Ghost bike memorial ride held Saturday for Bent Rasmussen

March

Avid cyclist Bent Rasmussen, 78 was honored Saturday during a memorial ride and ceremony by about 50 friends, family and fellow cyclists in Sparta New Jersey. He was struck and killed apparently by a mirror on a school bus in front of the city hall in Sparta February 27th. The accident has been ruled a hit-and-run and the bus driver has been interviewed. Two eyewitnesses and video surveillance cameras identified the bus.

Rasmussen rode nearly everyday and was known to many around town.

His friend, Andreas Meyer created a “ghost bike”, his second in the past four months for cyclists killed in Northern New Jersey.

Accidents like this have lead to a pending bill in the New Jersey State House that would require a motorist to give a cyclists three feet of room as they pass.

Fore more details about the memorial ride please see the New Jersey Herald’s story, or Benepe’s Bike Blog.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 5:17 PM by Randall Wolf. Print This Post | Email This Post

2 Responses to “Ghost bike memorial ride held Saturday for Bent Rasmussen”

mike March 31st, 2009 at 4:05 PM
This is quite the inspiration. I hope I am still riding at 78!
Ben April 1st, 2009 at 7:43 PM
What a shame. We need the 3 foot rule which has been adopted by several other states. I have had cars come so close to me that an extended mirror would have probably gotten me too.

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