After months of hearings and behind the scenes work, a proposed bill on bike safety is one step closer to becoming a reality. Last week the Michigan House passed a bill that would require drivers to allow three feet of clearance while passing a bike.
Michigan is one of 11 states without a "safe passing" law and bicyclists have been pushing lawmakers to act.
In 2015, the city of Grand Rapids passed an ordinance requiring a five-foot distance, but for those cities that haven't done the same this bill would be just the beginning of what some are calling a much needed solution.
"I've put coins and pennies and stickers and little plastic bicycles and other things," Karen Dunnam said as she placed an American flag sticker on a white bike along the roadway in Kent County.
"It's a tribute to the rider," Dunnam said as she stared at the all white bike. "We'll just thank Charles for his service again."
The ghost bike Dunnam is caring for sits at the intersection of Cannonsburg Road and Chauncey Drive near Belmont. That was where Charles Driggers lost his life in 2016 while biking. He was hit by a drunk driver.
Caring for these tributes doesn't get any easier, especially when the victim is so young, like her most recent placement for 20-year-old Johnathan Herlein.
Herlein was hit by two cars on Waverly Road in Holland back in January. Police are still looking for the second driver that hit him who they believe was driving a white SUV.
"The person who did it [should] turn themselves in and be a responsible person about it," Rheeni Will, Herlein's stepsister told 13 On Your Side in January.
"I'm tired of it. I would like for it not to happen again," Dunnam reiterated along the side of the road.
Lawmakers are beginning to make the first steps to honor that. The House passed a bill last week that would require three feet of clearance while passing a bike unless its impractical.
Drivers who violate the guideline would be guilty of a civil infraction and subject to a fine and the loss of three points on their driving records.
Efforts Dunnam says its a step in the right direction but hopes lawmakers consider harsher punishment for those who kill bicyclists.
That way she can stop this heartbreaking tradition.
"I'd be very happy to never place another ghost bike," she said.
That 'three-feet' bill passed with bipartisan support in the House and would take effect August 2019.
It now moves to the Senate which has been considering a similar bill requiring a five-foot distance.
Another bill up for a vote would require teen drivers to receive at least one hour of instruction on laws involving bicycles, motorcycles, and pedestrians.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.