‘Ghost bike’ placed to memorialize Burbank man who died in traffic collision

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A large circle of people that spread onto the second lane of Alamada Avenue surrounds a shrine for fallen friend and bicyclist Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hai Tran, of Burbank, who was a best friend of Lenny Trinh, sits alone next to a memorial to Trinh as a cyclist passes on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly of family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A ‘ghost bike’ is lifted to be set and locked into place to a tree on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly of family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Mark and Mariel Pinciotti, of Burbank, pay their respects as they light two candles for Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly of family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Brother-inlaw Hai Ho, of Burbank, talks about his memories of Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly of family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hai Ho, of Burbank, looks back at the shrine and memorial for his brother-inlaw Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly of family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Amanda and Rose Trinh, daughters of Lenny Trihn, spray white paint onto a bike that symbolizes a ‘ghost bike’ to represent the lost life of Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly of family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Bicycle store owner Rob Scotts departs before Sam Jackson, Julius Hofman, and Nora Hipolito join him for their tribute ride for Lenny Trinh at H&S Bicycles in Burbank. The tribute ride lasted a little longer than an hour on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The group’s destination was the location where Lenny Trinh was killed in traffic while riding his bicycle earlier this week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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The site of a shrine for Lenny Trinh where people continued to arrive and gather on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly family and friends with some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories, and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Ex-wife Christina Trinh talks with family and friends about Lenny Trinh at a shrine and memorial for him on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly family and friends, and some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Friends speak of their memories of Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hai Ho, of Burbank, a brother-in-law of Lenny Trinh, straightens a post office uniform on a tree at a vigil for Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Amanda Trinh, daughter of Lenny Trinh, locks a ‘ghost bike’ to a tree at a vigil for the fallen bicyclist on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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The site of a shrine for Lenny Trinh where neighbors continued to gather on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly family and friends, and some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Longtime friend and coworker Andre Griffin, after speaking to the crowd, puts his hands together and looks to the sky for his fallen friend Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Daughters Rose and Amanda Trinh spray white paint onto a donated bicycle that will represent the ‘ghost bike’ for fallen cyclist Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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People continue to arrive and gather around a shrine for Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A ‘ghost bike’ is lifted and set into place where it will be locked to a tree on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hai Tran, of Burbank, a lifelong friend of Lenny Trinh, sits alone next to his friend’s shrine on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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As the paint on the ‘ghost bike’ dries, people told stories about their fallen friend Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Rose and Amanda Trinh spray paint a donated bike white to represent the “ghost bike” once ridden by Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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The crowd continued to grow throughout the evening on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week. Over 100 people, mostly family and friends and some who paid tribute but didn’t know him, told stories and chained a “ghost bike” to a tree.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Zachary Rynew, with Ghost Bikes and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, takes a moment as he talks with the crowd on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Ex-wife Christina Trinh speaks about Lenny Trinh on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Christina Trinh, the ex-wife of Lenny Trinh, points out an area on the ‘ghost bike’ that could still use paint on the 1300 block of Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This is the location where Lenny Trinh was killed on his bicycle earlier in the week.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

By Andy Nguyen

April 20, 2018 6:30 PM PT

More than 100 friends and family members of a Burbank bicyclist who was killed in a traffic collision earlier this week came out to mourn his death Wednesday by placing a memorial near the spot where he died.

A white “ghost bike” was placed near the spot where Lenny Trinh, 52, was killed when he was riding his bike early Monday evening. Trinh worked as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, and a light blue work shirt was placed over the bike.

Mike Hollis, chairman of the nonprofit Walk Bike Burbank, said the ghost bike was donated by a local cycling advocate and was painted white for the memorial.

“They are a visible reminder of a person who lost their life while riding,” Hollis said.

He said it’s unknown how long the bike will be kept at the site. It’s typically up to individual cities whether to remove such memorials, but he hopes it will remain as long as possible.

“There will probably be a little more latitude with this bike because it was such a growing tribute,” Hollis said.

In addition to the memorial, a GoFundMe campaign was started in the wake of Trinh’s death. Any money raised will help his daughters, according to the campaign’s page.

As of Friday evening, it had raised over $4,300.

Trinh was riding his bicycle around 5 p.m. Monday in a designated bike lane on Alameda Avenue between Mariposa Street and Griffith Park Drive when a car door was opened in his path, according to Sgt. Derek Green, a Burbank Police Department spokesman. He said the car was parked along the curb, and Trinh was struck just as he was passing the vehicle.

After hitting the door, Trinh was ejected from his bike and into the road, where he was struck by a passing truck that was traveling east on Alameda. Trinh was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The drivers of the two vehicles stayed at the scene and cooperated with officers, according to Green. No fault has been determined in the incident.

He said the driver could be considered liable for opening the door into traffic since Trinh was riding his bike legally.

“The case will get reviewed by the detectives and then by the city attorney’s office to see if charges will be filed. Right now, it has not happened,” Green said.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc