe streets and better driver and cyclist education is greater than ever.
You should note that I mentioned the education of cyclists as well. We all share in the responsibility for safe streets. All of us, drivers, pedestrians and, yes, cyclists.
But while great effort has been made to teach cyclists to obey the laws and to ride safely, little has been done to educate drivers on how to properly interact with cyclists on our roads. And today WABA is calling upon not just the District of Columbia, but all the surrounding Maryland and Virginia counties, to take the necessary steps to try to prevent tragedies such as this from happening again.
What are these steps?
We need better education of both drivers and cyclists on their rights and responsibilities on the road.
We need to encourage our law enforcement professionals to properly enforce traffic laws.
We need to ensure that the laws and regulations that govern the use of our roadways properly protect the most vulnerable roadway users.
And I’m here to tell you that WABA will not rest until anyone that wants to can bike safely wherever they want to go.
As I mentioned previously, the details surrounding Alice’s death remain uncertain, and we are by no means passing judgment tonight. But WABA and all cyclists request that police department conduct a thorough examining of the case and ensure that justice is served.